Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs2172686

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

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

A few of the commentary has an indignant tone, plus some people are downright angry.

So how exactly does this affect those that legitimately own and employ a service animal to higher their lives? In lots of ways.

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

Some landlord and business owners have begun asking for proof of status, although asking for written or another evidence is not always legal, and although many those who own legitimate service animals and emotional support animals haven't taken advantage of registering them, and so have no such documentation to produce.

It is the suspicious attitude and illegal demands of some landlords and business people that make registrations services such as the Service Animal Registry of California so fundamental to 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 working with public spaces, it is usually easier to give a document using a simple sentence stating, "This is a service animal" and letting one other party browse the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse yet, argument) in public areas, with onlookers listening in and gathering around the discussion.

So, carry out some people scam the device, or game the law? Sadly, the answer then is "probably yes." In everyday life, there is always room for abuse and individuals can attempt to take advantage of many systems that individuals as a society put in place to protect the rights of those that need such protection. As an example, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. Not to mention the number of people who lie on their own tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse store return policies, or do other bad acts.

However that percentage of abuse, which in service animal laws is hopefully small, might just be a very small price to pay when compared to the higher goal of promoting access and equality for those.

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