[Njagdu] Central Florida Animal Service organizations angered overonline vest controversy

[Tracy Carcione]

I get so tired of these calls for certification.  Why not just educate people that, if an animal is acting up and out of control, they have the right to ask that the animal be removed, whether or not it's a service animal?  That's the law, and it's seems perfectly clear to me.
Tracy

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ginger Kutsch 
  To: New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users 
  Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2013 9:04 AM
  Subject: [Njagdu] Central Florida Animal Service organizations angered overonline vest controversy


  Central Florida Animal Service organizations angered over online vest controversy

  Groups say easily obtained animal service vests are growing concern

  Author: Janelle Jordan, Reporter, jjordan at wkmg.com

  Published On: May 29 2013 06:51:11 PM EDT Updated On: May 30 2013 06:09:01 AM EDTURL: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/central-florida-animal-service-organizations-angered-over-online-vest-controversy/-/1637132/20349164/-/m54icwz/-/index.html

  ORANGE CITY, Fla. -  Some Central Florida animal service organizations are upset over just how easy it has become to get animal service vest online.

   

  One organization getting a lot of attention for selling online service animal patches and vests is "Free My Paws."

   

  Free My Paws President Jason Michaels tells Local 6 they are limited in the types of questions they can ask on their website, to determine whether an animal is really a service animal.

   

  "Our product is only intended to be used by people who are legally qualified. We welcome any legislation that would clarify the definition of a service animal for the disabled and the businesses who serve them," said Michaels.

   

  It's become a growing concern for local service organizations like New Horizons Service Dogs in Orange City.

   

  "It's an embarrassment, it gives organizations such as ours a bad name," said New Horizons founder Janet Severt.

   

  Severt says the controversy is having a negative impact on individuals who need their service animals to be allowed into places that most pets can't go.

   

  "I've had people come up to my clients and say, 'you can't bring that dog in here, because yesterday there was a yappy thing in there that someone is claiming is a service dog, that isn't,'" she said.

   

  Both sides agree the laws in place protecting the disabled aren't clear enough to avoid abuse, leaving online buyers to purchase, based on the honor system.

   

  "It's hard because there is no certification process," said Severt.  "It gives the who industry, the good people and the people trying to do it right, a bad name."

   



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  Njagdu mailing list
  Njagdu at nfbnet.org
  http://mail.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njagdu_nfbnet.org
  To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Njagdu:
  http://mail.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/njagdu_nfbnet.org/carcione%40access.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/njagdu_nfbnet.org/attachments/20130530/246cb808/attachment.html>