Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Guide Dogs8375257

Sadly, many people are asking whether "service animal" laws are 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 believe to be abusing the machine. You hear some complain they had to sit near your dog at a restaurant that they don't believe is a "real" service dog, varieties complain their neighbors have a pet inside a "no pet" building because they claimed your pet is esa doctors.

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

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

For one, it could it more difficult to navigate bureaucracy around the globe when your claim of the disability along with 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 machine, it can cause them to look suspiciously whatsoever claimants.

Some landlord and business people have begun seeking proof of status, although asking for written or another evidence isn't necessarily legal, and even though many those who own legitimate service animals and emotional support animals haven't taken advantage of registering them, and thus have no such documentation to create.

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

Although registration is optional, it can benefit 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 utilizing public spaces, it's easier to hand over a document having a simple sentence stating, "This is a service animal" and letting one other party see the information, rather than having a long-winded protracted conversation (or worse, argument) in public, with onlookers listening in and gathering across the discussion.

So, do some people scam the machine, or game the law? Sadly, the answer is "probably yes." In your life, there is always room for abuse and people can make an effort to take advantage of many systems that we 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 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 retail 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 those.

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