Apparently therapy dogs are held to a higher standard which is documented. Assistance dogs have to meet no such standard or be documented. Crazy.

That said; there was no issue with the dog until it got loose and chased people. That it when the dog became the focus of the manager, and ultimately the police.

Now what we have is most certainly a pet that the owner won't leave at home. He knows the loopholes in the ADA service dog criteria and he capitalized on it when he and his dog screwed up. He had the cajones to demand an arrest of the manager even though he was clearly (and knowingly) wrong. The best defense is a good offense and he played it quite well...until he met me.

I have to admit that he had me on the ropes at first. I know a woman who spends 3-4 years training service dogs before they are placed so I was well aware of what is required training. What I didn't know was how wide open the policy is. As soon as Mr. short term memory rattled off the statute number in an effort to intimidate me I immediately looked up the statute on my laptop and bingo!, he had hung himself.

Round two went to my partner and I. The knockout blow will come from animal control. This guy had no shame in what he was doing and he knew he held all the cards. Thats until the dog got aggressive. He intentionally (even though it was not in violation) concealed the fact that the dog was a service dog until the problem occurred. As soon as he was focused on he played the ADA service dog card to the hilt, demanding an arrest.

Again...theres no law that says he has to announce the dogs' purpose, but why bring grief upon yourself? He openly admits he has been harassed before so one would think he would take measures to prevent the alleged harassment.

The only thing that made sense to me was that he was caught bringing his pet into the business...or he was intentionally trying to solicit a violation of law that could lead to civil litigation and a big payday.

The only way for a business to defend against such an incident in court would be good witness statements and the totality of the circumstances which could logically be explained to laymen jurors. Sad, but true. Theres always someone out there trying to get over on someone else. Being disabled is not a disqualifying trait in the scammer's world. If anything, the sympathy card tends to lead good hearted people into believing the scammers story. Sickening!

IMO there needs to be a credible uniform certification process for these dogs nationwide. For the following reasons .

#1 For the safety of the handlers needing these dogs.

#2 For the safety of the public.

IMO animal control's fines will just be tuition for this guy's education. Sadly, as good as I feel about exposing this guy, he also gained valuable information that he can use on another unsuspecting business owner. He was a miserable person and I have no doubt he will continue to try again but only be more diligent and cautious.

I would like to think we showed him the error in his ways but I'm not holding my breath.