[RErmer]

Originally Posted by Jazuela

"Comfort animals" are not service dogs. The general rule of thumb is: four on the floor, and kept to a short leash. If they're carried in, rolled in a stroller, not leashed, or on one of those expand-a-leashes, they are not on-duty service animals and not allowed in the store. It's illegal to require someone to produce proof that their animal is a service animal. However it is well within the law to require that their dog be a) leashed, 2) kept on the floor at all times, 3) behaved, and 4) in close physical proximity to the person at the other end of the leash at all times.

Since you don't even have to ask anyone "is that a service dog?" you bypass the potential for discrimination against the disabled when you tell the customer he has to remove his animal from the premises. If the dog is not behaving or disrupting business in any way, if the dog is not walking on his own, and not leashed, then the store manager has the absolute right to kick the dog and its owner out of the store.

Great points!