[NAGDU] Changes to the definition of Service Animal under the ACAA

Marianne Denning marianne at denningweb.com
Thu Sep 29 14:24:03 UTC 2016


Thanks for this description. I will stand by what I said earlier that we
will pay the price because the general public wants to avoid paying the fee
to transport their pets.

On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 8:05 AM, Jenine Stanley via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Thank you for posting these minutes.
>
> I serve on the ACCESS Committee along with Mr. Diggs. I am representing
> GDF and other guide and service dog schools.
>
> I would be happy to give anyone information about what is being proposed
> and why.
>
> Let me start by explaining the current ACAA definition of service animal.
> This definition includes animals that simply provide assistance through
> their presence with no disability training requirements. these are called
> Emotional Support Animals (ESAs). Technically all animals under the ACAA
> must have some level of ability to behave in public but the reality is that
> it’s hard to police and to avoid people like the woman with the chicken,
> described on this list, who was very forceful about her *rights*, airline
> staff tend to ignore things.
>
> Under the current ACAA definition of service animal , there are 3 sets of
> animals that can fly, free of charge, as accommodations to someone’s
> disability. Traditional service animals, guide, hearing, mobility and other
> types of animals trained specifically to mitigate an aspect of a
> disability, as well as having public access/exposure training, are allowed
> to accompany passengers with no requirement of documentation or prior
> notice.
>
> People who work with Psychiatric Service Animals, (PSAs) animals with
> specific disability mitigation training to address mental health related
> disabilities and with public access/exposure training,  must provide a
> letter including a diagnosis from the DSM4/5, on the stationary of a
> qualified mental health professional no less than 48 hours prior to flight.
> There are more specifics about this letter in the ACAA.
>
> ESA owners must also provide such a letter with the same information,
> stating that the animal is necessary.
>
> Unfortunately, people trying to avoid the pet fees or just not
> understanding the rules, and yes, not wanting to disclose their mental
> health-related disabilities to their existing health care providers, can go
> on line and find any number of doctors or organizations that will write the
> requisite letters on their behalf. There are also people who will buy vests
> and ID cards on line to avoid any of this and just call their animal a
> “service animal” meaning that it has some disability mitigation other than
> for a mental health related disability.
>
> The system is broken. This negotiated regulation process was convened to
> try to fix it, or at least come up with some new definition that wouldn’t
> break it even further. In another post I will detail what is being proposed
> and why.
>
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053



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