[nagdu] hold the medicalcommunity responsible- leaping lizzards

Fri Feb 25 22:14:17 UTC 2011

It seems to me that part of the solution to limiting the plethora of therapy 
and emotional support dogs is to create accountability within the medical 
community. Mental health professionals and doctors understand people not 
dogs. Some of the medical community can prescribe medication. Therapy and 
emotional support dogs do not constitute a prescription. For those of us who 
choose to go through formal training at a guide dog school we have jump 
through many hoops. Why not design similar hoops for patients and their 
mental health providers to work through?  I realize this is not the solution 
for everyone, especially for those who self train their dog.

>From Lisa and Bernie al Message ----- 
From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 6:49 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Leapin' Lizards! Service Animals Are Multiplying 
LikeDoggone Rabbits

> Leapin' Lizards! Service Animals Are Multiplying Like Doggone
> Rabbits
> Skippy the Iguana Keeps His Owner Calm, But Therapy Dog Maxx Is
> an Impostor.
> By ANN ZIMMERMAN
> Wall Street Journal
> February 24, 2011
>
> Rhonda Kimmel's 11-year-old West Highland terrier, Maxx, goes
> with her everywhere-to the mall, restaurants and even to the
> bank.
>
> Cosmie Silfa relies on an unusual companion to help him stay
> clean and sober: Skippy, a four-year-old iguana. But changes to
> the Americans with Disabilities Act could decertify Skippy as an
> official service animal. WSJ's Clare Major reports.
>
> What gives Maxx entree to places normally off-limits to canines
> and other animals is the embroidered, purple vest he sports. It
> says: "Therapy Dog Maxx."
>
> Maxx is a lot of things, including well-behaved, and he is a
> faithful companion. What he is not, however, is a therapy dog or
> a service dog, and Ms. Kimmel is not disabled.
>
> Still, Ms. Kimmel says the vest, which she purchased online, no
> questions asked, makes people think otherwise, so they don't
> object to Maxx. "They know they are not supposed to ask," Ms.
> Kimmel says, alluding to the federal law that protects people
> with service animals from inquiries about the nature of their
> disability.
>
> The various uses for service animals, particularly dogs, have
> expanded in recent years beyond the traditional tasks of helping
> blind and deaf people get around safely. Dogs now are used to
> help people detect the onset of seizures, alert diabetics when
> their glucose levels drop too low, and remind psychiatric
> patients to take their medicine.
>
> View Full Image
>
> Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal
>
> Cosmie Silfa says his iguana, Skippy, is a bona-fide service
> animal-and to buttress his point, he carries around a letter from
> his psychiatrist.
> .But the trend also means that there are many more ways to game
> the system-so pet lovers need never be without their companions,
> even if the rules say they should leave the shih tzu at home.
>
> Last summer, after Ocean Park, Md., resident Joseph Wayne Short
> began walking Hillary, his four-foot-long iguana on the
> boardwalk, the city council passed an ordinance prohibiting
> undomesticated animals from mingling with the public, according
> to City Solicitor Guy Ayres.
>
> Mr. Short fought back. He plunked down $64 to place Hillary on
> the Internet-based National Service Animal Registry, a private
> company that, among other things, sells service-animal
> credentials.
>
>
> Maxx
> .On the company website, where Hillary's picture and registration
> number is displayed, it says under service type: unspecified. But
> Mr. Short, who couldn't be reached for comment, has told people
> that Hillary keeps him calm.
>
> "The gentleman claimed that the iguana was his service animal, so
> I am not sure the police looked into it further," Mr. Ayres says.
>
>
> The registry didn't return repeated phone calls for comment.
>
> Cosmie Silfa, in San Francisco, also has a "service iguana." His
> name is Skippy. Mr. Silfa takes him on the bus and walks him in a
> local park.
>
> "He cradles him like a baby, a big scary baby," says Roy Mair,
> who works the front desk of the subsidized housing unit where Mr.
> Silfa lives. Mr. Silfa says what qualifies Skippy as a service
> animal is a letter from the psychiatrist who has been treating
> Mr. Silfa for depression. The letter says Skippy "helps him to
> maintain a stable mood."
>
> Fearing a backlash, advocates for the disabled last fall
> successfully lobbied the Department of Justice to narrow the
> definition of service animals.
>
> Beginning March 15, the Americans With Disabilities Act will only
> recognize dogs as service animals. The new regulations include a
> provision that says the public must accommodate, where
> reasonable, trained miniature horses as well.
>
> The new rules are an effort to "stop erosion of the public's
> trust, which has resulted in reduced access for many individuals
> with disabilities who use trained service animals that adhere to
> high behavioral standards," according to a Justice Department
> spokeswoman.
>
> The Department of Transportation, too, tried to crack down on
> dubious service animals on planes, but that created more problems
> than it solved.
>
> "It's a mess," says Toni Eames, president of the International
> Association of Assistance Dog Partners.
>
> The DOT attempted to weed out passengers pretending their pets
> were service animals in order to avoid having to ship them as
> cargo or, in the case of smaller animals, to keep them in a
> carrier at their feet.
>
> The new rules allow animals that aid people with physical
> disabilities to board a plane freely. The only question airline
> personnel are allowed to ask is how the animal assists the
> person.
>
> But passengers who want to board with psychiatric or
> emotional-support animals must contact the airline 48 hours
> before departure and submit a letter from a licensed
> mental-health professional that documents their mental or
> emotional illness.
>
> Mental-health advocates are outraged and have petitioned the
> Transportation Department to get rid of the new regulation.
>
> "We are forced to disclose we are mentally ill in order to fly.
> It's un-American," says Joan Esnayra, president of the
> Psychiatric Service Dog Society. "Everyone with a service dog
> should be treated the same."
>
> What's more, the new rules do little to get rid of the fakers.
> "If people are clever and they have a well-behaved dog, they know
> just what to say to get their dog on board," says Ms. Eames. "Or
> they can get a friendly psychologist to write a note."
>
> It's risky for businesses to deny access to people accompanied by
> service dogs-even if they think they are pretending to be
> disabled-because if suspicions prove to be unfounded, a business
> could face civil penalties of up to $55,000 for violating a
> person's civil rights.
>
> The new ADA rules might keep service iguanas Hillary and Skippy
> off the streets, should the authorities choose to clamp down. Mr.
> Silfa, Skippy's owner, says that would make him sad.
>
> "The natural sunlight is very good for him," Mr. Silfa says. "But
> I guess I'll have to cross that bridge if I get to it."
>
> Rhonda Kimmel, owner of "Therapy dog Maxx," says she hates to
> "take advantage." But she lives in such a hot climate, she argues
> that the only place Maxx can get some decent summer exercise is
> in the air-conditioned mall.
>
> Still, she says she knows when to draw the line. She recently was
> to meet with her lawyer, whose building doesn't allow dogs. So
> Ms. Kimmel, the lawyer and Maxx held their meeting outdoors.
>
> "I know I was pushing it and I didn't want to start a fight,"
> says Ms. Kimmel. "It's not like I'm blind or something."
>
> Write to Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman at wsj.com
> URL:
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487036521045761224611
> 80284204.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_ahed
>
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