[sdm1222]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

To those talking about seeing eye dogs - they're called Service Animals now, because they're not just for the blind. They're also for people who suffer seizure disorders, anxiety attacks, or have other documented disabilities that can be mitigated with the help of a service animal. These service animals are specially trained to perform specific tasks.

"Comfort animals" are pets - nothing more or less.

The actual federal law, of the ADA, states that establishments must allow the disabled to bring their service animals into the establishment. The law does -not- require any licensing and in fact, there exists no such thing. You can buy "service animal" harnesses from Amazon, so even having an official looking harness is not proof that it's a service animal.

There are only two questions that a proprietor is legally allowed to ask:

1. IS that a service animal?
2. What tasks is your service animal trained to perform?

You're not allowed to ask what that animal does FOR that person. Only what it's trained to do, in general. This is to protect the disabled person from having to divulge what's wrong with them that they need a service animal. Their disability is not the proprietor's business, but the presence of the dog in the building is his business.

Because of this need to separate the protected medical information about the disabled from the status of the animal, a lot of people will bring their pets in, and insist that they are, in fact, "service animals" when they're nothing of the sort. And there's nothing the proprietor can legally do about it.

HOWEVER

The proprietor CAN restrict the animal's behavior:

"4 on the floor" is the standard. They must NOT be in shopping carts or strollers or in the person's arms. Four legs on the floor at all times.

They must be heeled. Meaning - they must not be allowed to wander at all - so no retractable leashes, period. No more than a 6' leash, and the animal must be either at the walker's side in touching distance, or directly in front of them while walking to lead the walker forward.

They must NOT sniff around anything, or bark, or whine, or be available for petting, or even wagging its tail. The animal MUST be "on duty." If it's not on duty, it doesn't belong in the store. Period.

The proprietor has the right to make the walker and their animal leave even if the animal IS on duty, performing specific tasks for the walker, IF that dog misbehaves.

And service animal or otherwise - the proprietor has every right to kick someone out if they put their animal in a shopping cart.

Those behaviors are not protected by the ADA. But proprietors know that this is a litigious society. If Karen brings Fluffy into a store in a shopping cart and is kicked out, Karen will have a lawyer giving the store grief, costing hours in wasted time, money that has to be set aside for a lawsuit (even if the proprietor wins, the money still has to be put aside), and a possible ding in their reputation if Karen's "side" of the story makes the news.

So proprietors will often just look away, unless the dog is causing a significant, active, destructive problem.

It's unfortunate, but such is the way of selfish entitled people who decide that rules are for everyone else but them, and dare anyone to call them out on it.

Long replies bore Readers.