What is morality? When talking about morality, we usually refer to certain guidelines set by society, that are based on the concept of right and wrong. Morality often encompasses values such as honesty, kindness, fairness, and justice. It requires us to be mindful and respectful of others and their needs, especially when they are vulnerable or in need of assistance.
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide experience significant disability and are in a vulnerable position. Some of these people rely on the support of service dogs, who help them navigate through challenging situations in their daily lives. Service dogs are considered medical equipment, and their presence and intervention can be life-saving!
It is often overwhelming for individuals with physical and/or mental and developmental health conditions to protect their and their service animals’ rights while facing misunderstanding, lack of awareness, and judgment by the public.
Dealing with people who pretend to have service animals to ensure they can accompany them to all types of public places, including those where pets are not allowed, is another serious issue that can cause significant harm to legitimate service dog teams!
Given the importance of this problem, we will explore the negative effects that faking a service dog can have on genuine service dog teams.
What Are Service Animals?
Service animals are dogs who have been individually trained to do specific work directly related to a physical or mental disability. The specific tasks that service dogs perform for the benefit of their owners aim to mitigate the symptoms of their disabilities and help them live more fulfilled lives.
Considering the essential role of service dogs, they are deemed medical necessity and not pets and the “no pets” policy of businesses does not apply to them. Service dogs are entitled to public access and housing. Furthermore, they are allowed to accompany their owners in the passenger cabins of aircraft.
Having the status of a “service animal” involves certain privileges for the dog, which is the main reason why people who are not diagnosed as “disabled” try to fake having a service animal. However, this status is also accompanied by much responsibility, and misusing it causes harm to both real service dog teams and businesses.
Faking a Service Dog- Negative Effects on Genuine Service Dog Teams & Businesses
It Is Disrespectful to Legitimate Teams
Regardless of the type of disability, people who benefit from the support of service animals, have to deal with challenges every day. Sometimes, even the simplest activities like getting up from bed, going to the grocery store, or talking to your family and friends, may feel overwhelming for individuals with physical and/or mental impairments.
Taking advantage of the law and disrespecting people who are genuinely disabled and need service dogs to be able to actively participate in their lives, is immoral, to say the least.
It Ruins the Reputation of the Service Dog Community
Real service dogs undergo proper training, which does not only include performing specific tasks to help mitigate the symptoms of a disability, but also basic obedience and good manners in public. Service dogs have excellent manners in public, especially in busy places with a lot of distractions. They learn to remain focused on their owners regardless of their surroundings.
As you might have properly guessed, fake service dogs do not undergo training. They are pet dogs, who can or can not be well-mannered. Jumping, pulling on the leash, sniffing for food and seeking attention, excessively barking, or other types of unwanted behavior are very likely to occur, especially in places with distractions.
Meeting a fake service dog helps give the impression that service animals are bad-mannered dogs, who cause disruption. After you have been in contact with fake teams, you are very likely to because suspicious of genuine teams as well. Due to their negative experience, some people even approach service dog teams with disrespect and a lack of trust.
This, in turn, creates an even more challenging environment for individuals with physical and/or mental impairments. Instead of support and understanding, service dog teams face rejection and judgment.
It Makes Interaction with Employers and the Public More Difficult
Let’s imagine the following situations- a co-worker who brings a fake service dog to work; a customer, who insists on visiting a grocery store with their fake service dog; a client who wants to visit a hotel with their fake service dog.
If an employer, a manager of a grocery store, a hotel manager, or the public, in general, has engaged with fake service dog teams, they will be extra careful and mindful during their next interactions with service animals.
Employers and business owners are likely to require documentation that they may not be legally allowed to ask for or even refuse service dog teams access to their premises. This, of course, leads to frustration on both ends, as service dog handlers feel disrespected, while business owners are trying to protect their businesses and customers.
Fake Service Dogs Can Be Dangerous
Unfortunately, there are more than one or two cases of fake service dogs attacking real ones and even causing their deaths in some instances.
While being around a bad-mannered dog is an unpleasant experience, being in touch with a dangerous dog, who can even harm you or your service animal/pet dog is a serious and potentially hazardous situation that requires immediate attention and appropriate intervention.
Fake service dogs can be a real danger to other animals, including trained service dogs, but also to people.
It Helps Create a Bad Reputation for Businesses
Imagine you are a hotel guest or customer in a grocery store and a misbehaving dog, whose owner falsely presents them as a service animal, approaches you. This would certainly make your experience with the business less pleasant, wouldn't it?
Visiting a business open to use for the public with a fake service dog who is misbehaving, can easily make it less attractive to current and potential customers. In the long term, this would negatively affect the business’s profit and would make employees overly careful and suspicious of all service dog teams approaching their business.
How to Recognize a Fake Service Dog?
In some countries, including the US and the UK, service/assistance dogs are not legally required to wear a vest, harness, ID tag, or other items identifying them as working animals. Although this can tremendously help in public, it is optional.
Having said that, it is not the training/identification gear that is essential, but how the animal behaves. Since service dogs are a medical necessity, and have undergone proper training, tailored to the individual’s needs, they need to behave appropriately in public.
A trained service dog won’t seek attention, sniff for food, try to jump on other dogs or people, pull on their leash, or eliminate inappropriately. Barking is permissible when it is a trained service task that aims to alert the handler to a factor in the environment or a medical episode.
1. Is this a service dog due to a disability;
2. What tasks the dog has been trained to perform?
Employees are not allowed, though, to ask personal questions, especially disability-related ones.
Legal Consequences of Faking a Service Dog
Falsely presenting your dog as a service dog is not only immoral but also illegal.
Based on the specific location, penalties in different amounts will apply. Community service can also be required.
Also, there are new laws in some states like Texas, such as the House Bill 4164, which went into effect on Sept 01st, 2023. It imposes penalties of up to $1,000 and 30 hours of community service for people who falsely claim their dog is a service animal.
If you are wondering whether a person who falsely presents their pet dog as a service dog can go to jail, the answer is YES. In some states, like California, Kansas, and West Virginia, people who are fake having fake service dogs can be punished with imprisonment.
As you can see, falsely presenting a dog as a service animal can have many negative effects on the parties involved- the genuine service dog teams, businesses, and individuals who are misusing the laws themselves.
The appropriate use of service animals, along with education and increased public awareness, is essential not only for the well-being of the service dog community but the whole society!
