Thursday, April 03, 2014

The Proliferation of Service Animals. By Geniusofdespair


I finally got mine, so watch out. Legally I can take it into County Hall.

Seriously there are far too many service animals, I guess dogs mostly. This depressed woman brought one into my art class. Hell, I have been depressed since Pepe Diaz got elected. Where is my service animal? I think there is a good reason to have service animals but when everyone has one, we will have pets in our restaurant and just about everywhere else. I bet I could talk my doctor into issuing one just so he can get me out of his office. Here is a registration for an emotional dog kit. What a scam, emotional dog?

Here is all you need, No. 7 most interesting that the ADA does not recognize them:


7. What is the difference between an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) and a Service Dog?

An emotional support animal is just that. It’s a dog that belongs to somebody who has emotional needs. Sometimes people will refer to them as “therapy dogs” or “comfort dogs” but this is not recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The person must have a mental health professional determine that the presence of a dog is necessary for them to continue their daily living habits. They are also required to have their physician write a letter to this effect.These ESA’s are allowed to fly as well and live in housing that would otherwise say “No Animals.” However, under the current ADA and Fair Housing Laws an ESA is only protected as follows:

An ESA may fly in the cabin of a commercial or private airline with their handler, and the handler does not have to pay a pet or other fee. A very specific prescription letter from a licensed mental health profession is ALWAYS required by airlines, as well as advance notice in most cases that the passenger will be flying with an ESA.

Landlords and property managers must make reasonable accommodations for tenants or prospective tenants with ESAs, even if the apartment, house, college dorm, or other residence does not allow pets. Reasonable fees may be asked of the client, similar to a pet fee. Besides requiring a letter of prescription. Property managers/landlords may require that the (prospective) tenant’s mental health professional complete and sign a Third Party Verification form.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sort of like the invisible friend Harvey, except visible and preferably on a leash.
Where can I get one?

And what is next? Emotional Support friends are people to? They certainly have a voice and strong opinion too.

Something for the Supreme Court to get busy with, for shure.

Anonymous said...

I try to stay as far away from these people and their pets as possible. And I hate that people bring their dogs to the park. What about the rights of human beings? Don't we have a right to be free of these animals?

WOOF said...

According to a friend, the incentive is the service animals fly free.

Anonymous said...

Boy, all of you better not travel to Europe, especially France!

Anonymous said...

Pets are in food stores in South Beach all day long. This fraud should be ended on a state and federal level. It is disturbing the lengths dog owners will go to to game the system. Not to mention the people who purchased condominiums which don't allow dogs due to noise are now stuck listening to their mentally ill neighbors dog.

Unknown said...

Per ADA and FHA laws, the key word "disabilities" is found with both the legal definitions of emotional support animals (ESA) and service animals (SA). If people do not have "disabilities", then their animals do not qualify to be ESA or service animals.

Per ADA and FHA laws, service animals are specially trained animals to assist their disabled handlers with their invisible and visible disabilities.

People who are unfamiliar with service animals should visit your local VA Hospital to witness first-hand how service animals help our nation’s wounded warriors with various invisible and visible disabilities.

This video does a great job to explain how service dogs help disabled veterans. As the video states for the service dogs, “We not only help people who cannot see, but also those who have seen too much”.
http://www.military1.com/army/video/459990-for-those-who-have-seen-too-much

Anonymous said...

My husbad treats me like a dog but i stay with him because I'm an emotional cripple.

So can I fly for free?

Seriously, we jumped the shark. Rich white people have offically run out of problems.

Anonymous said...

From http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/business/emotional-support-with-fur-draws-complaints-on-planes.html?_r=0

But their presence on airplanes is increasingly facing a backlash from flight attendants, passengers with allergies and owners of service animals, like Seeing Eye dogs, who say that airplane cabins have become crowded with uncaged animals who have no business being there. The Department of Transportation does not require airlines to keep data on emotional support animals. One that does, JetBlue expects more than 20,000 emotional support and service animals this year.

For that matter, so would have a cat, a monkey, a miniature horse or even a potbellied pig, if they were certified.

Delta says it allows rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, birds and marmots.

a cottage industry of websites and doctors advertising documents that certify emotional support animals has emerged.

For $99, she provides an hour of her time, over the phone or Skype, and a clinical assessment, along with a prescription letter, which is valid for one year.

Anonymous said...

Is it one person, one animal or can I move my farm down to Flirida in bulk?

Anonymous said...

The photo is of which elected official?

ADA Expert said...

I am a federal disability law expert, and I think you are incorrect about being able to bring an iguana into county hall.

According to USDOJ, the ADA only covers service dogs (trained to perform a function) and, in some instances, trained miniature horses. It is true that the Rehab Act allows for comfort animals in dorms and multifamily complexes per HUD/FHA regulations, but HUD/FHA has no jurisdiction over county hall, BECAUSE IT IS A NON-RESIDENCE. The DOT regulations relating to air travel also certainly do not apply to county hall.

I am very up-to-date on these issues, and I can assure you there is no FEDERAL law that would require county officials to allow an iguana in county hall if they did not want it there.

The only way an individual cam legally force their way into county hall with a comfort iguana is if state or local law requires it. In a few very liberal states, it actually might be allowed. However, Florida is not known for being progressive, and I highly doubt the Florida state human rights law is interpreted that way.

So the determination would likely rest on whether the county's Human Rights Board interprets the county human rights ordinance as requiring it. I highly doubt that, too.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps these people and their animals should travel on designated animal flights. As a human being, I think there should be flights just for us. If there are snakes, dogs, monkies and the like, I don't want to be on the plane. We need a federal law to make this happen. Otherwise, many of us just won't fly.

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the scientific community will create some companion robots for all these loney people.

Cato II said...

As someone who practiced ADA law for years, ADA Expert is correct. Many disabled persons use service dogs to help them do tasks they cannot. The late Fred Shotz, another ADA expert and disability right advocate, always had big chested dobermans help to pull him in his wheelchair. An animal that is merely brought for emotional comfort does not have to be accommodated without reservation. There are reptiles in County Hall. It's just that most of them got there via elections.

Anonymous said...

An out-of-control animal can insure a plane will crash. I don't want my life or the lives of others on the plane dependent on what an animal does or doesn't do. Plus I don't ever want to be in close proximity to any animals. The idea of a designated plane for them is good as all the risks are concentrated and a person knows upfront that there are additional risks on these flights.

Anonymous said...

Now that you are discussing it, I wonder if there were animals on the missing flight?

scott miller said...

Anonymous,
How would an out of control animal insure the crash of a plane. It would have to be VERY well trained to access the flight deck and as far as I know the training of service animals does not include the picking of locks on cockpit doors. Unless, of course, you're referring to the pilot needing a service animal, but that would just be silly.