Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs7296003

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

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces along with other editorials where people rant and complain about people they believe to be abusing the system. You hear some complain they had to sit near your dog at a restaurant which they don't believe can be a "real" service dog, varieties complain that their neighbors use a pet inside a "no pet" building because they claimed the animal is how to ask doctor for emotional support animal.

A few of the commentary comes with an indignant tone, and a few people are downright angry.

So how exactly does this affect those who legitimately own and use a service animal to raised their lives? In several ways.

For one, it may it more difficult 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 many people are abusing the device, it can cause these phones look suspiciously in any way claimants.

Some landlord and business owners have begun seeking 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 so have no such documentation to create.

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

Although registration is optional, it will also help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues once the owner can produce a simple document that will often match the owner or landlord. Also, when working with public spaces, it is often easier to hand over a document having a simple sentence stating, "This is a service animal" and letting another party see the information, as opposed to having a long-winded protracted conversation (or even worse, argument) in public places, with onlookers listening in and gathering around the discussion.

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

But that percentage of abuse, which in 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 many.

In the end, you can't control any system making it 100% abuse proof. So tolerating the not enough people who scam service animal laws may be the price we gladly pay to make sure that the disabled within the great state of California have equal access under law.