Why Can’t My Kangaroo Fly with Me?Sorting through the Confusion about Support Animals-(Part 2)

By Chas Barrie & Peter Welch

Support Animals: (Part II of III)

In our first part of this blog post series we provided a definition of a service dog from the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is much more to service animals than merely the legal definition.

It is important to be aware of the distinction among the types of support dogs. According to the Service Animal Association (SAA) the different types are as follows:

· “A service dog is individually trained to perform tasks that mitigate the disability of his owner. Training typically takes 18-24 months. Because of his advanced training, a service dog is considered medical equipment and is permitted to accompany his disabled owner to many places where pets are not permitted”.

On her website, April Childers provides a very nice description of some varies types of service dogs.

o Guide Dogs are trained to be there partner’s eyes. These animals are trained to help a visually impaired handler travel through our world. Childers writes: “if the dog turns to look at a person who just reached out to pet him on the street, he could fall to notice the car making an illegal U-turn, resulting in them being hit in a cross walk, thus rendered broken and bleeding.”

o Mobility Assistance Dogs specifically balance dogs, assistance their handlers with balance difficulties while walking. In this case Childers reminds us: “If the dog starts to walk towards a person telling him what a good boy he is, the human partner could quite likely be yanked to the pavement, once again, broken and bleeding.”

Additionally, mobility dogs have been known to assist those people in a wheel chair. The dog is trained to such tasks as picking dropped items as well as pulling the wheel chair. In this example Childers suggests: “A service darting forward because someone is deliberately waving a slice of pizza in his face could easily cause the chair to flip or yank the handler from the chair, leaving the wheelchair user broken and bleeding.”

o Medical Alert Dogs are trained to warn handler of looming seizure, loss of consciousness or serious change in blood sugar levels. Childers reports: conditions such as epilepsy or diabetes rely on their dog to alert to these episodes so they can get into a safe position or take medication before occurs and they collapse to the ground”, and yes once again before they become broken and bleeding.

o Psychiatric Service Dogs perform specific tasks for the handler’s individual disability. These dogs are most commonly used for Post Traumatic Disorder.

The handler depends on the dog to wake them from night terrors, interrupt situations that may cause panic attack, retrieve medications or other help and more. Should the dog become distracted from his duties and unable to watch over their human partner as required, this result are as Childers writes: “possibly leaving them mentally broken and bleeding. If not literally.”

· Emotional support animal belongs to a person with a disability and has been determined by that person’s doctor that the company of the animal is necessary for the mental health of the person with the disability. There provided a written prescription is issued stating that the pet is necessary. This is used for a person’s home despite “no pet” regulations of the landlord. Little or no training is required of these animals and the ASA states “The owner of an emotional support dog has no more right than any other pet owner to take their emotional support animal with them other to keep one in a home where pets are not permitted or to fly with one in a cabin when pets are not permitted.”

· Therapy Support Dogs this is a dog which has been trained, tested, registered and insured to visit with his owner patients or residents in a hospital or nursing home setting for the purpose to bring some cheer to the people there. These are well behaved animals that completes usually 8 weeks of training. It is important to remember a therapy dog is legally a pet, and although the animal is registered, this is to prove to the manager of a facility that the animal is well behaved, safe around people and is insured against liability. Even with the training, registration and insurance the animal is not permitted in a facility without the owner’s permission.

The question may be, since the ADA basically recognizes dogs as service animals which breeds would suited to these tasks? The SAA suggest that: “Traditional breeds for service dogs have been German Shepherds, Labradors and Golden Retrievers.” Today if the dog has the right temperament, skills and the willingness to work, nearly any breed can do certain jobs. It needs to be noted that breeds such as pugs and bulldogs as less likely to be the service animals, their pushed in noses has given them breathing difficulties while walking and a shorter working life.

Recently smaller breeds have become popular, their size and smaller diets is very appealing to those on fixed income living in smaller housing. The difficulty with some of the toy breeds as service animals is that are they are not taken seriously especially if dressed up in a “cute” little outfit. So called “Bully Breeds” can be a problem as well. Because many cities are beginning to pass breed specific legislation (BSL) or bans on certain breeds, often these breeds will be required to be muzzled in public or you may not be able to purchase or own a banned breed within city limits. But breeds such as Doberman and Rottweilers can be useful service animals.

As for service dogs, they are highly trained animals who have a job, they may seem like they are just laying unaware of the world around them. Don’t be fooled, they are watching their handler very closely and are ready to respond to the handler’s needs. The dog may pop his head up and stare to get his owners attention. A guide dog may come to a sudden stop or block his handler’s path to warn of danger.

Service dogs are trained to ignore distraction, but they are still dogs and not infallible. In the third and final piece of this story we will discuss service dog etiquette, abuse of the system and finally some ideas to assist business owners to possibly detect (dog fraud).

Sources:

Childers, April. (2017). Why You Can’t Pets Service Dogs. Retrieved From: https://www.anythingpawsable.com/cant-pet-service-dogs/

Service Animal Association. Service Dog Facts. Retrieved From: http://www.serviceanimalassociation.org/service-dog-facts/

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. (2011). Service Animals. Retrieved From: http://www.da.gov/service_animals_2010.htm