Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Guide Dogs7051005

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

There have been news stories, articles, opinion pieces as well as other editorials where people rant and complain about people they think to be abusing the device. You hear some complain they had to sit near your dog at a restaurant which they don't believe is really a "real" service dog, or others complain that their neighbors have a pet in a "no pet" building since they claimed the animal is esa letter.

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

How can this affect those who legitimately own and use a service animal to better their lives? In many ways.

For one, it could it harder to navigate bureaucracy of the world when your claim of your disability and your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. In case a landlord or business owner has heard negative stories claiming that some individuals are abusing the machine, it can cause them to look suspiciously at all claimants.

Some landlord and business owners have begun seeking proof of status, despite the fact that asking for written or another evidence is not always legal, and even though 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 make.

It is the suspicious attitude and illegal demands of some landlords and business owners that make registrations services just like the Service Animal Registry of California so vital to legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it will also help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues once the owner can certainly produce a simple document that will often fulfill the owner or landlord. Also, when working with public spaces, it's easier to give a document having a simple sentence stating, "This is really a service animal" and letting one other party read the information, instead of having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse, argument) in public places, with onlookers listening in and gathering round the discussion.

So, do some people scam the machine, or game what the law states? Sadly, the reply is "probably yes." In life, there is always room for abuse and people can try to take advantage of many systems that we as a society put in place to protect the rights of people who need such protection. For instance, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to benefit from free and convenient parking. As well as the number of folks 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 around service animal laws is hopefully small, might just be a very small investment when compared to the higher purpose of promoting access and equality for all.

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