[nagdu] Dog IDs

[Marion Gwizdala]

Larry,
    One important distinction here is the difference between the Americans 
with Disabilities Act (ADA and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Under the 
ADA disabled individuals accompanied by service animals have the right to 
access all areas of a public accommodation with their service animals as 
members of the general public. Under the ACAA, the rules are a little 
different. Not only does the ACAA permit service animals, it also provides 
for comfort and emotional support animals.
    The presentation of documentation is problematic. Although it may 
resolve a problem you might have quickly, it presents problems to those who 
have legitimate service animals but no identification. There are several 
owner trainers on this list and their guide dogs are just as legitimate, 
under the law, as those trained by a program. By presenting identification, 
a precedent is set that could create problems for someone who has an 
owner-trained service dog and no identification. If a place of public 
accommodation denies access to an owner trainer because of lack of 
identification, that place of public accommodation opens themselves up to 
discrimination and the resulting civil and criminal remedies.
    I feel the best way to handle the issue is to not present identification 
but to provide education. By presenting identification, one teaches the 
place of public accommodation that they can ask for such documentation, a 
fact that is false!

fraternally yours,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Keeler" <lkeeler at comcast.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 9:10 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Dog IDs


> Sorry, that was an example of just bad behavior.  I mentioned it because 
> sometimes folks that do that kind of thing reflect on us.  In that 
> example, he didn't groom his dog properly and whenI got hHolly and went to 
> the same restraunt he did, I heard the owner mention that Holly was clean 
> unlike that other dog that came in!  My real point about IDs is that to 
> many people are slipping dogs under the radar as service dogs when they 
> are not.  A story told by a disc jocky in the Ann Arbor area points this 
> out.  He was flying somewhere and a woman sitting next to him had a 
> miniture poodle on her lap.  I love those things and when I was a 
> teenager, I used to breed them.  I went to Pilot precisely because they 
> bred poodles!  The woman claimed that she needed the woman for emotional 
> support because she was scared of flying.  Apparently, the plane hit 
> turbulance and she didn't even reach for the dog.  To all appearances, it 
> sure seemed like the dog was claimed that way to get out of paying for
> it to ride underneath.  A couple of weeks after that, on one of the 
> Detroit tv stations, they showed a article on people doing this sort of 
> thing.  The article included a segment on things such as buying harnesses, 
> vests and IDs on the internet!  My daughter has a friend who claims her 
> dog is a hearing assistant.  She baught a vest for 40 dollars at a store. 
> The thing is a Jack Russel terrier and I have seen it!  It barely knows 
> obedience training!
> Intelligence is always claimed but rarely proven!
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