4 ms·

I am not sure if you read the article, but it goes far beyond dogs. It's about people abusing the concept of an emotional service animal. People do it to get th

by ssully 12y ago

I am not sure if you read the article, but it goes far beyond dogs. It's about people abusing the concept of an emotional service animal. People do it to get their pets to fly free as well as other things. The main portion of the article is about the author seeing how far she can go by claiming random animals are ESA's for her. She used turtles, snakes, pigs, alpacas and a few others successfully. I am a dog lover. I own one dog and plan to adopt more in the future. But it's pretty ridiculous that people take advantage of this. Not everyone is a dog person, let alone comfortable with the number of animals this women used as ESA pets. It's unfortunate that there are actually people at such a state emotionally where they don't want to leave the house unaccompanied by their pets, but it's not exactly fair for everyone else who now has to potentially put up with their animal.

servicepups 12y ago
I think at the end of the day it should be about discretion. A store should be able to say "oh sure, Fido is awesome" and "uh, no, he ate my childs arm last time, fuck off Marty" without any worries. Banning animals in places that serve food city wide is quite silly. Let the stores set their own rules. I'd love a coworking cafe that charged by the hour and let my dog run around.
- ssully 12y ago
  I agree completely! Widespread ban is silly, but so is a certificate that allows people to basically bring their animals where ever they want. I have been to plenty of stores and restaurants that are dog friendly(some go so far as to have water bowls and treats around the establishment for them). It's neat and people going there know exactly what they are getting into. If I was at a movie theater and someone has a dog that freaks the fuck out every time there is ambient animal noise in a scene then I am not going to be happy. I have no expectations of any animals being at my local AMC theater, I don't see why a $200 dollar certificate allows that.
- ekianjo 12y ago
  Agree. Here in Japan you even have restaurants and cafes where pets are actually welcome and encouraged. This is a good place to go spend time if you like animals.
fallinghawks 12y ago
I think rubber ducks as ESAs would be just as effective and far less annoying :) There are significant fines for businesses that refuse to accommodate legitimate service animals, so businesses are afraid to question if an alleged service animal is real or fake.
- mbrameld 12y ago
  Only dogs can be service animals, but there are limited exceptions for miniature horses. Business owners can ask 2 questions: "Is that dog a service animal required because of a disability?", and "What tasks has the dog been trained to help you with?". If the answer to the first one is no or the answer to the 2nd one is none, then you can refuse to accommodate it. Also, if the only answer to the first one is that it provides emotional support, then by definition it is not a service dog according to the ADA. They state, "Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA." Otherwise, if the dog isn't housebroken or the owner can't control the dog's behavior, then you can kick them out but you have to allow the customer access to your services without the dog.
ars 12y ago
> but it goes far beyond dogs Does it really matter what the animal is? Abusing the rules with a dog is just as bad as abusing them with an alpaca.
mturmon 12y ago
I mostly disagree, and generally like places that aren't hung up on rules that (in this case) don't really make a difference. Who cares if the person next to me at dinner has a pet snake? I know a guy who takes his pet parrot to the grocery store and the hardware store. It's a hoot. I took my former dog, an exceptionally mellow and adaptable doxie mix, on a plane flight (about 10 years ago) to see my parents. The passengers were generally glad for the diversion.
- ck425 12y ago
  Quite a few people would care. Personally I'm uncomfortable with most animals and would hate to be stuck on a plane with one nearby. If I knew an airline let animals on I'd definitely consider flying with someone else.
- pvaldes 12y ago
  > Who cares if the person next to me at dinner has a pet snake? I do A pet parrot can be a death treat to an elderly. Psittacosis kills a few each year, specially old people and children. Pet reptiles are common reservoirs for Salmonella. You can be poisoned for Salmonella and when this bacteria enter a kitchen can be difficult to erradicate. A restaurant can be closed for this, so is a very abuse-prone field. For instance a dishonest owner of another restaurant only needs to pay an actor and his snake to move to some rival restaurant and sip his coffe each afternoon 7days for 3, 6 months or the time necessary to nuke it. All with the happy help and merry cooperation of this org. A girl friend of mine had your father sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life for a salmonella poisoning. He lost their job, their mobility, and their former life. Not, is not funny at all. Some people are very allergenic to some pets, also. Other are phobic or just don't like pets. Is unfair to them to force to be near an animal when they were expecting instead a safe only-humans/dogs allowed area. I could also easily imagine a call for troubles if you put a big pink pig pet farting in a plane full of people of jew or muslim origin.
SwellJoe 12y ago
I did. I just haven't seen it. Ever. I've seen dogs. Nothing else. I used to see birds and snakes and big lizards a lot when I lived in Houston 15 years ago, but not really anywhere since (except in Venice Beach), and that obviously wasn't because of this ESA thing. It may have been a factor of who I was hanging out with and things I was doing. I'm not endorsing people abusing the system...I'm endorsing chilling out about dogs in "human" spaces. I understand there are valid concerns. Some people are allergic, and that's a thing we should try to be respectful of, within reason (i.e. if someone is allergic and says so, maybe move them or the animal to another location within the space). Some dogs are poorly behaved. Owners should be expected to be responsible for inappropriate behavior. Anyway, my point was mostly that no one bats an eye at children being everywhere humans go, even though children can be unruly, disruptive, destructive, smelly, and dangerous, animals too. I like dogs. I want to live in a world where dogs are treated with reasonable levels of respect and aren't excluded unnecessarily from their families lives. (Humans have this really weird/unique relationship with dogs. They need us in ways that no other animal does. Whether it was ethical to breed that need into them over thousands of generations is not a useful debate to have, since we can't undo it...but, I believe that comes with some kind of responsibility.)

by ssully 12y ago

servicepups 12y ago

I think at the end of the day it should be about discretion. A store should be able to say "oh sure, Fido is awesome" and "uh, no, he ate my childs arm last time, fuck off Marty" without any worries. Banning animals in places that serve food city wide is quite silly. Let the stores set their own rules. I'd love a coworking cafe that charged by the hour and let my dog run around.

ssully 12y ago
I agree completely! Widespread ban is silly, but so is a certificate that allows people to basically bring their animals where ever they want. I have been to plenty of stores and restaurants that are dog friendly(some go so far as to have water bowls and treats around the establishment for them). It's neat and people going there know exactly what they are getting into. If I was at a movie theater and someone has a dog that freaks the fuck out every time there is ambient animal noise in a scene then I am not going to be happy. I have no expectations of any animals being at my local AMC theater, I don't see why a $200 dollar certificate allows that.
ekianjo 12y ago
Agree. Here in Japan you even have restaurants and cafes where pets are actually welcome and encouraged. This is a good place to go spend time if you like animals.

fallinghawks 12y ago

I think rubber ducks as ESAs would be just as effective and far less annoying :) There are significant fines for businesses that refuse to accommodate legitimate service animals, so businesses are afraid to question if an alleged service animal is real or fake.

mbrameld 12y ago
Only dogs can be service animals, but there are limited exceptions for miniature horses. Business owners can ask 2 questions: "Is that dog a service animal required because of a disability?", and "What tasks has the dog been trained to help you with?". If the answer to the first one is no or the answer to the 2nd one is none, then you can refuse to accommodate it. Also, if the only answer to the first one is that it provides emotional support, then by definition it is not a service dog according to the ADA. They state, "Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA." Otherwise, if the dog isn't housebroken or the owner can't control the dog's behavior, then you can kick them out but you have to allow the customer access to your services without the dog.

ars 12y ago

> but it goes far beyond dogs Does it really matter what the animal is? Abusing the rules with a dog is just as bad as abusing them with an alpaca.

mturmon 12y ago

I mostly disagree, and generally like places that aren't hung up on rules that (in this case) don't really make a difference. Who cares if the person next to me at dinner has a pet snake? I know a guy who takes his pet parrot to the grocery store and the hardware store. It's a hoot. I took my former dog, an exceptionally mellow and adaptable doxie mix, on a plane flight (about 10 years ago) to see my parents. The passengers were generally glad for the diversion.

ck425 12y ago
Quite a few people would care. Personally I'm uncomfortable with most animals and would hate to be stuck on a plane with one nearby. If I knew an airline let animals on I'd definitely consider flying with someone else.
pvaldes 12y ago
> Who cares if the person next to me at dinner has a pet snake? I do A pet parrot can be a death treat to an elderly. Psittacosis kills a few each year, specially old people and children. Pet reptiles are common reservoirs for Salmonella. You can be poisoned for Salmonella and when this bacteria enter a kitchen can be difficult to erradicate. A restaurant can be closed for this, so is a very abuse-prone field. For instance a dishonest owner of another restaurant only needs to pay an actor and his snake to move to some rival restaurant and sip his coffe each afternoon 7days for 3, 6 months or the time necessary to nuke it. All with the happy help and merry cooperation of this org. A girl friend of mine had your father sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life for a salmonella poisoning. He lost their job, their mobility, and their former life. Not, is not funny at all. Some people are very allergenic to some pets, also. Other are phobic or just don't like pets. Is unfair to them to force to be near an animal when they were expecting instead a safe only-humans/dogs allowed area. I could also easily imagine a call for troubles if you put a big pink pig pet farting in a plane full of people of jew or muslim origin.

SwellJoe 12y ago

I did. I just haven't seen it. Ever. I've seen dogs. Nothing else. I used to see birds and snakes and big lizards a lot when I lived in Houston 15 years ago, but not really anywhere since (except in Venice Beach), and that obviously wasn't because of this ESA thing. It may have been a factor of who I was hanging out with and things I was doing. I'm not endorsing people abusing the system...I'm endorsing chilling out about dogs in "human" spaces. I understand there are valid concerns. Some people are allergic, and that's a thing we should try to be respectful of, within reason (i.e. if someone is allergic and says so, maybe move them or the animal to another location within the space). Some dogs are poorly behaved. Owners should be expected to be responsible for inappropriate behavior. Anyway, my point was mostly that no one bats an eye at children being everywhere humans go, even though children can be unruly, disruptive, destructive, smelly, and dangerous, animals too. I like dogs. I want to live in a world where dogs are treated with reasonable levels of respect and aren't excluded unnecessarily from their families lives. (Humans have this really weird/unique relationship with dogs. They need us in ways that no other animal does. Whether it was ethical to breed that need into them over thousands of generations is not a useful debate to have, since we can't undo it...but, I believe that comes with some kind of responsibility.)