HR take on snakes as a service and emotional support animal

[artgecko]

I have a friend that trains service dogs for people in wheelchairs and hearing dogs as well (she works for a non-profit in TX). She and other trainers hate abuse of ESA dogs and are constantly posting information like this...especially regarding the role and legal rights to have an ESA vs. a service dog vs. a therapy dog.

In a recent piece she posted, it pretty much laid out that ESA, if your doctor allows for one, are only legally allowed to be required at your place of residence...not out in public. i.e. if you legally have an ESA your apartment complex may be required to let you have it, but stores, restaurants, etc. are not required to do so. Only service dogs that provide a physical service are legally required to be allowed to public places, businesses, etc.

She has also posted a lot of references to shady operations that make their money by certifying ESAs... either trainers or psychiatrists. Many of these don't even make the applicant meet the requirements, it's just "pay to play". In her opinion, these scams and also people that try to take their ESA or therapy dog (or other animal) to places in public jeopardize how the public sees service dogs.. Making businesses more skeptical of allowing people with service animals, etc. She also noted that if you do qualify for an ESA (or any service dog) that you must be extremely careful selecting who to go through and that some of these shady operations don't even supply proper training or are outright shams (so basically check certification and references thoroughly).

There was even some talk about a national certification / registration process so that a business could request you show them proof of your dog being a registered service dog (not necessarily the disability you have, but some kind of license proving the dog is legit).

I know that there are people that legitimately need ESAs, but I also think a lot of people use this as a way to have a pet in a place that otherwise does not allow animals. IMO, we should be careful about this as it may get the rights of those who need one taken away due to abuse. I'm not saying anyone *here* does this, but I've been on a couple groups where someone outright said "my apartment doesn't allow pets so I'm going to get my shrink to say I need an ESA so I can have a rat / dog / etc.".