[nagdu] New Yorkers use bogus 'therapy dog' tags to take Fido everywhere

[Ginger Kutsch]

New Yorkers use bogus 'therapy dog' tags to take Fido everywhere

By TARA PALMERI

August 5, 2013

Source:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/stupid_dog_trick_1nMC3NBq6sPfyzlpXdiDkN

 

Phony "service dog" tags have become common among city pooch owners, who use
them for everything from taking Fido bar-hopping to pick up chicks to
getting discounts on the Hamptons Jitney. 

 

Dog owners can easily snap up bogus tags, vests, patches and certificates on
the Internet, circumventing the city Health Department and undermining
federal regulations designed to aid the disabled. 

 

"I was sick of tying up my dog outside," said Brett David, 33, a
restaurateur whose tiny pooch, Napoleon, wore an unofficial "therapy dog"
patch during a visit to Whole Foods on Houston Street (pictured).

 

"Sometimes, they'll give me a hassle and say bring the papers next time, but
for five bucks, you order [a patch] off eBay, and it works 90 percent of the
time," he told The Post.

 

The Health Department issues legitimate service-dog tags but doesn't
regulate them. 

 

To obtain a legitimate tag, an applicant only needs to present a letter from
a dog trainer saying the dog can perform certain useful tasks. Proof of a
disability isn't required.

 

David merely had to say "service dog" at a Starbucks on Delancey Street and
again at a dumpling eatery on Broome Street for him and his furry friend to
be allowed inside. 

 

"He's been to most movie theaters in the city, more nightclubs than most of
my friends," David boasted of Napoleon, a Maltese Yorkie. 

 

"I don't care who you are, a teacup Yorkie will trump a black [American
Express] card when you're trying to pick up a girl." 

 

Financier Kate Vlasovskaya, 24, carries a phony "service dog" ID card she
bought online from the "United States Service Dog Registry" for her Cavalier
King Charles spaniel, Lila. 

 

"It's becoming pretty popular now," she said as she recently carted Lila on
the Hamptons Jitney without having to buy a ticket for the dog.

 

For $50, the laminated card, featuring a hologram, provides the dog with an
ID number. 

 

Vlasovskaya isn't worried about getting called out, noting it's a hassle to
verify the certificate. 

 

"You'd have to go through all of these links or get someone on the line,"
she said. "With all of that effort, they will probably just let you in." 

 

Toni Eames, the blind president of the International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners, said fake service pooches antagonize her Seeing-Eye
dog. 

 

"People don't realize that if the dog misbehaves in any way - if it isn't
clean, barks or is overly friendly and jumps on people - that it aggravates
other dogs and disrupts the way they do service," she said.

 

Lori Levine, designer of the Comes With Baggage handbag line, got her dogs
legitimate tags after paying $1,100 to have them trained. She got the tags
so she could take the pets to visit a sick friend in the hospital but also
brings the pooches along while dining out, shopping or traveling. 

 

"You can tell when people are faking it," she said. "Their dogs act crazy." 

 

tpalmeri at nypost.com 

 

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