Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
An "emotional support" animal is not considered a service animal in the legal sense, and therefore owners of emotional support animals do not enjoy ANY of the additional rights of owners of service animals. They are considered, legally, equal to pets. If a store says no pets, then that means no emotional support animals either.
There is nothing stopping any establishment from ordering someone with an "emotional support animal" to bring that animal outside. They are not a protected class. And so I don't think any new restrictions need to be made or enforced. Business owners need to enforce the rules that already exist. If their policy is "service animals only" then they need to tell folks with "emotional support animals" that they - but not their animal - is welcome into the store. Period.
|
The law needs to be reworked to require actual proof that a dog is a trained service dog (not emotional support animal). There are too many ways to get around the law right now, because there is no one "certification" process nationally imposed. I believe the groups who train service dogs to help the disabled ought to have to obtain certificates of proof that could not be duplicated easily. These certificates could then be required to be shown when service dogs are entering establishments or traveling by plane or train. It would not break the ADA law, because the dog owner would not be required to state his disability. But that needs to be written into the current law.
The other thing that is needed is more education for the business owners on what constitutes a service dog, what doesn't, and what their responsibilities are under the law. I know some business owners around TV, including a certain large part of TV, who are just plain afraid to confront an owner, and so they go overboard the other way in allowing dogs that they don't have to.
Some airlines have banned emotional support animals from flying. Others are requiring proof of training. They are obviously knowledgeable about the law.