I go on periodic rants about people abusing service animal rules to take their pets places they cannot normally go (while potentially compromising the critically important need for true service animals to have unfettered access).

Sometimes, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.

A recent article (pointed out by a writer from the VIN News Service) in The New Yorker describes the exploits of the article’s author, Patricia Marx, as she tested the ability to talk your way into various situations with over-the-top examples.

While I have some concerns about some of the scenarios (e.g. turtle bathing in a bowl of water in a deli, a stressed out turkey…) it showed how easy it is for people to manipulate the system. If you can get away with things like she did, it’s easy to see how it’s so easy for people with fake service dogs (complete with fake ID, vests and other paraphernalia) to do it.

(click image for source)