Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs8191761

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

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces as well as other editorials where people rant and complain about people they think to be abusing the system. You hear some complain that they to sit near a dog at a restaurant they don't believe is really a "real" service dog, forms of languages complain that the neighbors have a pet in a "no pet" building because they claimed the pet is esa letter.

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

So how exactly does this affect people who legitimately own and use a service animal to better their lives? In lots of ways.

For one, it may it harder to navigate bureaucracy on the planet when your claim of your disability and your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. If your landlord or business proprietor has heard negative stories claiming that some individuals are abusing the system, it can cause these to look suspiciously whatsoever claimants.

Some landlord and companies have begun requesting proof of status, despite the fact that asking for written or another evidence might not be legal, and although many those who own legitimate service animals and emotional support animals have not taken advantage of registering them, and thus have no such documentation to produce.

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

Although registration is optional, it can help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues when the owner can create a simple document which will often match the owner or landlord. Also, when using public spaces, it's easier to give over a document having a simple sentence stating, "This is really a service animal" and letting another party see the information, instead of having a long-winded protracted conversation (or even worse, argument) in public, with onlookers listening in and gathering around the discussion.

So, perform some people scam the system, or game the law? Sadly, the answer then is "probably yes." In life, there is always room for abuse and individuals can attempt to take advantage of many systems that we as a society set up to protect the rights of those that need such protection. For instance, 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 tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse shop 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 purpose of promoting access and equality for many.

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