Fake Service Dogs - How They Hurt People With Disabilities And What To Do About It
The ADA (American Disabilities Act) defines a service dog as “Any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” Dogs and miniature horses are the only animals considered a service animal under current US laws.
Laws addressing the treatment of people living with disabilities and the treatment of service dogs are enforced by the US Department of Justice. The DOJ does not require that a service dog be licensed or registered with any agency or that the handler carry any proof or verification of service dog status. Because of this, may pet owners have taken advantage of the opportunity to pass off their pets as service animals by bringing them into stores or other places of business.
As the number of types of service dogs has increased, it has also led to confusion by the public of what it means to be a true service animal. The traditional image of a leader dog for the blind or hearing-impaired community no longer captures the spectrum of service dogs. Service dogs now serve a much wider range of roles including alerting individuals with diabetes to blood sugar fluctuations, summoning emergency help with a handler who has a seizure, or helping children on the autism spectrum participate in social settings safely.
can businesses legally refuse a service dog?
Businesses have the legal right to refuse entry of most animals into their establishments. Only authentic service animals have the protection under the ADA to be granted access to public spaces. However, wrongfully ejecting a real service animal can result in federal penalties for the business (unless the real service animal has become disruptive or is not house trained).
Michigan State University’s College of Law professor David Favre, who specializes in animal law explains that, “[Businesses] can ask only if it is a service animal [required because of a disability], and what is it trained to do [to mitigate the disability].” Businesses cannot ask for documentation about the service animal or the health or disability of the handler.
The fear of being sued or negative social media attention often prevent businesses from challenging anyone with a dog over its authenticity. The wide availability of vests reading “service dog” and companies happy to “register” a dog as a service animal make it even more difficult for businesses to distinguish a true service animal from a “fake.”
“If . . . someone who needed to have Pookie around because [they are] upset when she’s not there, that is not okay,” says John Kavanagh, Arizona State Senator.
Business owners can look to an animal’s behavior to help determine if it is truly a service dog.
True Service Dogs:
Do not pose a threat to the health or safety of other people
Do not show aggressive behaviors, such as growling, snapping, or jumping up
Typically remain calmly leashed (if allowable by disability) while working, unless attempting to remove the handler from an unsafe situation
Are housebroken
“Fake” Service Dogs:
Become unruly towards other people
Demonstrate aggressive behaviors like growling or barking
Tug or pull on the leash
Urinate or defecate in an inappropriate area
Destroy property, such as chewing on furniture
The Threat to Real Service Dogs
When fake service dogs misbehave it puts the reputation of real service dogs in jeopardy by alienating business and public support. People can come to mistakenly believe that all service dogs are glorified household pets instead of the vital team partner helping a person with a disability function in society.
Fake service dogs also pose a physical danger to people and legitimate service dogs when they act aggressively towards people or other animals. A genuine service dog has undergone months or years of training and likely costs upwards of $20,000 for that training. They are taught to focus on their handler while working. Having an untrained or fake service dog growling or barking at a working service dog in public can cause a distraction. If a physical confrontation takes place, it may lead to the retirement of the service dog at great cost to the handler, who will likely have less independence for over a year while waiting for a new service dog to be trained.
“I actually had to retire my second service dog after two and a half years because he was attacked so many times that he was completely uncomfortable going into public places and didn’t want to work because he was constantly looking for other dogs to make sure he was safe,” says Wallis Brozman, a person with a true disability who has had a service dog. “At that point, if your dog doesn’t feel safe, that’s a safety issue for you as a person with a disability.”
Service dogs and their handlers aren’t the only ones who suffer due to fake service dogs. There is also an unnecessary emotional toll put on fake service dogs. Well-intentioned owners take them into shopping centers or even on airplanes. The dog can easily become overwhelmed by the stress of a new situation – racing children, noises, crowds, smells, and sounds. The normal reaction for a dog is to either shut down (sometimes urinating or defecating as an act of submission) or act to protect itself and its pack (family). This instinctive behavior may cause them to lash out at members of the public or legitimate service animals.
Emotional Support and Therapy Dogs - How They Differ From Service Dogs
Pet owners sometimes try to justify taking their dogs into public places by claiming their dog is a service animal because it provides emotional support. Typically, most pets can become an emotional support animal with assistance from a psychologist or psychiatrist. This grants the emotional support animal some protection with regards to housing but does not qualify it as a service animal. A service animal must be specifically trained to help the individual handler overcome an impairment related to their disability.
Therapy dogs are typically pets who have passed a basic obedience test and are invited into public places to provide emotional support, such as hospitals or nursing homes. Therapy dogs have also been used in libraries to help child developing reading skills. These dogs are not protected by any laws.
Fake Service Dogs for Real People with Disabilities
Having a trained service dog to assist a person with a disability is a life-changing accommodation. It is why service dogs exist and why laws are there to protect the handler and grant them public access with their trained dog. Unfortunately, the expense of a service dog is often unattainable for people with disabilities, who are often under- or unemployed. The cost of training a service dog frequently exceeds $20,000 and even though there are organizations that provide service dogs to individuals, they typically still ask for a large donation to cover the training cost and the waiting list can be several years long. For these individuals, a fake service dog is the only option.
The ADA does not require a service dog to be a specific breed, perform specific tasks, or be trained by someone with specific credentials. Technically, a person could train their own dog to be a service animal. This may be limited to tasks rather than overall service dog behavior. A true service dog is tested for temperament and undergoes hundreds of hours to train it to ignore all distractions so it can be fully focused on the handler.
Legal Consequences of Having a Fake Service Dog
Owning a pet can reduce loneliness, increase feelings of social support, and boost your mood (The National Institutes of Health). People form deep emotional connections with pets. It is natural for people to want to share more of their life with their dogs by taking them along on outings. Unfortunately, it can lead to costly fines or penalties for the owner.
Currently, 25 states have enacted laws making it a crime to claim a pet as a service animal. California has the strongest penalties. If a person “knowingly and fraudulently represents himself or herself, through verbal or written notice, to be the owner or trainer of any canine licenses/qualified/identified as a guide, signal, or service dog,” the penalty is up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $1000 or both.
Filing a Complaint - How To Report a Fake Service Dog
Note: The following section is taken from “Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals” by Jacquie Brennan and Vinh Nguyet and can be found in its entirety here: https://adata.org/guide/service-animals-and-emotional-support-animals
Public Facilities and Accommodations
Title II of the ADA covers state and local government facilities, activities, and programs. Title III of the ADA covers places of public accommodations. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act covers federal government facilities, activities, and programs. It also covers the entities that receive federal funding.
Title II and Title III Complaints – These can be filed through private lawsuits in federal court or directed to the U.S. Department of Justice.
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section – NYA
Washington, DC 20530
http://www.ada.gov(link is external)
800-514-0301 (v)
800-514-0383 (TTY)
Section 504 Complaints – These must be made to the specific federal agency that oversees the program or funding.
Employment
Title I of the ADA and Section 501 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination in employment. The ADA covers private employers with 15 or more employees; Section 501 applies to federal agencies, and Section 504 applies to any program or entity receiving federal financial assistance.
ADA Complaints – A person must file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of an alleged violation of the ADA. This deadline may be extended to 300 days if there is a state or local fair employment practices agency that also has jurisdiction over this matter. Complaints may be filed in person, by mail, or by telephone by contacting the nearest EEOC office. This number is listed in most telephone directories under “U.S. Government.” For more information:
http://www.eeoc.gov/contact/index.cfm(link is external)
800-669-4000 (voice)
800-669-6820 (TTY)
Section 501 Complaints – Federal employees must contact their agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) officer within 45 days of an alleged Section 501 violation.
Section 504 Complaints – These must be filed with the federal agency that funded the employer.
Housing
The Fair Housing Act (FHA), as amended in 1988, applies to housing. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all housing programs and activities that are either conducted by the federal government or receive federal financial assistance. Title II of the ADA applies to housing provided by state or local government entities.
Complaints – Housing complaints may be filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
http://www.hud.gov/fairhousing(link is external)
800-669-9777 (voice)
800-927-9275 (TTY)
Education
Students with disabilities in public schools (K-12) are covered by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Title II of the ADA, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Students with disabilities in public postsecondary education are covered by Title II and Section 504. Title III of the ADA applies to private schools (K-12 and post-secondary) that are not operated by religious entities. Private schools that receive federal funding are also covered by Section 504.
IDEA Complaints – Parents can request a due process hearing and a review from the state educational agency if applicable in that state. They also can appeal the state agency’s decision to state or federal court. You may contact the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) for further information or to provide your own thoughts and ideas on how they may better serve individuals with disabilities, their families and their communities.
For more information contact:
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20202-7100
202-245-7468 (voice)
Title II of the ADA and Section 504 Complaints – The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the Department of Education enforces Title II of the ADA and Section 504 as they apply to education. Those who have had access denied due to a service animal may file a complaint with OCR or file a private lawsuit in federal court. An OCR complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination, unless the time for filing is extended for good cause. Before filing an OCR complaint against an institution, an individual may want to find out about the institution’s grievance process and use that process to have the complaint resolved. However, an individual is not required by law to use the institutional grievance process before filing a complaint with OCR. If someone uses an institutional grievance process and then chooses to file the complaint with OCR, the complaint must be filed with OCR within 60 days after the last act of the institutional grievance process.
For more information contact:
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Customer Service: 800-421-3481 (voice)
800-877-8339 (TTY)
E-mail: OCR@ed.gov(link sends e-mail)
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html(link is external)
Title III Complaints – These may be filed with the Department of Justice.
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section – NYA
Washington, DC 20530
http://www.ada.gov/(link is external)
800-514-0301 (v)
800-514-0383 (TTY)
Transportation
Title II of the ADA applies to public transportation while Title III of the ADA applies to transportation provided by private entities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to federal entities and recipients of federal funding that provide transportation.
Title II and Section 504 Complaints – These may be filed with the Federal Transit Administration’s Office of Civil Rights. For more information, contact:
Director, FTA Office of Civil Rights
East Building – 5th Floor, TCR
1200 New Jersey Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20590
FTA ADA Assistance Line: 888-446-4511 (Voice)
800-877-8339 (Federal Information Relay Service)
http://www.fta.dot.gov/civil_rights.html(link is external)
http://www.fta.dot.gov/12874_3889.html(link is external) (Complaint Form)
Title III Complaints – These may be filed with the Department of Justice.
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section – NYA
Washington, DC 20530
http://www.ada.gov(link is external)
800-514-0301 (v)
800-514-0383 (TTY)
Note: A person does not have to file a complaint with the respective federal agency before filing a lawsuit in federal court.
Air Transportation
The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) covers airlines. Its regulations clarify what animals are considered service animals and explain how each type of animal should be treated.
ACAA complaints may be submitted to the Department of Transportation’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. Air travelers who experience disability-related air travel service problems may call the hotline at 800-778-4838 (voice) or 800- 455-9880 (TTY) to obtain assistance. Air travelers who would like the Department of Transportation (DOT) to investigate a complaint about a disability issue must submit their complaint in writing or via e-mail to:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
Attn: C-75-D
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, DC 20590
For additional information and questions about your rights under any of these laws, contact your regional ADA center at 800-949-4232 (voice/TTY).
disability rights and service dog expert melissa kaekel
Morgan Hill Institute’s Melissa Kaekel is an expert on disability rights in the workplace and service dogs. Interested in having Melissa consult for your organization or speak to your group, be a guest on your podcast, or be an expert source for a press piece? Learn more about consulting and speaking services here.
