[nagdu] S.F. getting its fill of 'service animals'

[Jeanette Beal]

This article is so poorly written that I can't even begin to process the
awesomeness of it. Capitalizing guide dogs [for the blind] aside, the
addition of snakes, lizards and chickens just fantasticalises this into
something I'd rather enjoy watching SyFy handle.
And I now want a service chicken.
Or perhaps a service iguana. They get kind of vicious at age 3 or so but
until then it'd be pretty sweet to have a giant black lab on one side and an
iguana on the other. He could be my chick-magnet.
Emotionally supportive iguanas for all!
Heh.
Jeanette

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 3:42 PM, Michael Hingson <info at michaelhingson.com>wrote:

> This is from the San Francisco Chronicle, www.sfgate.com.
>
> S.F. getting its fill of 'service animals'
>
> Saturday, January 2, 2010
>
>
> It is not your imagination. There really are more dogs strolling through
> public spaces with their owners. Animals are going where they have never
> gone before.  "In San Francisco, it is just so much more in your face,"
> says
> Emily Simone, a senior field manager for Guide Dogs for the Blind. "In the
> '80s and especially in the '90s, I've just seen an explosion. We've become
> animal obsessed. The East Coast and San Francisco are particular hotbeds
> for
> advocacy."
>
> San Francisco has become a city filled with "service animals," meaning the
> owner has a permit that allows him or her to take their dog, cat, or snake
> (seriously) into restaurants, libraries, and often even rental properties
> that don't allow pets. In 2004 the city's Animal Care and Control
> Department
> issued 244 permits. In 2008 the number was 500, and interim director
> Rebecca
> Katz speculates that 2009 numbers are at least as high.
>
> Unfortunately, the practice of granting service animal permits so
> generously
> is undercutting the intent of the law. Permits that allow an animal full
> access to buses, restaurants and public places should go only to service
> animals that perform a specific task and it seems too often that's not
> happening. That needs to change.
>
> A good example of the problem can be seen on Haight Street. Residents
> complain that many of the street bullies have intimidating dogs, often pit
> bulls, which they take into restaurants and stores.
>
> "They go into a restaurant, sit down with the dog, and when the owner says
> he doesn't allow dogs, they show him a service animal tag," says Bill
> Herndon, who works for the SFPD's Vicious and Dangerous Animals Unit. "The
> police are called, they see the tag, and that's the end of the discussion."
>
> Actually, Katz says, they don't even need a permit.
>
> "The Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't require the animal to have a
> tag," she says. Owners just need to say, "This is a service animal."
>
> The ADA legislation, enacted in 1990, is so vague that it has created two
> classes of service animals. The first is for animals that perform a
> specific
> task - Guide Dogs for the Blind, wheelchair assistance, hearing dogs, and
> animals that can detect medical emergencies, like seizures, and summon
> help.
>
> The problem is the second classification - emotional support animals. All
> animals - lizards, chickens and snakes - have been designated service
> animals because they lend emotional support to the owner. In most cases
> they
> have no task-specific training.
>
> "People can't believe there isn't some kind of official licensing or
> training," Herndon says. "I think the policy is misused and abused."
>
> Technically, there is a licensing process, but it is hardly restrictive.
> Katz says her office requires a valid license, a local address, a signed
> affidavit saying the owner needs a service animal, and a letter from a
> doctor. After that, the permit is issued with no questions asked.
>
> Katz says that in the case of vicious or aggressive behavior, an officer
> like Herndon can cite the owner, confiscate the dog, and even have the
> animal put down after a hearing. That's fine, but it leaves enforcement for
> after the fact. What if the dog just growls? Is that enough to lose the
> service animal designation?
>
> What's really needed is a change in the ADA legislation. No one is saying
> there shouldn't be an allowance for emotional support, but it should be a
> different kind of permit. It is terrific that your hamster makes you feel
> better, but you shouldn't get to take him on the bus.
>
> Simone says organizations like the Coalition of Assistance Dog
> Organizations
> have been lobbying to change the ADA to narrow the definition of a service
> animal. She thinks federal changes could come as soon as this summer.
>
> Until then, watch your fingers. That service animal on the bus may have no
> more training than a squirrel. And in this city it might be a squirl.
>
> The Michael Hingson Group
>      “Speaking with Vision”
>                  Michael Hingson, President
>                          (415) 827-4084
>                    info at michaelhingson.com
>                    www.michaelhingson.com
>
>
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>
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>
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-- 
Jeanette Beal
MS.Ed Assistive Technology
Independent Consultant
Boston, MA 02115
bealjk at gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bealjk
http://bealjk.tumblr.com/

"Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire" - Marge
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