[nagdu] National Epidemic of Horrible People Pretending to Be Disabled |

Tue Oct 15 13:24:49 UTC 2013

Rebecca,
Just to be clear, she is my EX-sister in law. And I haven't reported her because my state has no official reporting method to turn people in who abuse the system. If there was, then I would. 
I also never said that I was in agreement of certification. Because I am not. 

Marsha drenth  
Sent with my IPhone 

On Oct 15, 2013, at 8:24 AM, "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com> wrote:

> Why not turn your sister in law in? Nothing is stopping you from doing this.
> 
> I have all kinds of issues with sertification for guide dogs, first who
> would do it, and what would ensure that the process had integrity? In places
> such as New Zealand where guide dogs need to be certified, the school is
> responsible for handling it. Needless to say, they have no reason to certify
> a dog they did not train. 
> Also, I am very much against needing to show id should I use a service dog.
> I don't mind showing id if I buy a drink because I am soliciting the
> interaction, I've decided I want a drink, and I've decided where I will
> drink it. I know that the waitress or bartender is the one I'm showing my id
> to. None of this is true with service dog certification. 
> I also think that showing an id exposes anybody with a service dog to undue
> scrutiny. It reminds me a little too much of Germany during the Hitler
> years. 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marsha Drenth
> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 7:26 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] National Epidemic of Horrible People Pretending to Be
> Disabled |
> 
> Marion,
> 
> 
> I do agree but also disagree. The article is clearly trying to make a mole
> hill into a mountain. Darnit I never get those stupid sayings right,
> anyways. Who ever wrote it is looking for the media hype. The part that I
> don't agree with is that people do actually use handicapp parking tags in
> illegal matters. Yes I know that is not guide dog related. But for example
> my ex-SIL bought a handicapp tag for her car off of ebay. She is using it
> now in the state of PA, it drives me crazy, and would love love love to turn
> her in. She is not disabled, none of her family is disabled, nor does she
> have anything to do with me anymore, ie drives me around. She is not the
> only one I know to use the handicapp parking tags in a illegal way. Yes the
> author of this article had a bigger agenda then just the statement of fake
> or annoying people. but to push service dog issues. 
> JMO 
> 
> 
> Also by no means am I opening the door for debate in regards to say that
> blind people need handicapp parking tags..Unfortunately blindness is not the
> only disablity I have. 
> 
> Marsha drenth
> Sent with my IPhone 
> 
> On Oct 14, 2013, at 12:25 PM, "National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <blind411 at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
>> Dear All, 
>>   I think we should be very skeptical of the flurry of such articles 
>> in the past couple months. Most of them have one thing in common: Most 
>> either refer to or are featuring CCI consumers. CCI is the 
>> organization promoting an online petition to regulate the online sale 
>> of service dog gear and identification.
>> 
>>   These reports have asserted it is a federal crime to pass a pet off 
>> as a service dog. I find it very interesting, as violation of the ADA 
>> is not a criminal offense, rather, the aDA is a civil law with no 
>> criminal remedies.
>> 
>>   It is my personal opinion that the prevalence of this sort of 
>> behavior is being intentionally exaggerated in an effort to support 
>> the need for certification. This would only benefit the training 
>> programs, not the disabled community. I am of the opinion that the 
>> best way to counter this issue - if it is really an issue - is to 
>> better educate places of public accommodation about what is really a 
>> service dog and that the rights of the disabled under the ADA are not 
>> absolute, but carry with it specific responsibilities of acceptable
> behavior.
>> 
>>   I received a call from a restaurant a couple weeks ago about 
>> someone who came in with an untethered  dog, claiming it was a service 
>> dog. The owner asked if it was a service dog and the patron told her 
>> that it was none of her business and she could not ask any questions 
>> because doing so was a violation of HIPAA. I advised her that she 
>> could and gave her the questions she could ask. I was advised the 
>> patron came in again a couple days later, she asked the right 
>> questions, he again made the same assertions, he was asked to leave, 
>> and he told her he would see her in court. She handed him our brochure and
> told him to give me a call if he had any questions.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it's a federal crime 
>> to use a fake service animal to take advantage of privileges reserved 
>> for those who genuinely need the assistance of such pets. Nonetheless, 
>> according to a recent report from the Associated Press, the use of 
>> phony "dog tags" is on the rise, with owners faking papers or buying 
>> badges off the Internet just so that they can bring their pooches into 
>> restaurants, shops, and other venues that don't usually allow dogs. 
>> Advocates of both pets and the disabled are divided as to how to 
>> police those who abuse service animal privileges, and some are calling 
>> for federal authorities to better regulate and enforce service animal
> rules around the country.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> While it's assumed that only a small percentage of the population 
>> would even think of using a faux service dog to avoid leaving a pet 
>> outside a store or at home in order to grab a bite at a restaurant, 
>> even a single incident of phony service dog usage is enough to get 
>> people-disabled and able-bodied alike-up in arms. Outrage followed the 
>> story of a 33-year-old New Yorker named Brett David, who was featured in
> the New York Post over the summer.
>> David bragged about bringing his fake "therapy dog" named Napoleon 
>> into movie theaters, restaurants, nightclubs, Whole Foods, Starbucks, 
>> and more mainly because "I was sick of tying up my dog outside," as he put
> it.
>> "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 explained.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> People like David aren't the only ones pretending to be disabled to 
>> take advantage of special perks. In late September, the Walt Disney 
>> Company felt compelled to change its disabled guest policy at theme 
>> parks partly due to "abuse of the system." The announcement came after 
>> reports surfaced that wealthy guests were paying wheelchair-riding 
>> tour guides top dollar so that the group could use the line-skipping 
>> privileges granted to the disabled at Disney theme parks.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Meanwhile, over the years, police around the U.S. periodically engage 
>> in sweeps to round up drivers fraudulently using handicapped parking 
>> passes, and apparently it's pretty easy to snag people abusing the 
>> system. Last spring, over the course of a mere four hours, authorities 
>> in Oakland, Calif., confiscated 13 handicapped placards being used
> illegally by drivers.
>> That's out of a total of 70 placards they came across, meaning nearly 
>> one in five was fraudulent.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> A report in Seattle published over the summer estimated that one in 
>> eight drivers using disabled parking placards is doing so 
>> fraudulently, costing the city $1.4 million annually. Like in Seattle, 
>> drivers with such placards get to park for free in Providence, R.I., 
>> where it just so happens that there has been an influx of cars with 
>> disabled parking passes near train stations and bus stops. Police 
>> began routinely demanding verification and handed out multiple $500 
>> fines to those who were using passes registered to someone else. "Not 
>> only is it an affront to the persons who have a disability and need 
>> the space, they're cheating the city out of revenue by parking there," one
> Providence police officer said of the offenders.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> In yet another sting, in Orlando, Fla., police zeroed in on offenders 
>> like a 34-year-old woman using a placard registered to someone who was 
>> 85, and who had died a few months prior to the bust. Apparently, the 
>> driver, arrested just before 3 a.m., was using the placard in order to 
>> park in a convenient handicap spot downtown-so that her car was nearby
> when the bars closed.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Suspicions of disabled placard abuse have gotten so bad in New 
>> Jersey-where more than 500,000 people have special placard and license 
>> plate privileges-that the state introduced tougher regulations last 
>> spring. In the past, anyone who classified for a pass could renew 
>> automatically every three years. As of August 1, though, drivers must 
>> submit proof of their condition every three years before they're 
>> granted special privileges. Disabled parking placards were also 
>> redesigned so that it is easier for police and meter checkers to see 
>> expiration dates, and so that it's more difficult for drivers to
> unlawfully change the information on the passes.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Brad Tuttle @bradrtuttle             
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Brad Tuttle covers business and personal finance for TIME. He lives in 
>> Massachusetts with his wife and four sons, and also teaches journalism 
>> at UMass-Amherst.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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