Service Animal Fraud
With the ever growing popularity of service animals, comes also the ever growing problem of service animal fraud. Service animal fraud is the dark side to the wonderful world of service animals. It threatens public health and safety, creates issues for service animals and their handlers, and adds to the vast well of public misinformation. To put it simply, service animal fraud is a serious issue in today’s world that is being largely overlooked. In this article, I will explain what service animal fraud is, the impact it has on our communities, and ways to prevent it.
What is service animal fraud?
To begin fixing the problem, we have to start by understanding the problem. Service animal fraud is when a person claims that an animal is a service animal when it is not. While that seems very simple, many people commit fraud unknowingly as they do not know the rules regarding service animals. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines service animals “as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” The three key points in this definition are dogs, training, and disabilities. A service animal can only be a dog. There are exceptions for miniature horses, which have specific requirements they must meet to qualify. That means that your potbelly pig that listens great cannot be a service animal. Neither can your untrained dog. Service animals are trained. They perform tasks to assist their disabled handler. They are also very well trained to behave in public settings. Finally, the handler must be disabled. The disability must be something that can be helped by the dog. Blood sugar levels can be detected by the dog, panic attacks can be soothed, and objects can be retrieved, but the dog is not going to be able to help with your dyslexia. When all these requirements are met, you have a service animal.
One of the biggest contributors to service animal fraud is the emotional support animal. An emotional support animal is an animal that provides emotional support by existing. They can be any animal and are not trained to do tasks or behave in a public setting. They provide support for emotional or psychiatric disorders. They are not considered service animals and are not covered by the ADA, which means that they do not have federal public access rights. Each state can decide whether or not to give those rights to emotional support animals. In Indiana, it is up to each business to decide. In other words, you cannot take your emotional support alligator to the store in Indiana unless the store says you can.
So, what if you train your emotional support animal? If you do so, it does not immediately become a service animal unless you have a prescription for a service animal. Part of being considered medical equipment means that there has to be a medical necessity for the animal, which is proven by having a prescription. This doesn’t mean you have to carry that script with you. In fact, it is illegal for businesses to require documentation or even to ask what condition the animal is for. While this makes committing fraud easier, it protects the privacy of the disabled individual. In short, as long as your animal fails to meet the full definition of service animal- including the handler requirements-, you cannot claim it is a service animal.
How does service animal fraud impact our communities?
While taking your pet to the store may not seem harmful, this can actually create many problems, especially when more people start doing it, which is first on our list. We are all attached to our pets and lots of people would happily bring their furry friend to the store with them. When someone starts bringing their pet with them and the store doesn’t say anything, people will begin to assume they can do it too. In fact, people will even start ignoring the “service animals only” signs on the door because they saw someone else do it. In truth, one could argue that seeing that sign and bringing your pet anyway is the same as claiming your pet is a service animal. By entering the store with the animal, you are claiming that it meets the requirements to be in the store. However, people tend to ignore the sign altogether and say that everyone else is doing it so it's ok. It is not ok. The first person should not have done it, but adding to the problem does not make the problem cease to exist. This is a big reason why public information is important and businesses should be training their staff to handle these problems.
Once you get a store to the point where everyone is bringing their pet, the store often struggles to keep up with the cleaning. Having many dogs in a building all the time adds to the amount of cleaning and maintenance needed to keep up. Places like Wal-Mart (where I have actually seen this happen) simply are not prepared for the onslaught of shedding, slobbering, dirty dogs. The store begins looking and smelling dirty, which makes buying things there far less desirable. If the problem is bad enough, the store may even have trouble passing health inspections. While there are some stores that do allow dogs, these stores usually do not sell food and are often not overwhelmed with the amount of dogs brought in.
Whether it’s one dog or a hundred, there are serious health and safety concerns when it comes to untrained animals in public. For one thing, being in crowds of people can be stressful for a dog and may cause them to lash out. Even if the dog does not seem stressed, they could encounter a situation that causes them to become aggressive. This could even be an attempt to protect their human. These untrained dogs could cause some serious damage to an unsuspecting human. This damage can also be done to items in the store. They may put their mouth on food packages, go to the bathroom in the store, or damage items by pawing or jumping, which are all things service animals are trained not to do.
Just as the dogs are untrained, their handlers are often unaware of the rules and guidelines of having such dogs in public. While some of the things these handlers do is the result of simply not caring, other issues may be caused by their lack of knowledge on the subject. For instance, I can take my service dog to the local YMCA and go swimming, but he cannot enter the pool due to public health and safety laws. Most people that I meet are under the impression that he gets to swim in the pool with me. If they had brought their dogs to go swimming, they would cause a lot of trouble because they were unaware that they cannot put their dog in a public pool. Other places that cause concern are restaurants. The ADA guidelines for service animals say that the animal must sit under a chair or table or out of the way of staff. However, some people like to put their little dog on the seat with them. This could damage the restaurant’s property, put wait staff in danger of a bite, deter other customers from eating there, and give service animals and their handler’s a bad public image. Actions such as these are all too common and are, unfortunately, attributed to the service animal community.
When it comes to service animals, public image means a lot. The public needs to be able to trust that the animals are being properly trained and handled. Without this trust, people become weary of service animals and some even cause problems for the handlers that rely on the animals. Businesses that have had bad experiences with fraudulent individuals struggle to allow legitimate service animals. Trust works both ways. The service animal community has worked hard over the years to spread knowledge about service animals. Many people still don't know how to act around a service animal and handler. People are constantly causing problems with these animals. In many cases, they are even breaking the law. The more people have untrained animals in public where only service animals are allowed, the more the public will assume any animal can be treated like a pet. In the end, service animal fraud is making it much harder for legitimate service animals and their handlers.
So, if there are so many problems with animals in public, how are service animals all that different? For one thing, they are trained. The handlers know how to handle their dog and what they can and cannot do. The dogs go through lots of training and are repeatedly assessed to ensure they will not act out, even in a situation where they may feel the need to protect their handler. They are also well taken care of. The dogs are generally kept very clean and well groomed. While some things, like shedding, still happen, service animal handlers often do what they can to mitigate the damage. There are also far fewer service animals than there are pets. A store is not going to be overrun by service animals. Finally, the guidelines set forth by the ADA and other governing agencies are designed to protect the public, businesses, and service animals and handlers.
What can be done to prevent service animal fraud?
When it comes to preventing service animal fraud, information is key. If the public is made aware of what service animal fraud is, then some of it will stop. Some people will continue doing it for various reasons, but an informed public will help mitigate some of the damage being done, especially when it comes to trusting legitimate service animals and handlers. If people become more skeptical of fraudulent animals, then violators will be less likely to get away with it.
Businesses need to take steps to help prevent fraud at their location. There are employee training programs, like the one offered through Dozer’s Pet Academy, that will teach employees how to handle situations involving service animals. These programs can help businesses reduce discrimination and service animal fraud while promoting public knowledge and ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. This is a crucial step to ensuring a business does not contribute to the problem by simply overlooking it.
Individuals can also work to ensure they are complying with the rules regarding service animals. If you are not sure that your animal is a service animal, then you need to find out before you claim they are. Ensure that your pet is allowed at a business before bringing them. If you have an emotional support animal, make sure it is allowed at the business you are visiting. Do not claim it as a service animal. Any animal taken out in public should be trained and monitored closely to ensure they do not pose a threat to public health and safety.
If you would like more information on service animals, visit https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/. If you are interested in our employee training program, click here. Finally, if you are in need of a service animal or have a pet in need of training, you can check out our services here.
