warpedellipsis:
servicedoodle:
warpedellipsis:
fatbodypolitics:
One of the most common questions I’ve gotten since beginning the process of getting a service dog is how someone can tell if a service dog is fake. I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to ignore their question to rant about how the illogical fear over people having fake service dogs allows for everyone to ignore the fucking hellscape that is trying to navigate the social, cultural and legal clusterfuck that is having a service dog to help mitigate a disability.
Between having to fight just to bring Itty home October of 2014, moving after my downstairs neighbor was unsafe, dealing with my current landlord trying to ban us from certain public spaces in our building and now having to go through my campus legal department to have Itty with me on campus WHO THE FUCK would go through all that just to have their pet dog with them for funsies?!? I mean really.
It is super easy to have a fake service dog in a public space like a grocery store.
It is impossible to have one on a campus or in any living situation that isn’t owning a suburban home. It is impossible to take one to your medical appointments, god forbid into an actual hospital. It’s impossible to get one and train one, if you can’t afford it or can’t train it yourself.
People see the grocery store and never the rest of it. People think they can take their untrained, badly behaving, asshole piss on everything dogs with them everywhere easy because they see only the grocery store. They never see the rest of it, and they don’t care to learn. They just care to stick their noses where it doesn’t belong and to exploit whatever they can.
You know what the only legal requirement is to have a service dog, and to call it that, in the US? A letter from your doctor affirming your disability and that the dog helps mitigate it. That’s it. That’s all you need to fly with it, too. Any real disabled person knows that. So if you see someone handing over one of those “federal organization” badges, insisting that it’s registered with the government, that’s a fake dog. Nobody who actually needs help thinks that paying a scammer’s fee magically transforms their pet into a trained dog. A lot of fake “emotional support animal” owners try this so they don’t have to fly cargo.
I’d like the system reformed, personally. A doctor’s letter is great and all, but nobody can carry that on them at all times–and that’s the other thing about fake animals: because we only need a doctor’s approval, that means asking for proof constitutes forcing us to reveal private medical info to any stranger who asks, so it’s not legal to ask for proof. Which is as it should be.
BUT, if there was such a thing as sending in that letter and the government giving you an ID card for it, without any info other than a federal ID and that you have a service dog, then that private info problem wouldn’t exist, and neither would “fake” dogs. It would still be goddamn rude to question someone and force them to produce the ID at your nosy demand, but it would fix the issue of people being able to take their fake dogs to easy places unquestioned. And it would also preserve the system that lets us train our own dogs as we need to, without screwing with access and money issues. And since we’re not being paid any benefits, there’d be no interference from “having to prove you’re disabled enough” or other bullshit delays like there is with Medicaid and social security. We’d still be fucked for coverage by insurance companies, but at least assholes would leave us alone when we’re trying to function.
IDs are not the solution. Service dogs are medical equipment. I don’t need to send a doctor note to the government to get an ID to prove my wheelchair is legit in public. And there’s no way I’d send a letter for the government to get an ID for my dog.
Plus a letter proves your need for a service dog but does not prove your dog is a service dog. Doctors are not dog trainers, and cannot evaluate what a dog does for you. Proper training is what makes a dog a service dog, not a doctor’s note. Which means the government would have to evaluate the dogs to provide ID. And that’s a whole other can of worms.
The whole idea of an ID system wouldn’t work. For instance, let’s say your system existed. I lose my dog ID. Am I not allowed to go in public until I find it? Do I have to stay home until they mail me a new one?
And what if I don’t have a doctor? If I needed a doctor’s note for my dog, I couldn’t produce one. Thankfully there’s no reason I would need to, even to fly. But I can’t afford a doctor and so many people are in the same boat.
The whole point of the way SD laws are currently written (no proof, no vest/harness requirement) is to give disabled people more freedom. An ID system takes our freedom away. It limits access to needed medical equipment.
I also don’t like the idea that everyone with those IDs/certificates from the internet is faking. They may be new handlers, they may be misinformed. There’s a lot of bad information out there perpetuated by the scam companies, so they can keep making money. When I was a new handler I had a “registered” service dog. Was she fake? No she was well trained and I am disabled. I was simply misinformed.
Rather than accusing me of faking a more experienced handler politely educated me on the whole registration thing and why it’s hurts SDs and such. And that was very helpful to me. Another group of people saw my mistake and accused me of faking my dog and my disability. That was not helpful.
Most, if not all, of those “registered” dogs are going to be fake.
Dogs and wheelchairs are not the same thing. Regular people can’t take their dogs out in public anywhere they want, but you can take a wheelchair anywhere. It’s not about faking, it’s about necessary access. Until dogs are allowed everywhere, which will never happen for obvious reasons, there must be a system to allow for access. Either you put up with being harassed or you get a system in place to stop that. Same reason you need an ID to be on the grounds of a members-only club–you’re not just going to let anyone in on a trust system. You need proof in order to get things that not everyone gets to have.
People drive without their license. It would work the same way as that–if you get “pulled over”, you can bring it back later or they can look it up.
All of this has precedent and already exists. Not even just in concept, but literally for service animals. Every other country already does this kind of thing. They even go one farther–they require that you get your dogs from certified groups. That’s both an ID system and training inspection in one go. But because the USA doesn’t have free medical care and so citizens don’t have the money for that, it would be bad to require that part in this country.
I didn’t say an ID system was perfect. It doesn’t solve a lot of issues. But it does solve fakers trying to take their pets with them on errands and onto planes. It does solve a lot of the harassment and accusations against people who do need their dogs. It still allows people to train their dog themselves and not against arbitrary rules. It leaves everything else in place.
You already can’t go out in public or fly with a dog without a doctor’s note. Just because airport gate agents are misinformed and lazy doesn’t make the laws inapplicable. If you do, you can be fined–regular people can’t ask for proof, but I’m pretty sure cops can. If you don’t have it, and you protest accommodations without that proof, you will be accused of faking and your complaint thrown out of court. You can’t get housing accommodations without proof. Everything that disability laws work for is undermined, because you look like a faker trying to get “perks”.
If you can’t afford a doctor, then you can’t afford a dog either. You don’t get to make them suffer without care or without food just because you can suffer going without. They don’t get to make that choice and you don’t get to force that onto them. Vets, shots, food, and grooming isn’t cheap. Neither is living in a cold area, especially if you use public transportation–dogs get frostbite and need winter protection too. Living in the broken US healthcare system sucks, but that’s reality.
People who should be on disability and medicaid aren’t either because you’re forced to work to stay alive, but if you’re working then “obviously” you’re not disabled, so you can’t get on disability, so you can’t stop working so you can’t get on disability, etc. People like that can’t afford a doctor to prove they’re disabled either. That sucks, and the system needs to change, but as it stands the government can’t just take people’s word for it that they’re disabled and dole out payments. You need proof in order to get things that not everyone gets.
The laws aren’t written to allow for freedom. They’re written that way because the government doesn’t want to set up the system that would give us access to dogs like every other country does, because that would mean acknowledging that yes they are necessary and yes they should be covered by insurance. The current system lets them off the hook for providing that and allows them maximum ability to screw us over. Any steps to make service animals covered will necessarily require verification/ID/oversight, just like every other country.
OHHH, @servicedoodle is a jackass, that’s the problem. Preach about acceptance and tolerance and gentle teaching then fucking block me when I try to have a goddamn conversation about why I disagree.
I’m going to take this apart bit by bit because you basically have no clue what you’re on about. The only time a service dog handler must show a note is if it’s a psychiatric service dog because the DOT lumps PSDs in with ESAs. So no, you don’t always need a note to fly, just with PSDs.
So much for universal right and equal access, yea? I guess those of us with a PSD or ESA get separate but equal service. IDs for us but not for you people. Us, because there’s no way to tell we’re disabled–you already have ID in the form of “looking like it”. We’re the fakers, we’re the ones you can’t believe on our word, unlike you assholes. Disability and medical equipment isn’t all the same. Not the same as a wheelchair now, is it? No comment now, huh?
Some people feel it works, others feel it restricts access. Thankfully we currently do not have a system like that, and that’s what really matters.
Aww, how kind of you to recognize that there’s merit to both sides—
You have a lot of legal facts wrong, but don’t worry! I have legal sources for you, so you can understand the laws.
And then you go on to get pretentious and superior about nothing I actually claimed and nasty about things I didn’t get wrong.
If you’re too poor to afford a doctor, then no, you probably can’t afford to get a service dog. But if you already have one then you can of course maintain one.
So, you agree with me, and then turn right round and say the opposite. Adopting a dog isn’t expensive. Unless you’re going to get a pure breed from a breeder or one from a service trainer group, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Vet bills are expensive.
And if you actually knew what you were bitching at me about, you wouldn’t contradict yourself here–you don’t need a specialist’s note. You need a DOCTOR’s note, from someone who is treating you. Anyone treating you will do. But you didn’t bother looking into that, because you literally can’t do research. You couldn’t figure out that sixteen websites claiming to register your dog without ever examining it are scams, not to mention the basic googling that would have told you different.
What you would need a specialist’s note for is for a PSD, because nobody but the specialists can know about those conditions. You don’t need a specialist’s note for a mobility service dog. You don’t need one for fetching items due to arthritis. But again, you don’t give a damn about those of us on the second tier. Fakers and not real disabilities, remember?
Actually, they were. [written to allow freedom]
According to whom and by what standard? Which parts? You got snotty when I pointed out how much of a lie that is. You made yourself look worse, AND revealed that you do support an ID system–just not for YOUR disability. Confirm that by blocking the person you classify as second class.
Ableism in the disability community, it exist. Prejudice against your own people. It’s amazing how narrow people can make their identities just so they can claim to bigoted society that they’re the BETTER disabled people, not like those ACTUAL fakers.
Airplanes is the next thing that was inaccurate in your post. To fly “
(1) Carriers shall accept as evidence that an animal is a service animal identification cards, other written documentation, presence of harnesses or markings on harnesses, tags, or the credible verbal assurances of the qualified individual with a disability using the animal. ” (
source)
Which means that yes, you can show a doctor’s note, that’s fine. But they MUST ACCEPT “credible verbal assurances” which means they must accept you at your word. The only time a service dog handler must show a note is if it’s a psychiatric service dog because the DOT lumps PSDs in with ESAs. So no, you don’t always need a note to fly, just with PSDs.
Not to mention that you literally just proved how easy it is to fake a service dog, and that it’s YOUR KIND who can and do get away with it. ALL WHILE MY KIND GET BLAMED FOR IT, exactly because of YOUR attitude that WE are the fakers.
You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. How nice for you that nobody questions YOU. And look what happens when somebody–ME–finally did.
I get to suffer because of YOUR uppity ignorance and YOUR continued actions. If there was a real ID law, this wouldn’t happen, because nobody could call anyone a faker–because none of the bullshit you’re allowed to do on this goddamn exploitable honor system could happen anymore. WHy people continue to insist that an honor system is best for people who are accused of having no honor is just impossible to understand. People will continue exploiting it and continue feeding the discrimination because they can–because the people who do that don’t suffer for it. The people who would benefit from ending it don’t matter to anyone enough to be worth helping.
I’m done and won’t be responding again. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the laws that exist to help disabled people.
I am disabled, and I have a dog, you goddamn twat. Here YOU are calling ME a faker. So much for you fucking honor system and your Disability Radar. So much for RESPECT. You’re too self righteous to respectfully disagree with basic reason, let alone someone you consider second class.
Or did you not even bother to read, much less think about, what I said? That would explain a lot, like the fact that you repeatedly missed that I referred to “disabled people” as “we”. Still demonstrates how uppity and dense you are, though.
And yet you’re still gonna cling to your stupid belief.
