[nagdu] Ill-behaved dogs versus children

[Jenine Stanley]

A while back now Ginger brought up a question about how a restaurant would
handle a case of children acting out as opposed to a service dog and why the
restaurant might be able to ban a service animal from being there but not do
the same for children and was this fair? 

Ginger, I hope I understood your question/point. 

Under the ADA, and we're talking strictly civil rights law here, not social
conventions, your dog is viewed in the same way a wheelchair, crutches or
hearing aid are viewed, as an assistive device. You as the handler have the
legal, civil right to bring that animal with you into public places and work
with it in the manner in which it was trained to assist you. 

This is very different from someone who has children, who are legally
recognized as human beings and have a whole different set of rights. 

I'm sure the restaurant industry struggles routinely with what to do about
disruptive children but it has clear remedies about what to do regarding
disruptive service animals. 

Bans can be for a set time or permanent as I understand it. It's all in the
negotiations between handler and entity, or court if it goes that far. 

I often wish people would have the same control over their children in
public places as we are expected to have over our dogs though. :)

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com
http://www.twitter.com/jeninems