[nagdu] Consumer Alert: Service dog scam

[Ginger Kutsch]

Consumer Alert: Service dog scam

Posted: Apr 28, 2015 8:06 PM EDT 

By Danielle Serino

Posted by 19 Action News Digital Team

http://www.19actionnews.com/story/28924510/consumer-alert-service-dog-scam

 

"Service Dog Scam" causing concern among disability advocates (Source: WOIO)

"Service Dog Scam" causing concern among disability advocates (Source: WOIO)

  

 

A mailing is going around promising that for a fee you can get everything
you need to turn your family pet into a service dog.

 

It's being called the "Service Dog Scam" and it makes cracking down on
service dog fakers very hard.

 

"They are basically telling people to violate the law by doing this," said
disability rights advocate Lou Erteschik.

Erteschik got very upset when he saw a 15-page color brochure that's
arriving in mailboxes.

 

It claims customers can legally turn their family pets into service dogs if
they pay anywhere from $69 to $197, plus extra for rush delivery.

 

They can receive service dog ID cards and certificates.

 

The problem is, there is no federal process for certifying service dogs.

 

"This, to me, creates a backlash and it sets back the disability movement
because these people are obviously fakers and the people who use their
service are likely to be fakers," said Erteschik.

 

Legitimate service dogs help people every day.

 

But others try to claim that their family dogs are service animals, trying
to get them access to public facilities

 

"At its core, it's deceptive advertising and the least, at the worst, it's
another scam," said Erteschik.

 

The head of the Better Business Bureau says the Oregon-based company behind
the brochure has a history of get-rich-quick schemes.

 

"And it's unfortunate that scams such as this and deceptive marketing lead
people to believe that it's okay to represent your family pet as something
that it's not," says Gregory Dunn.

 

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a business cannot require a
person with a service animal to disclose what disability they have, or
provide proof the dog is certified, according to consumer advocate Angus
McKelvey.

 

"People are now being able to get fraudulent badges and certificates saying
'this is an actual service animal to help me with a disability' when there's
no such thing. They just want to be able to bring their dog into the
restaurants or on the plane or everything else," said McKelvey.

 

While a business owner can't ask about a person's disability, they can ask
what work or task the animal has been trained to perform. If the dog
misbehaves, barks, jumps or soils the premises, the owner can ask for the
dog to be removed.

 

Click here for answers to some common questions about service dogs.