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Topic: ADA service dogs

Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 04-01-2018 08:05 PM

quote: Lyle Romer
I don't see any reason that it can't be like prescription drugs. A Dr. has to write a prescription which reveals (at least to the pharmacy) the likely medical issue that you have.

That sort of approach makes sense. For that matter, you could be more direct.

The problem is, all of that is against the law. You can't talk to the customers about their condition and you can't ask for verification of the dog's training. You can only take their word and hope the animal doesn't act up. If it doesn't, good. If it does, only then do you have recourse.

Other than that, what could or should be doesn't matter.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-02-2018 01:07 AM

Well, since all dogs that are not kept on the owner's property 100% of the time are supposed to be licensed, why can't there be a special class of dog license for service dogs?

It would just be a check box and an affidavit that the owner signs at the bottom of the form, "Under penalty of perjury I confirm that this animal is a 'Service Animal' pursuant to the American's With Disabilities Act...blah, blah, blah..."

It would be easy. There would be no extra cost. It would be voluntary. It would be verifiable.

There could be a special shape, color or stamp on the license tag that would be easily identifiable.

For the purposes of a service animal, we could even treat the term, "Dog License" liberally enough that, if somebody had some other kind of animal, a dog license would cover the situation.

So, if a person has a "helper" monkey they could just go down town and get a dog license.

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 04-02-2018 09:59 AM

quote: Randy Stankey
For the purposes of a service animal, we could even treat the term, "Dog License" liberally enough that, if somebody had some other kind of animal, a dog license would cover the situation.

I'd love to show up with my "fully licensed" pet elephant or pet jaguar at your place and try to make that argument. [Wink]

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 04-02-2018 12:07 PM

The way it works today, you can indeed bring your elephant. No license required. Just say it's a service animal and you're welcome to have it sit beside you while the show is on.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-02-2018 02:04 PM

I'm certainly not for customers simply bringing whatever pet or barnyard animal they might have into a restaurant, on an airplane or into a movie theater just because they want to do so. If the customer has a service animal there should be some professional documentation to back up the medical need for it.

My girlfriend's oldest daughter Rosa suffers from PTSD, something she developed in years of military service in Iraq & Afghanistan doing med-tech work on injured & dying fellow soldiers, seeing all sorts of grisly, horrible things in the process. She has a legit service dog, an English Bulldogge that has gone through years of training. The dog knows how to behave himself in places of business and around new people. He's not stinky either. He usually wears a dog vest with service dog markings on it.

Rosa doesn't take her service dog every place she visits though. Some places, such as movie theaters, just aren't practical. You can't sit in an optimal spot in the auditorium with friends or family and have a service dog crammed between the seating rows. She has caught static from staffers in grocery stores, restaurants or other places where she has brought along her dog, thinking her dog is just some filthy pet.

Regarding the issue of pet allergies they're not in the same ballpark as something like peanut allergies or insect stings, which are far more likely to trigger anaphylactic shock. It usually takes frequent, prolonged exposure to allergens like cat dander to worsen conditions like asthma to dangerous levels. More than twice as many people are allergic to cats than dogs.

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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 04-02-2018 03:26 PM

There is a huge difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal. Why the heck can businesses not refuse to allow someone without a legitimate, verifiable, registered service animal in? What would happen if they did? There are a ton of stupid laws on the books these days, but surely there isn't one that says that anyone can bring any pet with them wherever they go, and if a business doesn't allow it they can be sued. CAN THERE??

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-02-2018 04:32 PM

I think some people have a bit of an old fashioned attitude, that the only kind of service dog is one that helps a blind person walk the streets and that anything outside of that narrow definition is some kind of scam.

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 04-02-2018 04:45 PM

I fail to see why any owner of a service dog would ever want to subject them to a theatre. The loud sound system is just going to stress them out.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 04-02-2018 07:32 PM

I have seen plenty of service dogs that have a vest or some sort of "marking" that calls them out as a service animal. There should be a law that such a thing is a REQUIREMENT if you want your pet cow or whatever to be recognized as a service animal. That'd solve a lot of problems right there. Or maybe a driver's-license type thing that a service animal owner could be required to carry and display upon request.

Of course that'll just lead to a whole black market of phony "service animal" vests designed to fit dogs, cats, pigs, donkeys, horses or platypusses.

Clearly SOMETHING has to be done to rein in this lunacy.

We live in a crazy world. I find myself increasingly grateful to be over 60 and to have a comparatively short time left in it. Although I would like to see what happens with the self-driving cars.

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 04-02-2018 08:04 PM

You mean like this? https://shop.registermyserviceanimal.com/Vest-ESA-or-Service-Animal-Dog-Cat-Pig-etc-1157.htm

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 04-02-2018 09:54 PM

I think it's pretty sleazy for someone to pass off their pet as if it's a service animal or even an emotional support animal when they have no medical condition that calls for such a thing. It's just their damned pet and they refuse to leave it at home and use the emotional support animal as a ploy to get away with it. The act may not be as low as civilians trying to pass themselves off as military veterans to get all sorts of attention (stolen valor). Still, their stunts work to de-legitimize real service animals and the needs of people who genuinely benefit from having such animals.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 04-02-2018 11:46 PM

quote: Frank Cox
The way it works today, you can indeed bring your elephant. No license required. Just say it's a service animal and you're welcome to have it sit beside you while the show is on.

Come on, guys. READ the faq. No elephants, chimpanzees or Moluccan Cockatoos. Only DOGS can be "service animals", except for very specific situations, where a miniature horse can qualify. NOTHING ELSE. The law states how you deal with service animals. It doesn't get into how you might deal with other critters. If you want to admit an emotional support python, that's on you to decide.

To ask "why can't I" merely indicates you haven't read the law. It pretty much states what you can and can not do.

If you don't like the rules, take it up with the ADA. Venting here won't make any difference.

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Nathan McLaughlin
Film Handler

Posts: 12
From: Checotah ,OK /United States
Registered: Jun 2017

posted 04-02-2018 11:53 PM

Hello everyone
My biggest problem with this hole mess is my own kids rights seem to be nonexistent if my kids can't breathe they have to leave a theater we own so someone can bring an animal which means my kids are second class to someone else's needs I don't buy it in the theater business 3 weeks and in this kind of crap is ridiculous

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 04-03-2018 01:58 AM

Even though it's your theatre it's still a public place (a place where the public is invited to enter) so you have to follow the laws around things like non-smoking areas and whatnot as well; stuff that wouldn't apply in your private home.

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Marcel Birgelen
Film God

Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012

posted 04-03-2018 04:39 AM

quote: Nathan McLaughlin
My biggest problem with this hole mess is my own kids rights seem to be nonexistent if my kids can't breathe they have to leave a theater we own so someone can bring an animal which means my kids are second class to someone else's needs I don't buy it in the theater business 3 weeks and in this kind of crap is ridiculous

You know, punctuation isn't really a luxury it's more like a form of respect to others.

But, like mentioned in the posts above, nobody is supposed to be threatened like second class, so your kid's allergy is as important as the needs of those with a (legitimate) service animal. In the case that both would end up in the same room at the same time, the law seemingly states that an appropriate solution should be found that serves both equally. So, you could be seated on the opposite side of the theater. If that isn't sufficient, then one of the two might be kindly asked to attend the show at a later hour for example. Nobody should get an advantage over the other.

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