I am booking a cruise and searched for a post of service animals on board and glad to get this information. But I would like to educate some of the stereo typing and why it happens, or miss information.
1) I have to say I am prejudice in this area also and I am always working on it, I have a guide dog ($40,000 worth of training), but I do myself question those with invisible disabilities, I am sorry to say, I do. One of the reasons, is because there are so many people who claim their pet is a service dog, there seems to be an epidemic of it where I am from, just go into home deposit, costco or Walmart and see how many dogs are in the store, to me way to many to be real service animals. Yet would it be better to discriminate against the one or allow the other 99 in who may not be a true service dog, I don't think so. It could just be where I live but in my mind out of the 100 dogs I see in the store when I go, at least 90% are not truly covered under ADA, but I have to remember to not be prejudiced because one of those dogs truly are and for that one we have to be allow the law that is not perfect to be the way it is.
2) the person who said companion dog and then comment on those that make the person feel comfortable need to understand he/she was incorrect in his thinking. Companion dogs are very much being allowed in public under Ada and it is true they are not suppose to be allowed, but the confusion is the law and people's thinking. HUD a federal agency change policy to allow companion dogs in housing the same rights as service dogs, they can not be required to pay a deposit, and they can not be denied. But there is a different between companion dog, therapy dog and service dog. Therapy dog which some of you confused with a companion dog, is a dog that is trained to go into a hospital to visit patients or to the library to have kids read to them, they are not protected under the ADA laws. A companion dog is usually for older people who need a dog to give them a purpose in life, to give them a reason to get up and go for a walk each day, HUD has made them equal to service dogs because they do service a huge purpose to elderly or sick people. But where some have confused them with service dog is also important, a dog who works with an autistic child or with a PTSD vet is a service dog and not a therapy or companion dog. It seems that at least one person tried to put them in the catagory as not ADA, know these dogs do a service and are considered ADA protected, they stop a child for bolting into a street, or wondering into a woods and getting lost, or the read the tension in the vet and realize they have to put their body between the vet and the person in an elevator so that the vet does not go into a anxiety attack and gives them their personal space to relax.
3) people stated that service dogs need paperwork or registration or certificates, or vest or something. Here is where the law is good good and bad bad. No a dog does not need anything, not even training under the ADA laws and why it is so much better for companies to throw up there arms and just let dogs in. The bad bad is that you can buy all that on line and it means nothing, yes you can go online and buy a harness and say you are blind ( this is the only one that could get you into trouble because there is a law that says in all 50 states that you can not impersonate a blind person with a cane or dog), but you can buy a vest that says service animal for about $35, you can buy a paper that says your dog is trained and certified and get a card and papers with you picture and dogs picture on it for around $50. The good good is that ADA does not require anything except you word that your dog is a service animal and how it services you.
I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion. I promise I am working on my prejudice and not saying all dogs without vest and without visible disabilities are not service animals, I try to reserve that opinion to the little yorkie or Chou that is dressed in pearls and dresses and being pushed in a baby carriage, who tells the store clerk that yes the dog is a service animal (ha-ha).
1) I have to say I am prejudice in this area also and I am always working on it, I have a guide dog ($40,000 worth of training), but I do myself question those with invisible disabilities, I am sorry to say, I do. One of the reasons, is because there are so many people who claim their pet is a service dog, there seems to be an epidemic of it where I am from, just go into home deposit, costco or Walmart and see how many dogs are in the store, to me way to many to be real service animals. Yet would it be better to discriminate against the one or allow the other 99 in who may not be a true service dog, I don't think so. It could just be where I live but in my mind out of the 100 dogs I see in the store when I go, at least 90% are not truly covered under ADA, but I have to remember to not be prejudiced because one of those dogs truly are and for that one we have to be allow the law that is not perfect to be the way it is.
2) the person who said companion dog and then comment on those that make the person feel comfortable need to understand he/she was incorrect in his thinking. Companion dogs are very much being allowed in public under Ada and it is true they are not suppose to be allowed, but the confusion is the law and people's thinking. HUD a federal agency change policy to allow companion dogs in housing the same rights as service dogs, they can not be required to pay a deposit, and they can not be denied. But there is a different between companion dog, therapy dog and service dog. Therapy dog which some of you confused with a companion dog, is a dog that is trained to go into a hospital to visit patients or to the library to have kids read to them, they are not protected under the ADA laws. A companion dog is usually for older people who need a dog to give them a purpose in life, to give them a reason to get up and go for a walk each day, HUD has made them equal to service dogs because they do service a huge purpose to elderly or sick people. But where some have confused them with service dog is also important, a dog who works with an autistic child or with a PTSD vet is a service dog and not a therapy or companion dog. It seems that at least one person tried to put them in the catagory as not ADA, know these dogs do a service and are considered ADA protected, they stop a child for bolting into a street, or wondering into a woods and getting lost, or the read the tension in the vet and realize they have to put their body between the vet and the person in an elevator so that the vet does not go into a anxiety attack and gives them their personal space to relax.
3) people stated that service dogs need paperwork or registration or certificates, or vest or something. Here is where the law is good good and bad bad. No a dog does not need anything, not even training under the ADA laws and why it is so much better for companies to throw up there arms and just let dogs in. The bad bad is that you can buy all that on line and it means nothing, yes you can go online and buy a harness and say you are blind ( this is the only one that could get you into trouble because there is a law that says in all 50 states that you can not impersonate a blind person with a cane or dog), but you can buy a vest that says service animal for about $35, you can buy a paper that says your dog is trained and certified and get a card and papers with you picture and dogs picture on it for around $50. The good good is that ADA does not require anything except you word that your dog is a service animal and how it services you.
I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion. I promise I am working on my prejudice and not saying all dogs without vest and without visible disabilities are not service animals, I try to reserve that opinion to the little yorkie or Chou that is dressed in pearls and dresses and being pushed in a baby carriage, who tells the store clerk that yes the dog is a service animal (ha-ha).
