Service dogs perform indeed a much needed service to many physically and mentally challenged individuals. They also play a role in medicine because of their ability to sense impending physiological and psychological changes. Nobody questions the important role highly specialized service dogs play in police work and for the military. Search and Rescue dogs, cadaver dogs, tracking dogs, animals that sniff out certain dangerous chemicals all are good examples of these invaluable service dogs.
These service dogs have one thing in common: Each one of them underwent a rigorous process of selection, basic training (basic obedience) and finally very demanding special training according to their abilities. Similar criteria apply to seeing eye dogs or true service dogs that underwent successfully a selection and training process during which they acquired the skills and the discipline that makes them such valuable canine citizens.
Many of them never make it to the end of this challenging process.
But all of them, even those that fall a bit short, deserve our respect, because both dog and owner have given it their all investing much work and patience in the process.
Therefore it is fair to say that the distinguishing mark that makes an ordinary dog an service dog is careful selection of the animal and extensive, specialized training proven by passing a test.
Isn't it therefore also equitable to make the successful completion of a course of special training the criteria for a dog to be awarded service dog privileges?
The lawmakers who wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) clearly had such requirements and qualifications in mind. ADA clearly talks about training a service dog to perform specific services for his disabled owner. The Act even grants service dog privileges to a dog in training.
However, special interests among doting dog owners and financial interests of merchants expanded the original scope of qualifying services for service dogs by adding more and more broadly formulated disabilities, such as psychological, psychiatric and emotional conditions that are at times difficult to establish and often even harder to classify.
'Emotional needs' or 'emotional support' are most frequently used to declare a pet a service dog. They are also about the vaguest justifications one can imagine. What exactly is the underlying disability? And what service does a dog need to learn in order to assist his owner? Sit on a pillow. Look cute and snap at the owner when he wants to use it himself?
These purported improvements of the original ADA criteria for a service dog has created enormous loopholes that doting pet owners with the help of a spineless or greedy medical professional use to transform their pet into a service dog.
This trend must be reversed in order to curtail the abuse of a special privilege by an ever increasing number of owners of ordinary dogs.
A few simple, easy steps will go a long way to curtail the rampant abuse of the privilege service dogs enjoy in exchange for their hard labor.
Licensing Requirement
ADA provisions that refer to service dogs must be rewritten to require licensing for service dogs. During a mandatory test the trained dog must demonstrate the ability to perform a specific service that assists his disabled owner in accomplishing necessary daily tasks The dog must demonstrate his ability during a test.
Many of the false service dogs I have come across in real life situations are actually small dogs that lack any training, even the most basic obedience training. Their only qualification appears to be that their owners consider them as their child. That is deplorable because there is no reason why a small dog can not be a true service dog – provided it has a special and specific talent and is trained to use it in service to his owner. Unfortunately, this is hardly ever the case. The small “service dogs” that I have come across had only one outstanding talent: To bark up a storm, even while on duty in public.
On the other hand, I know of several cases where a small dog proved himself truly of service to his owner, even without being designated service dog. Such as the small dog that insisted in alerting his owner to a problem on one of her legs. Medical examination found a skin cancer. Or the small dog that was somehow able to sense an upcoming seizure of her owner many minutes, even hours, before the actual event.
But two factors work against small dogs as service dogs: Small dogs are ever more popular with people, especially older people who can no longer handle a strong dog. In addition, many landlords disapprove of dogs on their properties – often with the exception of smaller dogs up to a certain weight.
As an part-time apartment manager I once encountered a belligerent young man with a small Chihuahua who began his tenancy by letting his dog defecate on the doormat of his new neighbor and run off leash all over the place barking and barking and barking.
When challenged this young man flashed one of the false ID cards for disabled followed by another card that explained the rights of the disabled and his 'service dog'. Both were of the Internet variety, of course. Both essentially stated “You can not challenge me and ask me nothing.”
The other aspect it the “child syndrome”. Because of their small size and light weight, small dogs are easily carried around, hugged, cuddled and spoiled. They trigger maternal and paternal instincts in people. Training and discipline play a secondary role. That is the reason why most small dogs are untrained, highly undisciplined and thus a nuisance to most but their owners.
Despite the fact that many of the reported dog bites were perpetrated by larger dogs, in actuality small dogs bite far more often. But because of their size and the limited bite damage, these incidents go mostly unreported.
Because small dogs and their owners have this special parent-child like relationship, many of the 'emotional support dogs' are in fact small dogs. But emotional support dogs do not qualify as service dogs. Nor do therapy dogs.
It is imperative to change ADA rules to require that even small dogs must be trained to perform a specific task that assist their owner and demonstrate their abilities in a test in order to qualify as a service dog.
Closely related to the problem with emotional support dogs is the fact that it is quite easy to procure a letter from a medical professional certifying that the animal is needed by his owner for medical or mental health reasons. Certifications of this kind are almost as easy to come by as medical marijuana cards. Money, easy money, trumps responsible professionalism.
The family doctor should not be allowed to certify a condition to be used as justification for the status of an animal as assistance dog. That's just common sense.
ID Requirement
There are at least two conditions that must be met for a dog to be a service dog under ADA:
- A dog owner must be physiologically or psychologically challenged,
- His dog must have been trained to perform specific tasks that benefit his owner by making certain daily tasks easier.
Since the service dog privilege derives from the presence of the two preconditions, it is only logical to demand that the existence of the conditions has been proven. It is easy to do. For example, states issue special license plates and placards to the handicapped owner of a vehicle. They come with a small certificate. The handicap has to be established through medical records.
The state issued certification could serve as official proof of disability where no other official ID is issued.
How about the dog?
Easy as well. Require that the service dog to be demonstrate his special training to an examiner from the local Animal Control section of the Police Department.
Upon successfully completing the test, the dog will then be issued an official service dog tag.
California uses this method for their special service dog licenses.
When it was time to have my new dog take on the duties of his predecessor, I weighed carefully the pro and the con of going ADA or of opting for the local solution. Though I am generally somewhat reluctant to opt for heavy-handed licensing requirements, I decided to forgo the easy federal solution. Instead I trained my dog to pass local California service dog licensing requirements.
California makes you train your dog to perform a specific task that makes performing specific daily task(s) easier for his owner. In exchange the dog is given an official service dog tag that gets him all privileges of an assistance animal without the potential hassle of challenges by managers and owners of stores, bus drivers, landlords, mailmen, administrators and custodial personnel of public buildings, theaters, airline people and police.
In fact, his tag names the Police Department, Animal Control, of his city together with his license number. The license is good for his life, even when retired. And it is free.
No need for a vest, a harness or patches procured from the Internet. Just a small tag, that's all.
In addition, a California licensed service dog enjoys special protection and value under the Penal Code of the State of California.
If I get challenged by uninformed officialdom, I simply call the police.
Problem solved, no more hassle. No more doubts.
Stepping down from soapbox. Exit stage left.
PJJ
The next and final article in this series will deal with other ways to reduce abuse of service dog privileges. A programmatic statement of sorts, one could say.
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