the mission statement of that service dog registry says the right things , but at the very least , it looks like the privilege could be very easily abused .

the pics and testimonials don't give me a lot of faith that only those in legitimate need are availing themselves of the service of this registry .


and the ESA thing ?


i've got one of those , she goes by the name of " vicky " . i married her 23 years ago lol . . . does she get to fly for free ?

A screenshot of the ad for anybody who hasn't seen it yet.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/CathyG/ScreenShot2013-07-22at64757PM_zpsbc7f6258.png

There are some legitimate ID places trying to reduce the harassment users of service dogs get. This clearly is not one of them.

bump

What does bump mean?

 Quote: Robert A. Eggleston

What does bump mean?

"Bump" just means to move a topic back to the top of the list, so to speak. A lot of members may get on the board and just look at the "Active Topics" or "Recent Posts." By bumping a post, it puts it in a position to be more easily read and perhaps responded to by others who haven't seen it yet.

Better explanation than I could have made!

 Quote:

an application, attached to which would be a physician's or therapist's written recommendation for a service dog and proof of ownership of a suitable dog. The subject would receive official ID which could be required to be worn by the canine, and access to some hand-out cards that could be shown by the subject, upon request, explaining to any outsider why the dog is necessary and what accomodations must be made for the subject and dog.

Who's going to pay for all of this? The main reason the ADA specifically states that there is no official registry or certification for a service dog is because people have the right to train their own, and many of these people are low income because of their disabilities. I'm not opposed to altruistic donations toward what you're talking about, but millions of people opposed the idea of imposing more taxes to benefit a specific minority. Is it morally wrong to deny help to that minority? Yes. Is it ethically stable to say that supporting one is discriminatory toward every other minority? Yes.

You have a problem here that cannot be fixed by government taxation and regulation for the specific topic.
What I don't get is how businesses can be so ignorant. I've seen morons claim out-of-control dogs are SDs to gain access to public areas where pets aren't allowed. One specific dog was literally yanking a 6 ft+ man around by a FLEXI LEASH of all things. Why isn't ADA anti-discrimination laws common knowledge to people who own businesses so that they can properly educate their employees? I've seen the back-room boards full of Right To Work and Anti Harassment posters... but I've never seen anything educating someone about service animals.

What it boils down to is - if a business owner is so stupid that he can't educate himself on ADA law and therefore allows uncontrolled pets onto his property, screw 'em. That business deserves to be overrun with yappy, barking mutts in handbags based on sheer stupidity.

If what you say is accurate, then it is a loophole left open by the ADA that is encouraging the fraud.

No matter how well educated the business owner is about ADA regulation, most are going to turn the other cheek to avoid violating the rights of a patron. I see it in our HR dept frequently; petty, meritless claims get the benefit of the doubt and get settled because the corporation does want to risk civil liability. You know who gets screwed? The guy who has to sit next to your dog on the airplane or in the restaurant.

Did you look at the ad? At the testimonials and pix? Are you not outraged by the fraud? If you cannot afford to register your service dog, why do you need to get into a restaurant or nightclub?

If all of the legitimate service dogs in this country paid application fees to be registered, there would be enough money in the program to provide registered dogs to those disabled who need financial assistance.

It's a lot more than access to night clubs and restaurants, Duane. It's grocery stores, public buses, libraries, etc. Those basic everyday places. And then what happens when you have a "registered service dog" that is misbehaving? Are you free to ask them to leave? if so why not just do that now? I would imagine a store owner would be even less likely to ask someone to leave if they seemed "official". Seems like it might be far more effective to just prosecute places that blatently flaunt the law (the company running the FB ads) rather than imposing more burdens on a disabled person.

But the company running the ads is not doing anything illegal, since there are no standards or regulations governing service dogs. As Sam stated, the ADA doesn't make allowance for certification of service dogs.

This site sells patches that I can put on my dog's harness. If a store owner is apprehensive about confronting us, I could take my dog anywhere. The only rule I've violated is the individual store's policy, and the owner has declined to question me about the validity of my service dog because he is not sure if he'll get in trouble for asking the wrong questions.

I understand that it's about more than restaurants and nightclubs. I was using examples of some of the more flagrant offenses cited by the articles. People are snappng photos of dogs in their own airplane seats. There is no limit to the places where dog hair can turn up in my food or on my clothes. Glad I'm not allergic.