I’ve written (ok… ranted) about fake service and support animals for years. Beyond frustration with the self-centred and/or “look at me!” aspects, my main concern with the proliferation of fake service animals and questionable emotional support animals is the potential negative impacts on the “real” service and support animals, and the people who actually need
Dog bites, irony and injured kids
If it wasn’t for the injured child, this would be a funny story.
There was a hearing in Hillsborough County, Florida about a proposed ordinance requiring dog trainers to be licensed. Not surprisingly, that didn’t go over well with all trainers. One of the main opponents was waiting in line to get into the
BC fake service dog crackdown
It’s great to see some places taking service dog fraud seriously. I’ve ranted about this before because I’m a strong believer in the need for service dogs to have full access, and the need to make sure that’s not screwed up by selfish people who don’t actually have a service dog. Too many people are
Fake service animals in action
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
More on fake service dogs
This one’s not very surprising since it’s the typical fake service dog scam, but it made me laugh. While on a completely unrelated website, I saw an ad on the page that said something like "Trouble walking on the beach with your service dog? Check us out." Unfortunately, I did.
The website sells the
More on fake service dogs
I’ve written (whined, lamented, and complained) about this before, but it’s rearing its ugly head again: fake service dogs. Essentially, it comes down to self-centred people who think they should be able to do whatever they want, and the inevitable fallout that can occur for people that truly rely on service animals.
It goes like
Another “service dog” problem
Another recent incident highlights yet again problems with untrained or inadequately trained service dogs.
The incident in question occurred in March, when Ava, a 14-month-old German Shepherd "service animal," lunged at a six-year-old child who lived next door. It sounds like the dog was roaming free and attacked the girl on her property. There’s
Another service animal scam
An Ocean City, Maryland man was told that he couldn’t take his pet iguana on the Boardwalk because of a town ordinance banning "undomesticated" pets in public places. Instead of accepting the ruling, he "registered" his pet iguana as a "service animal". Protection of true service animals is critical but the very broad nature
New service dog scam?
Miami-Dade County, like some other regions, has banned pit bulls. We have the same ban here in Ontario. While there’s a lot of debate over the quality and usefulness of such bans, the law is the law… until you find a loophole.
That appears to be the case in Miami-Dade, where a growing number
Guide dog attacks
Attacks on guides dogs… not by guide dogs.
The June 19th edition of Veterinary Record (Brooks et al 2010) contains a study that investigated the incidence and impact of 100 dog attacks on guide dogs in the UK. Here are some highlights:
- 61% of attacks occurred while the guide dog was harnessed and working