Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs5795512

Sadly, many people are asking whether "service animal" laws are now being abused by those that want to scam the system.

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces and other editorials where people rant and complain about people they believe to be abusing the machine. You hear some complain that they to sit near your pet dog at a restaurant which they don't believe is really a "real" service dog, varieties complain that their neighbors possess a pet in the "no pet" building because they claimed the animal is esa doctors.

Some of the commentary comes with an indignant tone, and some people are downright angry.

How can this affect those that legitimately own and use a service animal to better their lives? In several ways.

For one, it could it harder to navigate bureaucracy around the globe when your claim of a disability as well as your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. If your landlord or company owner has heard negative stories claiming that some individuals are abusing the system, it can cause these to look suspiciously at all claimants.

Some landlord and business owners have begun requesting proof of status, although asking for written or any other evidence is not always legal, and even though many those who own legitimate service animals and emotional support animals have not taken advantage of registering them, and therefore have no such documentation to make.

It is the suspicious attitude and illegal demands of some landlords and business owners that make registrations services just like the Service Animal Registry of California so fundamental to legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it can benefit shortcut the housing rental and business access issues if the owner can produce a simple document that will often satisfy the owner or landlord. Also, when utilizing public spaces, it's easier to give over a document using a simple sentence stating, "This is really a service animal" and letting one other party read the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse, argument) in public areas, with onlookers listening in and gathering around the discussion.

So, perform some people scam the device, or game what the law states? Sadly, the answer then is "probably yes." In your life, there is always room for abuse and individuals can try to take advantage of many systems that people as a society put in place to protect the rights of those who need such protection. As an example, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to benefit from free and convenient parking. Not to mention the number of people who lie on the tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse store return policies, or do other bad acts.

However that percentage of abuse, which in the area of service animal laws is hopefully small, could well be a very small investment when compared to the higher objective of promoting access and equality for those.

In the end, you can't control any system to really make it 100% abuse proof. So tolerating the few individuals who scam service animal laws is the price we gladly pay to ensure that the disabled in the great state of California have equal access under law.