Is It Against The Law To Fake A Service Dog

America loves dogs more than than ever.

In 2019, with nearly 90 million of man'south best friends living in 55 percent of American households, the retail pet industry expects to fetch $86 billion in sales.

Also on the upswing in contempo years is the sale of animate being vests and credentials that permit an possessor to publicly misrepresent their pet every bit a trained service canis familiaris while falsely claiming to be a person with a inability. This is a violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

As of January. 2, 2019, some local pet owners may be treated to some unexpected expenses as a new state law takes effect. SB2461, sponsored past state Sen. Russell Ruderman (D-Puna), could result in fines as high as $500 for passing off a pet as a trained service brute.

Simply enforcement is problematic. Currently, there is no federal registry for service animals.

The text of Ruderman'due south beak asserts that the proliferation of online sales of brightly colored vests begetting unofficial patches and made titles are fraudulently representing pets as trained service dogs, which "has resulted in legitimate service dogs being attacked past untrained dogs and violations of the nutrient and sanitation code."

Mo Maurer knows the tragic reality of such attacks. She is the founder of Assistance Dogs of Hawaii, one of the state'south two nonprofit service dog training programs accredited by Aid Dogs International (ADI), the leading authority in the industry since 1987.

Maurer describes ane "devastating" attack by a fake service domestic dog that left a disabled veteran doubly traumatized.

In Maurer'south Makawao office on Maui hangs a banner titled "Courage," featuring the happy faces of Melanie, a disabled veteran who lives on Oahu, and her golden retriever, Freedom.

Melanie & Service Domestic dog Freedom. | Photo courtesy of Assistance Dogs of Hawaii

Maurer and her team trained Liberty to help Melanie with a multifariousness of tasks specific to her disability.

Freedom helped Melanie, who uses a power wheelchair, to practice her shopping, become to the movies and "just be out on her own," Maurer explains.

"She regained her independence," recalls Maurer, "and she was and so thankful for that."

About 5 years after Melanie and Freedom became a squad, Melanie lost her sight completely. According to Maurer, it took ii years to retrain Liberty, and to build Melanie's confidence enough to venture back out in public.

"It was so liberating for her to be contained over again," Maurer says. That is until Liberty was viciously attacked by a pet wearing a fake service domestic dog vest, Maurer says.

"It was then traumatizing for Melanie that she never went out on her own over again. In just ane moment her independence was taken away because of someone who wanted to take their pet dog into a eating house," Maurer said.

After the traumatizing assail, "Freedom recovered more than than Melanie did. She couldn't leave the business firm without Freedom and at present she can't get out the house at all," Maurer says, adding there was no repercussion for the other dog'southward owner.

While selecting dogs for training, Maurer frequently partners with Canine Companions for Independence, an ADI accredited program that breeds, raises and provides expertly trained assistance dogs to children, adults and military veterans with disabilities. CCI advocates that "education is the key to reducing the number of pet dogs masquerading equally assist dogs."

Will and Mo Maurer, founders of Assistance Dogs of Hawaii, started working in the Assist Dog manufacture in 1995 when they realized the difficulty Hawaii residents had in obtaining Guide Dogs. Since 2000, they have trained and graduated 100 assistance dog teams.

"According to a 2016 survey, 77 percent of CCI graduates had an see with a fraudulent or out-of-command service dog. Over a quarter had 10 or more encounters, and more than half had their CCI service domestic dog bitten, snapped at or distracted by ane of these dogs," says the nonprofit's web folio on service canis familiaris fraud guidelines titled, "A service dog is more than than a vest."

Michael Greenough, legislative aide to Ruderman, says that although enforcement of the law created past Senate bill 2461 will be challenging, "Information technology is intended to bring about awareness and hopefully, some behavior modification for those trying to pass off pets" as service animals.

Greenough says he recently tried to educate a adult female in a local grocery store who had a small, loud and aggressively barking dog she claimed was a service creature.

"The domestic dog leaned over and tried to bite me. Information technology didn't pause the skin, merely it cut and tore my shirt sleeve," Greenough says, calculation, "I told her 'That's non a service brute.' Then she picked upwards her telephone and bolted, leaving her purse behind."

Laws similar to Hawaii'due south passed in 20 U.S. states tend to exist all bawl and no enforcement bite because ADA statutes that are meant to protect the privacy of people with disabilities are too purposely vague.

Businesses and law enforcement can just ask 2 simple questions to determine the legitimacy of a service animal:

Is this a service animal?
What task does this creature provide for yous?

"Our hope is that when more people become educated about why this legislation is necessary, they will accept an aha! moment," says Jim Kennedy, executive director of Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs, an ADI accredited nonprofit training program on Oahu.

"We hope information technology will accept a deterrent effect," Kennedy says.

Kennedy is likewise a member of the national legislative commission for Assistance Dogs International, which is focused on public education and establishing ADI's loftier standards for service canis familiaris preparation facilities across the globe.

Physical attacks aren't the merely concern, Kennedy says. Misrepresentation of untrained dogs every bit service dogs spreads full general mistrust of all service animals, resulting in increased scrutiny for people with disabilities. This adds to the stress these people endure in navigating public spaces while coping with meaning, medically documented physical and mental challenges.

Educating the public and pet owners about the difference between service dogs that perform necessary, functional tasks for their owners and emotional support animals, is also crucial according to Kennedy.

This false equivalence stems from provisions inside the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act that protect people with disabilities from discrimination when seeking access to housing and air travel.

Francine Wai, executive director of the state Department of Wellness'south Disability and Communication Access Lath, says ane of the almost hard challenges relating to the new land constabulary will be people who mistakenly believe that condolement dogs qualify as service dogs nether the ADA.

"We take far more bug with people with mental disabilities who truly in their heart believe that condolement is a service. If yous ask them over and over over again what service the dog performs, they only say, 'Information technology keeps me calm.' But the canis familiaris doesn't do anything," Wai says.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal equally existence "individually trained to do piece of work or perform tasks for the do good of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability."

Tasks can include pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to sounds, protecting them during a seizure, providing medication reminders or pressing an elevator or crosswalk button.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act: "Emotional support animals, comfort animals and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title Two and Title 3 of the ADA. … The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be direct related to the private's inability. It does not matter if a person has a note from a dr. that states that the person has a inability and needs to accept the brute for emotional support. A doctor's letter of the alphabet does not plow an animal into a service fauna."

Website is "Official" Simply "Unofficial"

No wonder people get confused about what is or is not a service dog.

Take a website that sells "service dog" vests and tags and related materials. It also operates what it calls the "Official Service Canis familiaris Registry." The site, officialservicedogregistry.com, urges people to use the registry to "but register your dog & protect your rights at present" and "gain access to public places with your canis familiaris."

But a disclaimer posted elsewhere on officialservicedogregistry.com specifies that the registry process is completely "unofficial." The privately run website urges people to employ the register responsibly but does not verify those who register.

"Registration is conducted under the honor system and we are not required to verify any disability or review whatever documentation to verify any inability," the website says.

The site also includes encouraging information for people with an "emotional support domestic dog" or a "therapy dog." Withal, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not define such dogs as service animals.

Kennedy says it's normally "pretty obvious" when a pet is beingness misrepresented.

"A dog in a Gucci carrier or a infant carriage tin't help or provide a service," Kennedy says.

Kennedy explains that the majority of service dogs are trained to be "four-on-the-floor," although some medical alert dogs require physical contact with their partner. They are most e'er on a ternion, unless it gets in the way of their partner's mobility.

"A trained service dog won't pull, lunge, growl or bark. Information technology'south trained to heel abreast a partner," Kennedy says, adding that they as well have rigid feeding and elimination routines that make public "accidents" extremely rare.

Both Kennedy and Wai note that business owners have the right to inquire an owner to remove any dog, including service dogs, from the bounds if it exhibits inappropriate behavior. Inappropriate behavior could include overt aggression, indoor elimination or making contact with food or preparation and service areas.

Wai contends that the Americans with Disabilities Human action exists to preclude discrimination confronting people with disabilities defined and documented past medical professionals and the federal government.

"The ADA doesn't give any correct to the creature; it gives the right (of public access) to the person," she says, emphasizing that the state'south new law doesn't only seek to create more than well-behaved pet dogs. "If our only focus remains on the behavior of the beast you brand the inability status irrelevant."