Fake Service Animals California
California may crack down on fake service dogs.
Fake service animals california. California has the toughest laws regarding fake service animals. California has long addressed the issue. In California for instance it is a misdemeanor to falsely and knowingly claim that you are the owner or trainer of a service animal.
Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. In 2014 the New Yorkers Patricia Marx gallivanted freely around the city with five successive fake ESA creatures including a snake an alpaca and a pig named Daphne demonstrating how easy. On January 30 2012 a six-year-old boy was killed at Fort Campbell in Oak Grove Tennessee by a German Shepherd medical service dog.
Monday February 24 2014. Many service dog handlers have stories of being turned away from businesses where a fake service dog has made a nuisance of itself previously causing the business owners to adopt a resolute no-animals policy even though this is against the law. Misrepresentation includes creating or providing false documents that state an animal is a service animal as well as the use of fake service dog vests collars or harnesses.
In February a powerful Chicago alderman introduced an ordinance that would ban illegitimate service animals from the citys two main airports and since the start of the year Delta and United. California has the toughest laws regarding fake service animals. In California anyone caught using a fake service animal could be fined up to 1000 and imprisoned for six months.
However in California pretending to be an owner of a service dog is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to 1000 andor up to six months imprisonment. Fake service dogs put unfair scrutiny on the people who actually need their animals for medical or emotional purposes and theyre an insult to the dogs that go through months of intense training to be good at their jobs. Polsky on February 26 2014.
Still trainers and those with service animals say theres a problemGet the full story in the video above. With no national registry to identify a real from a fake some people are taking advantage. The concerns about fake or problematic service animals voiced by Palacio and others have drawn attention from officials as well.