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

Michael Hingson mhingson at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jan 3 07:20:07 UTC 2010 

Except that there are examples of all being purported to be service or
emotional support animals.  I met, for example, during a speaking trip a
woman who was proud of the fact that she helped get the first emotional
support rat certified in Colorado.  Certified?  How?  Never the less that
was her claim.

Such cases are why the ADA needs to be clarified.  Horses have proven to be
successful as guides as we all know who read this list.  However, we also
know people stretch the envelope.  

The Michael Hingson Group
     “Speaking with Vision”
                 Michael Hingson, President
                         (415) 827-4084
                   info at michaelhingson.com
                   www.michaelhingson.com


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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jeanette Beal
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 7:24 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] S.F. getting its fill of 'service animals'

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
>
>
> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
> http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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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
Piercy
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