[nagdu] Fake Service Dogs

Ginger Kutsch GingerKutsch at yahoo.com
Thu Nov 3 13:37:09 UTC 2011


Fake Service Dogs

Reported by: Chris Womack Email: cwomak at cbs42.com     

Published: 11/02 

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)- People with disabilities often rely on service dogs
to help them go about their daily lives; but, not all service dogs are what
they appear to be.

 

Janet Skotnicki uses her service dog Splash to help her walk.  An autoimmune
disorder causes Janet trouble maintaining her balance.  Enter Splash, a
Great Dane, who wears a harness and acts like a mobile handrail.  "He's
given me my freedom back, which means the world to me.  He's a great
blessing," she says.

 

It takes serious training for a new-born puppy to mature into a service dog.
Hickory Nut Kennels in Cullman trains service dogs, with canines all over
the southeast assisting those with disabilities.  "It starts from the time
they're born, [with] the socialization.  Then we go through the puppy
training, the basic obedience, and then after 6 to 8 months of age they go
into the specific task training.  That's whatever they have to do for their
person," says Liz Walls, part-owner of the kennel.  

 

All people love their dogs.  People who use service dogs, however, depend on
them.  Because of that dependence, they're allowed to take their dogs into
restaurants and other businesses that other animals are not allowed.  Across
the country, however, people are dressing their dogs up as service animals
to get them access into these places.  "I speak to people, almost on a daily
basis, business owners who are having problems with this, other service dog
users and so forth," says Andi Krusoe with Guide Dogs of America.  

 

The dastardly deed goes almost uncontested.  Because of ADA guidelines,
business owners are back into  a corner.  Krusoe says it can be tough to
detirmine a real service dog because they are not required to wear a
harness, jacket, or any other form of identification.  It puts restaurant
owners like Andrea Snyder, who founded Urban Cookhouse in downtown Homewood,
in a bind.  "We will ask them, 'Is your dog a service dog?'  They aren't
required to show us an ID.  As long as they tell us, 'Yes it is,' they're
allowed.  Non-service dogs are not allowed," she says.

 

It doesn't stop there.  Some owners are being ransomed like they're in an
old western film.  "We've had situations where people bring their dogs in
and they'll be told to take their dogs outside, and  they'll say, 'No, this
is my service dog and if you don't give me this amount of money, I'm going
to sue you.'"  And they end up making a deal and giving them money," says
Krusoe.

 

The only defense a business owner has, is if the dog misbehaves.  "We call
them bomb-proof, because they have to be out in the public, and on buses,
and in malls, stores, resaurants, and they have to be extremely well
behaved," says Krusoe.  If the dog does not behave this way, then the owner
can ask the person to take their dog outside.  Until then, the only resort
for legitimate service dog users like Janet Skotnicki, is to plead with
these atrocious abusers.  "You need to stop doing that because you're going
to make it more difficult for other people." 

 

Source:

http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/Fake-Service-Dogs/68a13VVlkEia_
MHIEjH2SA.cspx




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