[nagdu] Service dog scams putting people 'at risk'

[Tami Jarvis]

Rebecca,

I agree! For years, my first question regarding the ID/certification 
issue is, "who pays?" It's going to cost money, and someone is going to 
have to pay it. Then I started catching the calls for the programs -- 
especially one or two -- to be the ones to graciously step in and create 
the standards and the program. Ah... The other side of the question of 
who will pay for it is who will get paid.

So here is how it has started to stack up for me:

1. Currently, the training programs provide their own certification, 
since there are no standards and requirements. The certification they 
give themselves is no more or less than a fundraising tool.

2. A standardized certification requirement would affect these 
organizations, as well as owner-trainers. Moreso, in fact. I only have 
one dog to take to be tested, only one fee to pay, and so on. Having to 
have all of their dogs tested before issuing them to work would get 
expensive fast for any of the training programs. It's possible -- 
perhaps even likely -- that this would put some of the smaller programs 
out of business.

3. If one of these fundraising organizations was given the contract to 
administer the testing and certification, that would be great for the 
company balance sheet! They wouldn't be able to put out more dogs and 
would probably end up still producing fewer working dogs as a result of 
the certification requirement. But the company would look great on paper!

4. Looking great on paper and having the cachet of being in charge of 
certification of all service dogs nationwide would come in real handy as 
part of the fundraising spiel. It seems to me it would give some 
advantage in the competition for new donors in a difficult economic climate.

5. It has also occurred to me that the organization that can claim the 
highest percentage of dogs passing with the highest marks would also 
have a fundraising advantage. What are the odds that by happy 
coincidence this will turn out to be the same organization in charge of 
standards and testing? Depends on the integrity of the organization and 
individual testers, I think. Given the amounts of money that will 
inevitably be involved, however, I also think that that likelihood is 
something to consider.

So, yes, I think now that the most important question is not who pays 
but who will benefit. Service dog users? The "service dog industry" as a 
whole? Or the yet-to-be-created industry of testing service dogs?

I do understand why the idea of standards and testing and 
certification/identification are attractive to so many, especially those 
who are accustomed to having an ID from a training program saying their 
dog is certified. It's considering the implementation of any system to 
put that idea into practice that makes me almost certain it would cause 
far more problems than it would solve.

Of course, others will disagree with good reasons, too. /smile/

Tami



On 11/19/2013 08:46 AM, Star Gazer wrote:
> Help who? Serious question and an important one.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William
> Vandervest
> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 11:36 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Service dog scams putting people 'at risk'
>
> maybe cci has a good idea, while id's won't solve all the problems they
> would certainly help
>
>
> There are none so blind as those who will not see
>
> William and LD Lynard
>
>
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