[nagdu] Petition to ask the US Department of Justice to take action to stop fraudulent use of service dog ID or gear.

Fri Aug 16 16:46:08 UTC 2013

Marion,

Yes, dealing meaningfully with the people fraudulently passing off their 
pets as service dogs would go much further, I think, to stem the problem.

So would education of businesses about their right to remove a dog that 
is misbehaving. Any dog, doesn't matter if it is a service dog. If even 
our dogs are out of line and we can't deal with it, then out they go! If 
the dog causes damage, then we pay for it! I use my own dog to get the 
point across when I am educating, since it does seem to cause lightbulbs 
to flicker fitfully. Businesses do not have to be afraid of service dogs 
or that the dog eating food off the fine white linen is a service dog or 
anything like that. I would recommend they get video of the misbehavior, 
then have the dog removed.

I am going to have to start pointing out that the phrase "fake service 
dog gear" is absolutely meaningless. It's just stuff. It has nothing to 
do with public access and never has. So there is no such thing as "real 
service dog gear." Ignore it. If a dog is wearing a patch, then there is 
a dog with a patch. Has nothing to do with whether the person may bring 
the dog into your business and does not give the person a legal pass and 
does not make it legal for the person to let the dog tear things up.

I think all this hoopla over the gear really just increases the confusion.

I also find it pretty rich that programs like CCI are driving that 
bandwagon. Who has been passing out nifty ID cards and telling their 
grads to show them to people as proof of their right to bring their 
service dogs in? Who puts all those little patches and capes on the dogs 
so that people will know they are service dogs and can come into places 
of public access? Who has really caused the problem by misinforming 
business and the general public all these years? So those of us who know 
our legal rights and will not use ID or accept being asked for it have 
two problems. We have to keep educating around the misinformation while 
some fool with a service dog patch on his pet just waltzes right in.

It gets old.

It also gets old, I will add, hearing all about how it's the fakes and 
frauds that behave badly and cause problems for real service dog users. 
Well, also, it's owner-trainers who are just plain irresponsible and 
don't know what they are doing, of course not.

Meanwhile, a lot of us have had to deal with program dogs. I'm not the 
only one who is not worried about Fluffy because Fluffy has never done a 
dang thing to me. It's the dog from whatever the bleep training program 
that is in my experience likely to be a problem for me and my dog. It's 
dogs from training programs that have nearly cost me my guide and her 
training more than once. And resulted in my having to do *a lot* of 
retraining to use my guide in places of public accommodation. I'm not 
the only service dog user out there who is really tired of putting up 
with that.

If folks know and will apply the law to deal with problem dogs -- 
regardless of service dog status -- then we can possibly hope for fewer 
problem dogs when we go into places of public accommodation.

Tami

On 08/16/2013 06:49 AM, National Association of Guide Dog Users wrote:
> William,
> 	I think it would serve us better if each state would enact penalties
> criminalizing the deceptive assertion that an animal is a service animal.
> Most states have similar statutes that read something like, "It is unlawful
> for anyone not legally blind to carry in a raised or extended position a
> cane that is white or white tipped in red." Perhaps the clause could read,
> "It is unlawful for any person to fraudulently assert that an animal is a
> service animal under federal law." I fear that the prohibition of selling
> service animal gear may limit the availability of such gear to those of us
> wishing alternatives to that gear issued by the training program. One of the
> provisions training programs hold over the heads of their consumers is the
> retention of ownership of the guide dog gear and the right to repossess that
> gear. At the same time, I would agree that there could be a crack-down on
> the sale of service animal identification cards and other such
> documentation, similar to those prohibiting counterfeit state and federal
> identification. Just my opinion!
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William
> Vandervest
> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 9:20 PM
> To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] {Disarmed} Fw: [leader-dogs-l] Petition to ask the US
> Department of Justice to take action to stop fraudulent use of service dog
> ID or gear.
>
>
> There are none so blind as those who will not see
>
> William and LD Lynard
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sarah Calhoun
> To: List Leader
> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 5:26 PM
> Subject: [leader-dogs-l] Petition to ask the US Department of Justice to
> take action to stop fraudulent use of service dog ID or gear.
>
>
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> There is a petition to ask the US Department of Justice to take action to
> stop fraudulent use of service dog ID or gear. You can find the petition
> at: www.cci.org/stopfraud
>
> Signers of the petition receive a letter like the one below:
>
> Thank you for asking the Department of Justice to investigate and stop the
> online sale of fraudulent service dog products.
>
> Please forward this message and urge your friends to add their names at
> www.cci.org/stopfraud
>
> With your help, we can raise awareness about this important issue and demand
> an end to the sale of fake service dog products.
>
> Thank you for all that you do.
>
> Canine Companions for Independence
>
> Thank you for considering in signing this worthwhile petition.
>
> Sarah Calhoun
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
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