Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Guide Dogs5490817

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

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 device. You hear some complain that they had to sit near a dog at a restaurant which they don't believe is really a "real" service dog, or others complain their neighbors have a pet in a "no pet" building since they claimed the pet is emotional support animal registration.

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

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

For one, it can it more difficult to navigate bureaucracy of the world when your claim of the disability and your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. In case a landlord or business proprietor has heard negative stories claiming that some individuals are abusing the machine, it can cause these to look suspiciously at all claimants.

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

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 vital to legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it will also help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues when the owner can certainly produce a simple document that will often satisfy the owner or landlord. Also, when using public spaces, it is usually easier to give a document with a simple sentence stating, "This can be a service animal" and letting another party read the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse yet, argument) in public, with onlookers listening in and gathering round 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 attempt to take advantage of many systems that we as a society set up to protect the rights of those who need such protection. For instance, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. Not forgetting the number of people who lie on their tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse shop return policies, or do other bad acts.

But that percentage of abuse, which around service animal laws is hopefully small, might just be a very small price to pay when compared to the higher purpose of promoting access and equality for all.

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