[nagdu] COMMUNITY COMMENTARY 'Emotional support dogs' endanger some in public

[Ginger Kutsch]

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY 'Emotional support dogs' endanger some in public

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150218/GJOPINION_0102/15
0219360/0/SEARCH

 

This is an open letter to the owners and managers of businesses, stores,
offices, restaurants and public places to please consider the dangers to the
public of allowing customers to bring fake service dogs, or "emotional
support dogs," into your buildings. This growing trend of customers bringing
pets outfitted with jackets, vests, tags or badges into stores and claiming
they are "service dogs" puts the safety and lives of those of us with
severe, life-threatening dander allergies and asthma at risk. It also is
quickly shrinking our ability to shop in and interact with our own
communities as more and more places are allowing dogs into their buildings.
Not only do emotional service pets expose allergy and asthma sufferers to an
immediate source of dander, but one incident of an animal being brought into
a store permeates microscopic dander protein in the air and on the store's
products (especially books, clothing and furniture). For highly sensitive
and anaphylactic people, this could mean they cannot safely enter the store
and purchase products from the store again for up to 20 months. 

 

Many store owners are confused about the differences between true service
dogs and "emotional support" dogs and I am writing this to help clarify the
differences. Service dogs, such as dogs who assist people with blindness,
are dogs who are trained to perform a specific task that a disabled person
requires. Service dogs are workers, not pets, and are able to recognize the
need to assist a disabled person and are trained to respond. Emotional
support dogs are pets that owners bring along with them for companionship
and emotional comfort. The Americans with Disabilities Act does not
recognize emotional support dogs. According to their service animal policy
online, "Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support
do not qualify as service animals under the ADA." However, the Americans
with Disabilities Act recognizes asthma and allergies as disabilities and in
fact allows sufferers the right to reasonable accommodations at work, at
school and even in some public settings as well as redress for
discrimination. 

 

New Hampshire statutes also do not recognize emotional support dogs. In
fact, according to NH law, "It is unlawful for any person to fit an animal
with a collar, leash, vest, sign, or harness of the type which represents
that the animal is a service animal ... if in fact said animal is not a
service animal."

 

Business owners and managers have the right to ask customers bearing animals
two questions: 1. Is the dog a trained service dog required due to a
disability? 2. What task or work has the dog been trained to do? If the dog
has not been trained to perform a task or job or the dog is an "emotional
support" dog, the business person has a right to ask the customer to remove
the dog from the store.

 

In my experience, I have found business managers and pet owners to be
hostile when I have addressed the issue of my family having life-threatening
asthma and allergies to dander. As someone who works in the field of mental
health, I certainly understand the seriousness of anxiety disorders.
However, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), relaxation
breathing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are the effective
treatments for anxiety and trauma, not bringing pets into public buildings.
Not only does bringing dogs in public buildings put the health and lives of
people with dander allergies, asthma and anaphylaxis in danger, these pets
can in fact increase the anxiety of people with Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder (OCD) and Autism as well as children and adults with fears of dogs.
The trend of flooding public places with emotional support pets could also
make it difficult for disabled people with legitimate trained service
animals to have access to public spaces. 

 

Ironically, while I was refilling a prescription for my asthma inhaler at a
grocery store pharmacy, I encountered a woman in the store with her
emotional support pet dog. I don't know what was worse about the experience,
the fact that I had repeated asthma attacks the rest of the day, or the fact
that the staff at the store acted with dismissive indifference - as if the
dog had more of a right to be there than I did as a human being.

 

Laurie A. Couture is a resident of Newmarket.