[nagdu] The definition of service animals grows

[Ginger Kutsch]

The definition of service animals grows to include animals that provide companionship to their owners
by Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian 
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 7:48 PM
http://www.oregonlive.com:80/news/index.ssf/2008/10/the_definition_of_service_anim.html

Kae Seth wasn't surprised to read that bus passenger Leroy Morley passed off his pet Rottweiler mix, Max, as a service dog. The president of Guide Dog Users of Oregon says she increasingly encounters "people who try to stretch the letter of the law" to get their pets into buses and businesses. 

Peggy LaPoint wasn't surprised to hear that Marie Kelemen's service dog, Buddy, was a powder puff of a Pomeranian. The TriMet spokeswoman has heard of "service animals" ranging from big dogs to bunnies on Portland's trains and buses. 

"All animals" can be service animals, LaPoint said. "It could be a goat, not that we've ever seen a goat. But there have been rabbits. There have been cats. There have been, I imagine, rodents." 

And it's no surprise Max and Buddy tangled on the No. 75 bus Sunday. Guide dog owners are used to other dogs sniffing, barking, nipping and otherwise engaging their animals. "Dogs are dogs," said Joanne Ritter, spokeswoman for Guide Dogs for the Blind, which has campuses in California and Oregon. 

The only shocking thing about the canine encounter was its brutal finish: One quick bite as Max exited the bus left Buddy bleeding to death on Kelemen's lap. 

Max was on a leash when he bit Buddy. That would have been fine for a service dog, which is what Morley told the bus driver Max was, but not for a pet like Max. 

"All animals need to be in a carrier, except (service) cats, rabbits, dogs and monkeys," LaPoint said. "They need to be on a leash." 

But it's not the job of TriMet workers to decide which animals should be contained, LaPoint said. The Americans With Disabilities Act says any "animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability" is a service animal. All drivers do is ask boarding riders if their leashed companions are service animals, LaPoint said. If the riders say yes, it's not TriMet's place to deem the animal unserviceable. 

What about little Buddy? What service can a 7-pound Pomeranian provide? Kelemen has hip and back problems. But Buddy mainly offered social interaction. A doctor wrote a note on a prescription pad saying a companion would help the 59-year-old. 

Whether dogs that mostly love and comfort are true service animals "is a big debate, even in the community of people who are blind or disabled," Ritter said. Some say companionship is the essence of a pet, but only training makes a service animal. Still, animals can help some socially isolated or mentally troubled people function better. 

TriMet keeps no data on animal ridership. But Seth thinks it's increasingly common for dogs whose main purpose is companionship -- not guiding the blind or opening doors -- to be taken into businesses as service animals. 

People who spent decades fighting for access for dogs helping the blind and disabled sometimes worry that folks stretching the law will cause a backlash. But a bigger problem for the blind and disabled is interference from other dogs, either companion animals or pets. What seems like a friendly sniffing session can make a blind person miss a meeting or bus, Ritter said. 

"You've just stopped me in my tracks," she said, "and I can't move forward until your dog moves out of the way." 


-- Andy Dworkin; andydworkin at news.oregonian.com