Caninephiles in Colorado flout the law: service animal fraud

[SimpleDon]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...do-is-cracking-down-on-service-dog-fraud.html



I know I'm an outsider on this issue, but why do 'dog people' feel the need to take their 'family members' everywhere? Will you really and truly be devastated if you don't see your dog for the one hour it'll take to do your groceries?

His bill would impose a $350 to $1,000 fine for first-time offenders, and penalties up to $5,000 and 10 hours of community service for repeat offenders.

But some disability law experts say the bill oversimplifies the complicated relationship between people with disabilities and their animals. Alison Daniels, director of legal services for Disability Law Colorado testified against the bill, arguing that it would do more harm than good for people with disabilities.

“People with disabilities legitimately get companion animals for housing. So the little fluffy white dog you see is helping them get up in the morning. It's giving them a reason to live,” Daniels told the Daily Beast. “The problem is, people have this companion animal so they think 'I can take this animal to the grocery store or the movies.’"

What happened to drinking alone in your room to manage anxiety and depression? Sheesh, am I so old-fashioned?

Daniels says people with disabilities might not understand the distinctions between a certified service animal and a therapy animal, and could stand to lose Section Eight housing or jobs if convicted of falsing presenting their pet as a service dog.

But even the laws governing official service dog certifications are murky.

Eaton and her organization Canine Partners of the Rockies are accredited by Assistance Dogs International, a service dog standards group. ADI-accredited trainers must train dogs to assist people with specific disabilities. A hearing assistance dog should be able to hear a baby crying, or a phone ringing, and lead their owner to the source of the sound. Guide dogs should be able to lead a blind person through traffic. The dogs Eaton trains, which assist people with mobility issues, must be able to open doors and guide wheelchairs.

But no U.S. law requires ADI accreditation, or any other kind of certification for service animals. The Americans with Disabilities Act only defines a service animal as "a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability."

These loose guidelines have given rise to a cottage industry of “service animal” websites like the National Service Animal Registry, which, for $64.95 plus $7.95 shipping and no background check whatsoever, will send you a package of unofficial service animal ID cards, certificates, and patches. And because the ADA does not set any criteria for service animal training, it’s all perfectly legal.

The site also sells certifications for “emotional support animals,” a classification of animal that does not perform specific physical tasks for people with disabilities, but might help support a person with generalized anxiety, or other mental health issues. These animals -- which sometimes sport official-looking vests or patches -- have seen increasing acceptance on airplanes and in public spaces, assisting people with emotional issues, but creating confusion over the animals’ official classification.

“Even the legislators did not understand the difference between service animal, therapy animal, companion animal, and a pet,” Daniels said. “So [legislators] are taking an area of law that is not well understood and criminalizing it.”

Colorado wouldn’t be the first jurisdiction to craft laws in attempt to keep up with the rise in unofficial support animals.

The city of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin revised their laws to classify service animals as dogs and miniature horses, after a local woman made national news for getting kicked out of a McDonald’s with “Jimmy,” her therapy kangaroo.

Even the Trumps are in on the trend.

Ivana Trump allegedly flashed a therapy animal card when toting her miniature Yorkie into Manhattan’s high-end Altesi Ristorante in June 2014, sparking complaints from other diners.

“Lunch was ruined because Ivana Trump sat next to us with her dog which she even let climb to the table. I told her no dogs allowed but she lied that hers was a service dog,” reads a review on the restaurant’s Google review page, discovered by the New Yorker’s Patricia Marx.

When Marx called the restaurant, owner Paolo Alavian said he was obligated to allow support animals. “She walked into the restaurant and she showed the emotional-support card,” Alavian told her. “Basically, people with the card are allowed to bring their dogs into the restaurant. This is the law.”

But it isn’t the law in New York or in Colorado, despite popular belief.

“As far as the ADA is concerned, the law is not for emotional support animals,” a representative at the Denver Office of Disability Rights told the Daily Beast. “They have to perform a function like open doors to be considered a service animal.”

But as long as people can legally represent their pets as service animals, the state says pet owners and service dog owners will continue to fight for space.

“Right now, if somebody misrepresents that their animal is a service animal, that is not an offence,” Kagan said. “All you have to do to get the access a service animal has, is you have to lie about it and say ‘hey, this is a service animal,’ and there’s not a darn thing anybody can do about it.”

Daniels, meanwhile, says she might reconsider the bill if it followed an extensive program educating people on disability and service animal rights. But she says the state’s biggest offenders are not individual dog owners, but the companies profiting off service animal fraud.

“We're focusing on this group of people who likely doesn't know,” Daniels said. “But the real problem is online. You can say 'how can I get a service animal vest,' punch in a few things, and lo and behold, a service vest is delivered to your door. Those are the people we need to be focusing on.”

We are training a service dog for me. I can't walk and need a wheelchair. I don't go out very often and I don't have any interest in taking her with me when I do go out, I don't need her when I go out. I can't drive any more and always have to travel with my wife or one of my nurses. So I don't really have a stake in this question.

I don't mind well behaved dogs in public including restaurants, but it is something that I wouldn't do and I realize that most in the US don't accept it.

It is expensive to train a service dog. We have spent about $10,000 so far on buying and training the dog. She is doing pretty well, she is doing about half of what we need her to do. Which is to alert people when I am having trouble breathing or when I am choking, to open doors and gates, to be a companion when I am alone and to pick up things when I drop them. We won't have much more expense for professional training because we have learned what to do to train her and it is down to practice and repetition.

My Hannah was a one year old, trained for competition, obedience dog when we got her. So we didn't have to train her in basic obedience, obviously. But she had just lived in a dog kennel, with the breeder and trainer. She hadn't been around children, noisy environments, television, etc. so she had to be socialized. She was taken into the home of a another trainer who took her to stores, restaurants, a school and a hospital. This socialization was more than a half of our expense for professional trainers who cost $80 to $100 an hour that they are training the dog.

In spite of this expense we have learned the most from a manual written for the inmates of a woman's prison in Missouri who train service dogs for the indigent in their spare time, which they have a lot of.

Here is my beautiful puppy at eighteen months old.

The sign is a joke. She is a very sweet, loving and gentle soul.​

 

[Playball40]

I think the real answer is licensing of service animals.

Note that this does not need to disclose what the disability is--it doesn't matter what aid the animal is trained to provide. What matters is if it's had the behaving-in-public training. Either the facility that does the training should be certified or the animal should be tested to a reasonable degree to see if it behaves. (Put it in an environment that will tend to cause misbehavior, see if it behaves.)

Which does not address emotional support/therapy animals. These are just as important, but are generally not trained in the same way as service animals.

IF the emotional support animal is necessary/required in public spaces where animals are typically not allowed then I think they must be verifiably trained/licensed as service animals. And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

 

[Playball40]

Stupid question, but how do you "socialize" an adult dog? We adopted a dog from the humane society but she really wigs out around other people. I'm really afraid she will bite someone. The vet said I need to "socialize" her. How do I do that without putting others at risk?

 

[JonA]

NM - others have already addressed this.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

I have noticed here in Houston, a variety of bars and pubs now advertise themselves as "dog friendly". For what that is worth. If you don't like dogs, go to the pub up the street. I take it they still don't serve beer to the dogs ... yet.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Stupid question, but how do you "socialize" an adult dog? We adopted a dog from the humane society but she really wigs out around other people. I'm really afraid she will bite someone. The vet said I need to "socialize" her. How do I do that without putting others at risk?

A strong leash and dog treats. Use positive reinforcement and give her a treat when she holds off and tug her back and tell her no when she growls or is aggressive. Then, after you've pulled her away from the situation, tell her how good she is, give her a pet and give her a treat.

 

[prideandfall]

this thread is an amazing example of how it can be futile and a massive expenditure of energy to engage in raging SJWs like Metaphor.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And I'm saying that in terms of behavior in public they should be. The rules against animals in public are there for a reason, if we are going to grant exceptions we should minimize the problems they cause.

There should not be exceptions.. Service animals are an important tool for disabled folks to get around in public. they are generally extremely well trained such that they never cause a problem for anyone... no more than the wheelchair itself does.. which I think pretty much everyone understands to tolerate and even assist if needed... therapy dogs are not even the slightest way similar. We have no other precedents for there being exceptions or special provisions for the mentally disabled to function more easily in public.. .we don't have ordinances that require a water fountain on every block (or anywhere at all) so that the mentally ill can take their prescription pills with a drink of water. We don't have 'rant rooms' made publically available so they can go scream at the voices in their head while shopping at the grocery store... So why require businesses to accommodate their pets? ALL fluffy, friendly animals with a cute face are known to provide a psychological advantage to their owners.. no training needed. There is nothing special about a fluffy doggie that just makes a person feel good to be with.

It is either a highly trained service animal that can function in public places that normally would be an inappropriate place to bring a pet, or they aren't (and don't belong there).

You misunderstood what I said.

The laws for things like Seeing-Eye dogs are an exception to the laws about animals in public places. I'm saying that if we are going to grant exceptions like this that it should only be to highly-trained animals, not simply an average pooch that happens to be useful. (It's not unusual for a seizure dog to simply be the family pet that showed a sensitivity to oncoming seizures.) The animal may not need any training beyond the behavior-in-public but they should have that.

 

[RavenSky]

Which does not address emotional support/therapy animals. These are just as important, but are generally not trained in the same way as service animals.

Is feeling less sad while at the grocery store "just as important" as not getting hit by a bus on your way there? It is not just as important that an emotional support dog get the same exemptions as a seeing-eye dog.

Regardless, whether the animal gets the kind of training and licensing Loren is referring to should depend upon whether it will be given a licence to exempt it from general pet regulations. A therapy pet without that training should not be allowed where other pets are not.

As I wrote - at length - earlier in this thread, service animals are the ones that get the exemptions in public places, not the emotional support animals. The ESA's only get the exemptions for the person's residence (if there are bans or animal weight restrictions, for instance).

My response to Loren was because he did not say that he was only talking about public spaces, so it appeared that he was suggesting a blanket licensing requirement. In response, he clarified that he was speaking only as to public places.

But to address your snarky little comment, yes - someone's mental health is just as important as their physical health.

 

[RavenSky]

Here is my beautiful puppy at eighteen months old.

View attachment 6377

The sign is a joke. She is a very sweet, loving and gentle soul.​

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And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

This is a key issue, in my opinion.

 

[TSwizzle]

And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

I agree but if it's as easy to abuse as the disabled parking decals, it will be a waste of time.

 

[SimpleDon]

Stupid question, but how do you "socialize" an adult dog? We adopted a dog from the humane society but she really wigs out around other people. I'm really afraid she will bite someone. The vet said I need to "socialize" her. How do I do that without putting others at risk?

You can go to classes for the "canine good citizen" certification for dogs. This is an American Kennel Club program, see here. It is like the first step in service dog training.

 

[SimpleDon]

And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

I agree but if it's as easy to abuse as the disabled parking decals, it will be a waste of time.

I don't get upset at people who abuse the handicapped parking placards, but it upsets my normally even keeled and otherwise hard to upset wife. We keep an orange traffic cone in my wheelchair van and if there aren't any handicapped van spaces available we go to the far reaches of the parking lot and find two empty spaces together and place the cone in the empty space next to my side entry van so that I can load myself and the wheelchair into the van when we are ready to leave. It is amazing how people will obey without question a simple orange traffic cone.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Is feeling less sad while at the grocery store "just as important" as not getting hit by a bus on your way there? It is not just as important that an emotional support dog get the same exemptions as a seeing-eye dog.

Regardless, whether the animal gets the kind of training and licensing Loren is referring to should depend upon whether it will be given a licence to exempt it from general pet regulations. A therapy pet without that training should not be allowed where other pets are not.

As I wrote - at length - earlier in this thread, service animals are the ones that get the exemptions in public places, not the emotional support animals. The ESA's only get the exemptions for the person's residence (if there are bans or animal weight restrictions, for instance).

My response to Loren was because he did not say that he was only talking about public spaces, so it appeared that he was suggesting a blanket licensing requirement. In response, he clarified that he was speaking only as to public places.

But to address your snarky little comment, yes - someone's mental health is just as important as their physical health.

The problem that I'm talking about is that there currently is no training requirement for legitimate service animals. A seizure dog might just be the family pet.

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I agree but if it's as easy to abuse as the disabled parking decals, it will be a waste of time.

I don't get upset at people who abuse the handicapped parking placards, but it upsets my normally even keeled and otherwise hard to upset wife. We keep an orange traffic cone in my wheelchair van and if there aren't any handicapped van spaces available we go to the far reaches of the parking lot and find two empty spaces together and place the cone in the empty space next to my side entry van so that I can load myself and the wheelchair into the van when we are ready to leave. It is amazing how people will obey without question a simple orange traffic cone.

That works for you because you need unloading space, not closeness.

 

[Malintent]

Stupid question, but how do you "socialize" an adult dog? We adopted a dog from the humane society but she really wigs out around other people. I'm really afraid she will bite someone. The vet said I need to "socialize" her. How do I do that without putting others at risk?

Ever hear the expression, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"?

All you can do is discover the old dog's triggers and try to either desensitize it if practical (like a doorbell or phone ring is easy to address), or avoid it.

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I have noticed here in Houston, a variety of bars and pubs now advertise themselves as "dog friendly". For what that is worth. If you don't like dogs, go to the pub up the street. I take it they still don't serve beer to the dogs ... yet.

In the UK, it is illegal to serve alcohol to a dog. Not sure the legal status in the US.

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And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

I agree but if it's as easy to abuse as the disabled parking decals, it will be a waste of time.

Wait.. how does one abuse parking decals?. I am looking for step by step instructions, please

In all seriousness though, I have a story...

I was going to the beach one perfect beach day long ago, and it was extremely crowded in the parking lot... I had to park like a mile from the beach.
So, my friend and I were walking across the entire packed lot, lugging all our stuff, when our paths converged with an elderly couple, also lugging their stuff quite a distance.
We were no more than 50 feet from the end of the parking lot at this point, by the beach access area where all the handicapped parking spots were, when a bright yellow Jeep loaded with teenagers came swinging into a handicapped parking spot, radio blasting.. They unloaded in like 2 seconds flat, jumping from the vehicle and hefting giant coolers, presumably filled with beer and ice, and all the toys one would expect to entertain half of Daytona beach on Spring Break...
Upon seeing this, like right in front of us, the elderly man with his wife that had just trudged across the entire lot carrying their chairs and whatnot, had a freak out...
He started yelling at the kids, "YOU DIRTY BASTERDS!!! YOU SONS OF BITCHES!!!... etc..".
The driver of the Jeep, another kid, realizing that the yelling was directed at him, put down the towel and chair he was carrying, turned to face the older man, and proceeded to "give him the claw"... by which I mean, he would have been giving him the finger, if he had a hand. Instead of a hand, he had a metal claw-like contraption with like three prongs... the middle one of which was extended and presented to the older man. .who quickly shut up.

did this kid need a handicapped parking sticker? prolly not... it's not like his mobility was affected in any way... but it was legit..and the old man was in the wrong. but was he?

 

[RavenSky]

As I wrote - at length - earlier in this thread, service animals are the ones that get the exemptions in public places, not the emotional support animals. The ESA's only get the exemptions for the person's residence (if there are bans or animal weight restrictions, for instance).

My response to Loren was because he did not say that he was only talking about public spaces, so it appeared that he was suggesting a blanket licensing requirement. In response, he clarified that he was speaking only as to public places.

But to address your snarky little comment, yes - someone's mental health is just as important as their physical health.

The problem that I'm talking about is that there currently is no training requirement for legitimate service animals. A seizure dog might just be the family pet.

This is not accurate, but it is indicative of the problem. "Service animals" - as Don2 attested - are highly trained, and a lot of that training is focused on socialization. Frankly, this has nothing to do with making the animal acceptable to the general public, but rather to making sure the general public does not distract the service animal from their very important tasks.

You can somewhat compare their training to other working animals like rescue dogs and police horses. They have to have the temperament and the training to stay on task no matter what is going on around them.

The problem is that once the genuine service animals are trained, there is not an actual way of separating these from the family pet with a mail-order vest so long as those vests can be purchased by anyone without any verification whatsoever.

 

[bilby]

Ever hear the expression, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"?

All you can do is discover the old dog's triggers and try to either desensitize it if practical (like a doorbell or phone ring is easy to address), or avoid it.

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I have noticed here in Houston, a variety of bars and pubs now advertise themselves as "dog friendly". For what that is worth. If you don't like dogs, go to the pub up the street. I take it they still don't serve beer to the dogs ... yet.

In the UK, it is illegal to serve alcohol to a dog. Not sure the legal status in the US.

- - - Updated - - -

And service animal vests should NOT be easy to get.

I agree but if it's as easy to abuse as the disabled parking decals, it will be a waste of time.

Wait.. how does one abuse parking decals?. I am looking for step by step instructions, please

In all seriousness though, I have a story...

I was going to the beach one perfect beach day long ago, and it was extremely crowded in the parking lot... I had to park like a mile from the beach.
So, my friend and I were walking across the entire packed lot, lugging all our stuff, when our paths converged with an elderly couple, also lugging their stuff quite a distance.
We were no more than 50 feet from the end of the parking lot at this point, by the beach access area where all the handicapped parking spots were, when a bright yellow Jeep loaded with teenagers came swinging into a handicapped parking spot, radio blasting.. They unloaded in like 2 seconds flat, jumping from the vehicle and hefting giant coolers, presumably filled with beer and ice, and all the toys one would expect to entertain half of Daytona beach on Spring Break...
Upon seeing this, like right in front of us, the elderly man with his wife that had just trudged across the entire lot carrying their chairs and whatnot, had a freak out...
He started yelling at the kids, "YOU DIRTY BASTERDS!!! YOU SONS OF BITCHES!!!... etc..".
The driver of the Jeep, another kid, realizing that the yelling was directed at him, put down the towel and chair he was carrying, turned to face the older man, and proceeded to "give him the claw"... by which I mean, he would have been giving him the finger, if he had a hand. Instead of a hand, he had a metal claw-like contraption with like three prongs... the middle one of which was extended and presented to the older man. .who quickly shut up.

did this kid need a handicapped parking sticker? prolly not... it's not like his mobility was affected in any way... but it was legit..and the old man was in the wrong. but was he?

That would not (legitimately) happen here, unless there was something else wrong with the guy - around here, disabled parking permits are issued for people with impaired mobility only, not just any disability. A prosthetic arm would be an insufficient reason to be issued a permit.

In Queensland the disability parking scheme is a mobility scheme based on a person's functional impairment to their ability to walk.

Individuals

You may be able to apply for an Australian permit if you are a Queensland resident and 1 of the following applies to you:

• unable to walk and always require the use of a wheelchair
• ability to walk is severely restricted by a permanent medical condition or ability to walk is severely restricted by a temporary medical condition or disability that you will have for 6 months or more as certified by your doctor or occupational therapist.

Applicants with intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive or sensory impairment alone do not meet the eligibility criteria unless the applicant also has a mobility impairment that impacts on their ability to walk.

(Source).

Of course, it's not always possible to tell at a glance whether someone meets those criteria; if Mr Claw in your story also has a prosthetic leg; or even has an unrelated disorder affecting his mobility, then he might well qualify. The only reasonable option for enforcement personnel or concerned citizens is to accept that if there is a permit, there is a right to use the facility; and if not, not.

Of course there are always people who cheat; but without a qualified doctor to do a full medical, it's not possible to be certain who is a cheat, and who is suffering an impairment such as COPD that is only apparent after they try to walk a quarter mile.

The system here was changed recently due to the development of a sizeable black market in permits in Sydney, where parking is scarce, and wealthy cheats are not; counterfeiting and unlawful transfers of permits is now a lot harder than it used to be. But only the issuing authorities are really able to enforce the rules - as a concerned citizen, getting upset at an apparent flaunting of the law has a good chance of resulting in you abusing a legitimate user of the system, which does nobody any good.

If you think someone may be breaking the rules, confrontation is not a good plan; but taking a discreet photo and providing it to the cops is OK - they can confirm whether there really is a case to answer before approaching the miscreant, where you or I cannot.

 

[TSwizzle]

Wait.. how does one abuse parking decals?. I am looking for step by step instructions, please

No picture I'm afraid

Anyway, it's not difficult. The decals are handed out like confetti here in California and then used by a relative. I saw something on the news the other night about a phone app that can be used to report abuse of handicap parking permits. I expect the "comfort dog" bullshit will be the same and will allow fuckwits into the grocery store with their ordinary mutts.

 

[fromderinside]

Geez. Just got to this thread.

This has been going on for more than 20 years.

Here is one suit Grill vs Costco http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/199 that went badly for the person with the fake dog designation
and
here is another Thompson versus Dover Downs http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/234 which although initially successful was ultimately reversed because the owner did not answer a proper question asked by the company.

All of this decided back in 2004 and 2005. I'm sure we were regaled with fake service dog stories back in the late nineties in L:A while I was still there.

Since then laws have been improved so if Colorado gets its act together soon illegally tagged dogs are going to cost owners mucho bucks there.

Ebay just isn't a place to get a service dog harness.

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I expect the "comfort dog" bullshit will be the same and will allow fuckwits into the grocery store with their ordinary mutts.

You'd be wrong. Comfort dogs are not service dogs. Laws move on especially after twenty to twenty five years.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The problem that I'm talking about is that there currently is no training requirement for legitimate service animals. A seizure dog might just be the family pet.

This is not accurate, but it is indicative of the problem. "Service animals" - as Don2 attested - are highly trained, and a lot of that training is focused on socialization. Frankly, this has nothing to do with making the animal acceptable to the general public, but rather to making sure the general public does not distract the service animal from their very important tasks.

You can somewhat compare their training to other working animals like rescue dogs and police horses. They have to have the temperament and the training to stay on task no matter what is going on around them.

The problem is that once the genuine service animals are trained, there is not an actual way of separating these from the family pet with a mail-order vest so long as those vests can be purchased by anyone without any verification whatsoever.

It depends on what they are for. The animal he's getting will be highly trained. My mother's Seeing Eye dogs were highly trained.

However, some dogs are useful without training. If the family pooch consistently reacts to an imminent seizure, presto, seizure dog--with zero training. A seizure dog is definitely useful but that doesn't mean said untrained pooch should be allowed where animals aren't allowed.