So can a concerned customer call the police/sheriff and request they come and verify the authenticity of the service animal? Will they/can they question the owner more thoroughly than the restaurant owner is allowed?

Can you pet a service dog? I have always had the impression you should leave them alone, they are working. So ask the owner if you can pet the dog, if they say yes you have a big clue.

...

From the ADA website Q and A section:

Q31: Are stores required to allow service animals to be placed in a shopping cart?

A: Generally, the dog must stay on the floor, or the person must carry the dog. For example, if a person with diabetes has a glucose alert dog, he may carry the dog in a chest pack so it can be close to his face to allow the dog to smell his breath to alert him of a change in glucose levels.


Q32: Are restaurants, bars, and other places that serve food or drink required to allow service animals to be seated on chairs or allow the animal to be fed at the table?


A: No. Seating, food, and drink are provided for customer use only. The ADA gives a person with a disability the right to be accompanied by his or her service animal, but covered entities are not required to allow an animal to sit or be fed at the table.

if the dog eats @ a table "PHONY"

Mostly but he hasn't caught on that female German Shepperds can be aggressive!

I'd rather have a dog in a baby stroller than a screamin' kid next to me in a baby stroller in a restaurant.

Great responses Bonny. Love your attitude !!!

Great attitude and sense of humor

[QUOTE=BogeyBoy;1429359]So can a concerned customer call the police/sheriff and request they come and verify the authenticity of the service animal? QUOTE]

You can. Or you can get up and leave if you do not wish to eat there. You can pay for your meal or try to walk away from the check as a protest. This may cause the cops to come...OR you can call the police. You can protest to the waiter, to the manager, to the dog owner or to the dog. You can decide to not eat there again. You can ignore the pooch and continue eating and order another drink. You can talk loudly about dogs in a restaurant.

There are lots of possibilities.

BogeyBoy, why don't you call the Sheriff non-emergency number and ask if they would respond to such a call from a restaurant patron?

Report back to this forum exactly what they tell you.

Thanks.

Personally, if the dog was on the floor and behaving itself, I would take Gracie's advice and order another drink. But that's me.

Service animal
 

I don't expect you would see this dog in a carriage.Attachment 70615

I would find it odd to see a dog in a stroller eating at a restaurant but would it really bother me? No! Would I think the patron who brought the dog was a little strange and presumptuous? Yes.

Service dogs
 

Just because you have a disability doesn't mean you have a true Service Dog. What a number of residents have observed is that there is no way (in many cases) to determine if the dog is a trained Service Dog. This privilege is for owners that have TRAINED SERVICE DOGS. The County or municipality should issue a service dog tag when the owner can provide proof of the dog being trained for the service it's providing. This could be issued along with the rabies tag. The restaurant manager many times is caught in the middle. Sometimes there are health concerns and that makes it everybody's business. :mmmm: