Here we go again. A disabled veteran and his service dog were thrown out of a Massachusetts diner, despite the fact that James Glasser, who suffers from PTSD, had the papers to prove that the dog, Jack, was a trained service animal. You simply won’t believe how the restaurant owner reacted; and even worse are his statements after his “apology.”
It’s truly shocking stuff, and the man needs some serious educating.
Click here for the full story.
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.
Not so sure that the veteran should be able to take the dog into a resturant. The article states he helps Glaser through his night terrors and nightmares. Unless he is narcoleptic, there is no need for the the dog to be with him. I have two dogs of my own and would love to take them everywhere I go but….
https://youtu.be/3V2yrWobYyc
I am a 100% disabled blinded veteran, I have used a guide dog for several years. Used to be that we were all on the honor system, no one wanted to be us. Today, to be disabled is fashionable and to have a service dog is a fashion statement. ADA was signed into law to eliminate barriers to public access. Some of us need a specially trained dog, also known as a prosthetic, to assist us with public access. The fake service dog is the new mother of all barriers to public access. There are many people who sell on line, fake patches and paper work that identifies a fake as a real service dog, the person in this story, displayed both patch and paperwork that is sold by people to make a pet a fake service dog, I feel that in this case it is the self identified disabled veteran who may owe the country and the dinner an apology. Stolen valor comes in many forms, and the VA does not recognize this type of dog as a service dog. The DOJ/ADA does not recognize this type of dog as a service dog…This dog is as suggested, an emotional support dog that has no ADA status, just a pet by another name. This dinner, as in all parts of the U.S.A. can not allow pets on his premises where food is stored or prepared for human consumption., only legitimate service dogs, today there are more fake service dogs than real, we call this new breed a “Bullshitzu”, it is due to the many fakes that those of us who are real, are having so much more trouble gaining access where we previously had no problem.
As a follow up on my previous comments, I would like to add, for the benefit of educating people on how to identify a fake service dog.
1. all legitimate service dogs are spayed or neutered.
2. the only paperwork, certification and I.D. Cards that is legitimate, are issued by an accredited service dog training authority, not the internet. All legitimate paperwork bears the contact information of the authority for verification of training.
3. patches on a dog vest!!!! come in all sorts of shapes, colors and designs, on the internet that is…only patches issued by a training authority with the name of the trainer on the patch has any meaning, vests are usually only used for dogs in training. Note, no harm if a legitimate trained service dog has patches for whatever, so long as the dog and handler are otherwise legitimate.
4. as of August 2012, only ADI accredited trained service dogs are allowed on Government property, including the V.A. (public law 112-154) All ADI accredited trained service dogs are issued special I.D. cards.
The Federal courts have made many rulings regarding service dogs over the years, in nut shell, a service dog is specially trained to perform tasks for a legitimately disabled person. The trained tasks shall not include anything a dog does naturally, such as walking, sniffing, pawing, licking,and giving emotional support, barking is allowed only if part of a trained task. Service dogs must be on leash at all times, except to perform a trained task, then back on the leash, we are working in the public here and must be in control of the dog, at all times. The courts have made their position very clear with the following comment. “These laws are not for the non disabled and their pets, nor are they for the disabled and their pets, but for the disabled and their task trained service dogs,”
The training I.D. card issued by accredited service dog training facilities, (who verifies the disability and then properly trains the dog and handler), the card identifies the trainer, the dog, and the now trained handler, the photo on reverse side must have the dog and the handler in same photo, the card is then specifically laminated, not the white colorful PVC type purchased on line, also there is no such thing as a registered service dog, unless registered with an accredited service dog training facility, but for $80.00 or so you can get anything on line…snake oil included. a real service dog is valued anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000, usually no cost to a legitimate disabled person, most schools gives veterans preference.
Does the Federal Government require I.D. cards for public access? not at this time, but some 30 states have some provision or law that leads to proper identification, and any person who files a false complaint against a public entity, claiming their pet is a service dog, well lets just say, the courts have remedies for such persons…….enough from me, just FYI…..
This last post is a little misleading due to the fact that the ADA allows owner trained service dogs. The only requirements for a service dog to be legal in the US is for the dog to be accompanied by a disabled person and for said dog to be trained to perform a task that assists with the persons disability.
In this case the dog is trained to recognize and assist with symptoms associated with PTSD. As long as a doctor recognizes the veterans’ PTSD as a handicap. The dog is indeed legal.
My dog is being trained to assist me with a few things including managing anxiety and my heart rate which are stmptoms of my disability. I will note here that it is illegal to ask what a persons’ disability is when you are questioning about a service dog.
You may only inquire two questions: 1.) Are you disabled? 2.) Is The Dog Trained to help you with your disability? Any further questions are deemed harassment, and a violation of rights according to the ADA.
In closing I would also like to add that in the state of MA, all service Dogs in training have equal rights as a service dog as long as they are not disrupting the function of services at a business. For example barking at a movie theatre is disruptive to the service of viewing a movie.