Service Animals, Emotional Support, and Guide Dogs7305196

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

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces as well as other editorials where people rant and complain about people they feel 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 a "real" service dog, or others complain their neighbors possess a pet in the "no pet" building simply because they claimed the animal is how to ask doctor for emotional support animal.

Some of the commentary posseses an indignant tone, plus some people are downright angry.

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

For one, it could it more challenging 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 a landlord or business owner has heard negative stories claiming that some people are abusing the device, it can cause these phones look suspiciously in any way claimants.

Some landlord and companies have begun requesting proof of status, even though asking for written or other evidence isn't necessarily legal, although many owners of legitimate service animals and emotional support animals have not taken advantage of registering them, and therefore have no such documentation to make.

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 important legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it will also help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues if the owner can produce a simple document that will often satisfy 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 really a service animal" and letting the other party read the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or even worse, argument) in public areas, with onlookers listening in and gathering across the discussion.

So, do some people scam the machine, or game regulations? Sadly, the reply is "probably yes." In everyday life, there is always room for abuse and people can try to take advantage of many systems that individuals as a society set up to protect the rights of those who need such protection. For example, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. As well as the number of folks who lie on their tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse store return policies, or do other bad acts.

However that percentage of abuse, which in the area of service animal laws is hopefully small, is arguably a very small investment when compared to the higher goal 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 is the price we gladly pay to ensure the disabled in the great state of California have equal access under law.