Emotional Support Animals – It’s All About Me
May 23, 2006
I am not making this up.
Last week, the New York Times published a story about a rise in the incidence of airline passengers, hotel guests and restaurant patrons who insist that their animals - usually dogs – be allowed in with them. Why? Because these are "emotional assistance" animals.
The idea is that, like assistance or service dogs for those with physical disabilities, assistance dogs for those with emotional disabilities should be granted the same access to public places. The problem is that the ruling by the Department of Transportation does not define "disability" and does not define any special skills an animal must have to qualify as a service animal.
So really, all you need is a doctor's note saying that you must have your Pomeranian with you on a flight, and they have to let you take the dog into the cabin with you. I wonder if I can get a doctor's note that says I "need" free champagne.
Airlines have been forced to admit dogs, cats, a goat, a duck and even a miniature horse wearing a diaper on board to provide in-flight support to their owners. One woman interviewed for the article said the Pit Bull that she insists on taking onto planes and into hotel rooms "helps fend off dark moods."
My question is, when did we all become so helpless? Can't we survive a flight without being able to pet our dogs? The more we demand rights, the more we elevate the individual over society at large, and the less able to cope we seem to become.
Or maybe it's not helplessness and inability to cope. Maybe it's self-aggrandizement and narcissism. Animals on planes are supposed to be there because their services are needed to enable someone to fly, someone who actualy could not fly without the animal. They're not there to assure that their owners remain in the utmost emotionally rewarding frame of mind at all times. Has our celebrity-worship extended to the point where we all think we deserve to act like a pampered billionaire movie-star?
The article stated that some in the service dog training industry "are concerned that pet owners who might simply prefer to brunch with their Labradoodle are abusing the guidelines." Ya think? What about the rights of other passengers and restaurant guests who are allergic to dogs, or afraid of them? Would you like your four-year-old child sitting next to a large dog with no formal training, unknown socialization skills, and who belongs to someone who's so emotionally unstable that she can't fly without the dog? Me neither.
What's going to happen when two of these emotional service animals get into a dog fight across someone's lap? Or when an emotional support German Shepherd Dog eats an emotional support rabbit? Or when a parent presents a note that he/she cannot bear to be apart from a child, so that child must be accommodated – without charge – on the airplane for the emotional well-being of the parent.
I'm a dog owner and a dog lover. So much so that I started a business in which I obsess about dogs all day, every day. I sell to and even befriend doting dog parents, and I totally relate to them. But if you're so unstable that you need your pet to sit on your lap to enable you to fly, then you're not functional and should be institutionalized (or deported to Hollywood). Planes, hotels and restaurants are public places where the rest of us need to function, too. After such an emotionally-unglued person and her dogs sleep in a hotel bed, does she ever think about the person with dog allergies who has to sleep in that same bed the next night? Maybe that person has a huge presentation to give in the morning. How's he going to look and feel the next day when his face is red and swollen with allergies from the bedspread, which is not washed after each guest?
When did our country become a nation where what's best for the group as a whole takes a back seat to what a loud individual might demand? Oh, wait … there's an emotional service duck in that seat.
- Lisa Woody
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1.
Tryna Merriman | June 3, 2006 at 12:43 am
From a young woman who has a service dog, I totally understand where you are coming from.. I carry an I.D. card with Alehe (sounds just like Allie) in the pocket of her pulling harness whenever I fly, or go on long trips in public transportation. I have actually missed a preboard onto a plane because some uninformed airline person refused to believe the law says I can have her in the plane WITH ME. (I would NOT put her in cargo hold. She’s a 10 thousand dollar dog!). I have even witnessed or heard of people who abuse the priveledge and say their dog (or other animal) is a service animal. It gives us legitimate service animal owners a bad rap. I have been refused other places; resteraunts, my grandmothers apartment complex (where thee landlord wanted me to carry the dog into her apartment. I’m in a wheelchair for crying out loud! I was even given a hard time by a bus driver.
I have more problems in California where there are laws than where I now live in Montana where there aren’t any laws!
2.
Diane | June 3, 2006 at 9:02 am
Bravo for your editorial! I am a flight attendant/dog lover/dog owner myself. People do not realize they are putting their dog’s safety and health in jeaprody to have a dog sit with them during flight.
Many a time I have been in a possible crash/emergency situation where if it really happened – the dog would be thrown resulting in injury or death not only to the dog – but the passengers in the plane.
I commend you for speaking up. – Diane
3.
Windy | June 23, 2009 at 7:14 pm
If the plane is in an emergency situation, how would the dog have hendered the other passengers from getting to safety? How does the dog complicate matters? If the owner is responsible for the dog, and the dog is not endangering the lives of others, what difference would it make to you? Since the majority of time in a plane crash noone survives, why would you be worried about a dog?
4.
Tryna Merriman | June 3, 2006 at 9:34 pm
I forgot to mention that as for the hotel thing, I bring a blanket for my dog to sleep on. Sometimes I even pull back the top covers and put her blanket (of which I clean often) on the bottom sheet so her hair touches as less as possible. If she is in a strange place like the hotel;, she would rather lie next to me than on the floor. Security thing I guess.
5.
amy | June 4, 2006 at 5:09 pm
interesting post. I like your blog, i’ll keep reading
6.
Betty Winkler | June 23, 2006 at 5:31 pm
How do I obtain a certified card for an animal support dog?
7.
ebking | July 7, 2006 at 1:48 pm
This behavior sounds more like an attention-getting device – “Look at me, my dog is in the restaurant/plane/hotel bar because I’m special!” – than a legit excuse. — erin
8.
Tamara | July 13, 2006 at 1:13 am
I’m seriously disappointed in your obvious lack of education on the matter! I do not personally own an emotional support animal but I know a woman who does. She was held at knife point in a court house parking lot (where she worked) and now has serious problems being in public by herself. She’s got a legitimate fear of being alone! Having an emotional support dog with her allows her to function in a normal matter. It allows her to stay off of potentially dangerous and hazardous drugs.
Not everyone out there is as legitimate, I’ll admit that. But that doesn’t give you the right to call them ALL spoiled and feel like they need to be treated like pampered billionaire superstars. Nor are they all narcissistic, or so emotionally unstable that they can’t function. Not to mention flying in general is very scary to A LOT of people out there! Personally, I’d rather they brought a well behaved dog (or animal) than stumble on the plane drunk!
If a service animal is ill behaved, the flight attendants have the right to ask to see documentation of the training. If the animal has no formal training they can then proceed with correcting the situation. Try looking at it from another point of view for once. You have a right to your opinion, but that doesn’t mean it’s correct.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Intoxicated passengers are removed from commercial flights before take-off because they present a danger during flight. If a service animal is ill behaved, the animal and its owner will be removed from the plane, with or without documentation, for the same reason. In addition, drugs use for anxiety disorders are not dangerous and hazardous. They help millions of people live and function even though they have panic diorders and anxiety disorders. – L.W.
9.
ann | June 5, 2009 at 4:10 pm
thank you so very much! I too am one that suffers from severe panic attacks from public, and possibly the only way not to become an agoraphobic is to get an ESD, (to the original author) please research the other side, because guaranteed if you put yourself in my shoes for a while, you would feel the same way I do, if not do something you may not be able to regret if you know what i mean. I do agree that this may be over used.
10.
Sutton | July 13, 2006 at 3:38 am
Tamara,
I bet that person you know sufferes from PTSD (that’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) I can see where that woman with PTSD could benfit from a Emotional Support Animal as in my opinopn PTSD is a Emotional, Mental or Psychiatric disability.
I know of a woman with a Psychiatric condition who takes her Sugar Gliders everywhere with her. They provide Tictile Stimulation for her and allow her to be off her normal psychiatric medications. She no longer has to suffer the psychiatric medication side effects and she is able to have confidence to go out in public too. Her Sugar Gliders are small enough where she can hide them on her and you wouldn’t even know she had them. Much nicer then having a Dog with you advertising and attracting sometimes unwanted attention to yourself.
For information on what the heck a Sugar Glider is look here:
http://www.sugargliders.org/
Take care,
Richard
11.
Sutton | July 16, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Lets get educated folks. The URL I have here will take you to the DOT (thats Department Of Transportation) website. Here is a 192 page PDF file that will explain a few things to you about airlines and Service ANIMALS and Emotional Support Animals.
I invite you to go to http://www.dot.gov/ yourself and on their website do a serach for 382.55 and you will see what you need to know. Pay specific attention to PAGE 13 of the 192 page PDF file. Oh and please SHARE this information with anyone who works in your industry so they will not be sued for violation of civil rights. The USDOJ (that’s United States Department of Justice) is who enforces violations of ADA laws and Civil Rights. The FHA (that’s Federal Housing Administration) also has laws about housing and “Emotional Support Animals” as well.
Below is copied and pasted from
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/legislation/acaa/TAM-07-15-05.pdf
“Service Animal:
Any animal that is individually trained or able to provide assistance to a qualified person
with a disability or any animal shown by documentation to be necessary for the emotional
well being of a passenger. With respect to emotional support animals, although carriers
may require documentation to verify that an animal is an emotional support animal, such
documentation is not required under the law.
Dogs, cats, and monkeys are among those that have been individually trained and act as
service animals. Service animals may assist people with disabilities by, for example:
• guiding persons with vision impairments;
• alerting persons with deafness to specific sounds;
• alerting persons with epilepsy of imminent seizure onset;
• pulling a wheelchair;
• assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance; and
• providing emotional support for persons with disabilities. [Sec. 382.55]”
If you would like to look at specific “Tasks” that a Service Animal may provide for a person with PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES I invite you to go look here and remember according to the ADA a Service Animal can be ANY ANIMAL not just a Dog.
http://www.iaadp.org/psd_tasks.html
For ADA law about Service Animals I invite you to go look here
http://deltasociety.org/ServiceInformationBasic.htm
Copied and pasted from the above site.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990), a dog is considered a “service dog” if it has been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.”
Also according to the ADA, a “disability” is a “mental or physical condition which substantially limits a major life activity” such as:
caring for one’s self
performing manual tasks
walking
seeing
hearing
speaking
breathing
learning
working
Some disabilities may not be visible, such as:
deafness
epilepsy
psychiatric conditions
To be considered a service dog, the dog must be trained to perform tasks directly related to the person’s disability.
Example
Chris has a hearing disability and can’t hear sounds such as a smoke alarms, doorbells, sirens, or her name being called. Chris is otherwise able to function with no other assistance. Chris has a dog named Dusty.
If Dusty is trained to let Chris know when a sound occurs (e.g., smoke alarm, doorbell), Dusty is considered a service dog.
On the other hand, if Dusty is only trained to retrieve items around the house and does not know how to alert Chris to sounds, Dusty is not considered a service dog for Chris, because the task of retrieving is not directly related to Chris’ disability.
90% of the time if you have a question about Service Animals and you call the U.S. Department of Justice’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or
800-514-0383 (TDD).
They will try to answer any questions you may have and 90% of the time they will refer you to the Delta Society website. Go ahead and call them if you wish. Also the IAADP ( thats International Association of Assistance Dog Partners) link I got from the Delta Societies website.
Please educate yourselves because ignorance is no defense in a court of law. Our law makers just assume that we all know the laws. And obviously we don’t know all the laws. Want to see what can happen to you if you do not allow a Service Animal to “public access” then look here.
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/skywayse.htm
Ok, you should now have a better education on Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals.
Have a nice day,
Sutton
12.
Yafi Ritz | July 16, 2006 at 6:56 pm
Can you please provide publication date for the original ny times article. thanks
13.
Sutton | July 18, 2006 at 4:18 am
Here is the story if you look at Lisa Woddy’s original post you can click on the word Story and it will take you here.
“Emotional-Support Dogs Unleash Pack Of Problems
Skip directly to the full story.
The New York Times
Published: May 21, 2006
TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990
NEW YORK – On a sun-drenched weekend last month, cafes in Manhattan were swelling with diners, many of whom left dogs tied to parking meters in deference to health department rules that prohibit pets in restaurants. At French Roast on upper Broadway, however, two women sat down to brunch with dogs in tow: a golden retriever and a Yorkie toted in a bag.
“They both said that their animals were emotional-service dogs,” manager Gil Ohana said. “One of them actually carried a doctor’s letter.”
Health care professionals have recommended animals for psychological or emotional support for more than two decades, based on research showing many benefits, including longer lives and less stress for pet owners.
But recently, some New York restaurateurs have noticed a surge in the number of diners seeking to bring dogs inside for emotional support, where previously restaurants had accommodated only dogs for the blind.
“I had never heard of emotional-support animals before,” said Steve Hanson, an owner of 12 restaurants including Blue Fin and Blue Water Grill in Manhattan. “And now all of a sudden in the last several months, we’re hearing this.”
The increasing appearance of pets whose owners say they are needed for emotional support in restaurants – as well as on airplanes, in offices and even in health spas – goes back to a 2003 ruling by the Department of Transportation, according to those who train such animals.
The ruling clarified policies regarding disabled passengers on airplanes, stating for the first time that animals used to aid people with emotional ailments, such as depression or anxiety, should be given the same access and privileges as animals helping people with physical disabilities, such as blindness or deafness.
The following year, appellate courts in New York state for the first time accepted tenants’ arguments in two cases that emotional support was a viable reason to keep a pet despite a building’s no-pets policy. Word of the cases and of the Transportation Department’s ruling spread, aided by television and the Internet.
Now airlines are grappling with how to accommodate 200-pound dogs in the passenger cabin and even emotional-support goats.
And businesses such as restaurants not directly addressed in the airline or housing decisions face a newly empowered group of customers seeking admittance with their animals.
Although most people who train animals that help the disabled – known as service animals – are happy that deserving people are aided, some also are concerned that pet owners who might simply prefer to brunch with their Labradoodle are abusing the guidelines.
“The DOT guidance document was an outrageous decision,” said Joan Froling, chairwoman of the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners, a nonprofit organization representing people who depend on service dogs.
“Instead of clarifying the difference between emotional-support animals who provide comfort by their mere presence and animals trained to perform specific services for the disabled, they decided that support animals were service animals.”
No one interviewed for this article admitted to taking advantage of the guidelines, but there is evidence it happens.
Cynthia Dodge, founder and owner of Tutor Service Dogs in Greenfield, Mass., said, “I’ve had teenagers approach me wanting to get their dogs certified. This isn’t cute and is a total insult to the disabled community. They are ruining it for people who need it.”
The 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act states that anyone depending on an animal to function should be allowed full access to all private businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, stores and theaters. The law specifies that such animals must be trained specifically to assist their owner. True service animals are trained in tasks such as finding a spouse when a person is in distress.
Aphrodite Clamar-Cohen, who teaches psychology at John Jay College in Manhattan and sees a psychotherapist, said her dog, a pit bull mix, helps fend off dark moods that began after her husband died eight years ago. She learned about psychological support pets from the Delta Society, a nonprofit group that aims to bring people and animals together, and got her dog, Alexander, last year.
“When I travel, I tell hotels that ‘Alexander Dog Cohen’ is coming and he is my emotional-needs dog,” she said.
Bradley Silverbush, a partner at Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Schwartz & Nahins, the largest landlord law firm in New York, said people are manipulating the law.”
14.
Jeannette | July 28, 2006 at 10:27 am
The information regarding service dogs can mostly be found at http://www.deltasociety.org/ They haved a lot of the guidelines as well as a few things you can print and use as handouts.
I have a lab that I use as a service dog. It’s a tricky situation. I have been denied access to the hospital because they refered it as “cheep doggie day care” But when the nurse had to pick up everything I dropped, help me to and from the bathroom a hundred times it seemed (diuretic), they found me 2 times with my blood sugar dropped out and I was totally out of it (my dog usually alerts people or myself if I am getting bad) Their biggest problem was the dog might bark, it would shed, eventially would have to relieve itself, and might attack one of the nurses and possibly rip their throat out. No kidding I have the letter.
The ADA at this time does not require formal ‘certified’ training from any one specific person or orginazation. It is still al work in progress.
Yes I also need her as a companion animal, I am terrified some jerk will decide that he doesnt like women and beat the pulp out of me again, I am still recovering from an assult from this past February – the man thought the dog was a wild animal and came over with a cane and beat the both of us until the police arrived. Outcome, he was told never ever do that again, on my part was over $1000.oo in vet bills, I have to re train my dog not to fear agressive screaming men – she just lays and hides under my wheelchair and hides. I am out 5 weeks work, huge hospital and vet bills, and being an ignorant man he got away with a slap on the wrist and was told to never ever do it again. I don’t even have the right to sue him for assult. I dide get a restraining order on him, and since then have had a professional trainer working with my dog. But who is to say where the limit is?
I can associate with the woman that was attacked in the lot, but having a small bunny or something that doesn’t offer protection doesnt seem to be the right thing either.
I have been amazed upon the number of people that try and pass their pets of as service animals. They are barking constantly, urinating and deficating indoors, growling and snapping at strangers – but they not being in a wheelchair can get away with ” I need it for security, or balance, or whatever” I cannot transfer out of my char or transfer at all without the help of my dog, but since we are not out of a “recognized” orginazation we have been denied and descriminated upon, just because.
15.
Sutton | July 28, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Jeannette,
if you were to read my comment
9. Sutton | July 16th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
you will see lots of helpful links there for you. Also in case you do not already know the hospital violated your civil rights. You may report them to the ADA or USDOJ and they will seek legal action against that hospital for you. They ONLY place the dog is not allowed is a place where sterile procedures are performed. Like an “Operating Room” the Emergency Room is not a sterile environment. I know this because I am an Emergency Medical Technician and I have had training on these issues. Also if something happens to you and the dog has a vest or something identifying the dog as a Service Dog EMS must transport the dog with you to the hospital. Lots of EMS services are ignorant to this law but let me assure you it is true. If the dog is being protective of you and will not allow us to do our job then we can separate the dog from you. However the dog must be reunited with you as soon as you get the the ER. Now if the dog won’t allow the ER staff to work on you then it again may be separated from you. If you were in a motor vehicle accident here and your dog is identified as a service dog if your dog was injured then a police officer or another EMS unit would transport the dog to an emergency vet emergently (with lights and siren) to get your dog medical attention ASAP. If the dog would not allow any of us to approach then animal control is to be called in and they are to use non lethal methods that they have to secure the dog and get it care that it needs.
16.
B | July 29, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Wow Lisa, you obviously need to befriend some people with debilitating phobias! You arguments seem a bit ‘unglued’ to me! I moved to another country 6 years ago and dread my yearly visit to my family only because I have to fly there (for 9 hours on end). Every year I postpone my visit to my elderly parents and sister with cancer more and more, just because of my intense fear of flying. It seems that you have no grasp of the intense obstacles in phobia sufferers’ lives and lack knowledge on how far reaching service animals’ assistance is to their owners. For the first time this year I look forward to my holiday because my dog is accompanying me.
I think that if hotels can build ramps for people in wheelchairs or have special smoker’s rooms, shurely they can make the necessarry arrangements to clean up their rooms properly before new visitors arrive (as I personally would expect in any case).
There are very specific guidelines for any service dog, and training and socializing is basic for any service dog that needs to perform duties in public places. Unfortunately certification is difficult since so-called dog-lovers (obviously not dog experts) and others, simply won’t believe that an animal like a dog can really change someone’s life and taint the name of these people with debilitating disorders. These dogs offer them things that others take for granted merely by offering their unconditional presence and support.
NOTE FROM MODERATOR: For the record, I have a sister and a cousin with debilitating phobias. I am very close with them both and have even invited each one to live with me at different times (as adults). I talk with them nearly every day. I have great compassion for their illnesses. I believe that dogs can change the lives of those they live with. That’s the enormous benefit of having a dog. My own dogs have certainly given me immeasurable comfort, security, affection, amusement and joy by offering their unconditional presence and support. But being made happy by the comfort that my dogs provide to me doesn’t make me disabled. The issue here is not those with legitimate needs. It’s with those who abuse laws and regulations. – L.W.
17.
CynthiaLR | August 3, 2006 at 6:22 pm
First of all you COULD have made your point w/o sounding like an obnoxious individual. Second, there are those people who truly do require their animals for emotional health. Are these dogs not required to be certified just as dogs for the blind/handicapped are certified?
Third, and most important to me, is I’d not put ANY animal in the cargo hold of an aircraft and risk its life. I suggest that, if you think it is so safe and secure to fly in that area, that next time you board a plane YOU fly in the cargo hold and give your seat to an animal who deserves it.
18.
Sharon | August 3, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Wow. This topic really touched a nerve. Go, Lisa! I’m sick to death of all the insecure tolerenceniks flipping off society to glorify the frailties of a small group of people. Sex addicts, personality disorders, teaching ebonics in school … there’s no end the what the rest of us who are reasonable, responsible people are expected to put up with, do without, finance, and even promote, so that one person in 500 (or a million) can feel a little bit better for a little while. I’m glad there are people out there like Lisa who are “obnoxious” enough to say abuse of this regulation is not necessary, and it’s not good for society.
Can you imagine airling passengers of even one or two generations ago whining that they can’t cope with flying without Fluffy or Spot on their lap?
Tryna, you go girl. You obviously have a professionally trained dog who performs a specific service for you, a service that is needed, not just wanted. You’re responsible and rational. For the whiners who are so terrified of being seen as intolerant to any group, even the most obscure, I say get a grip. If you can’t fly without Old Yeller, then take a pill or drive!
On the other hand, now that this is fashionable, I’m going to get my cousin the podiatrist to write me a note saying that I can’t possibly face a dental appointment or staff meeting or oil change without good ol’ Rover smoothing everything over for me. What if I become anxious or afraid? What will I do then? Rover – and only Rover – holds the key to my perpetual happiness. And everynoe else is going to have to adjust. After all, I deserve to be content. In fact, I deserve it just a little more everyone else.
19.
Ron | August 3, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I wonder what would happen if someone offered the lady with the Pit Bull $100,000, but said she had to take a flight alone to pick up the money. I bet she’d have her fanny in the seat without Fang so fast it would make your head spin.
20.
Jan | August 7, 2006 at 9:22 pm
There is no amount of money that relieves anxiety. I would guess the women would refuse the money. Most people have some way of dealing with stress. Some people smoke, drink, eat exercise, meditate, pray, bite their nails, rub their hands together, talk too much, write too much, suck their thumbs, you get the idea. Pets have proven to improve the feelings of wellbeing for sick and elderly people.
21.
Sutton | August 10, 2006 at 5:22 am
Hey Sharon,
Podiatrists specialize in medical care of the foot, ankle, and lower leg. If a Dr. writes an official letter or note about any animal weather it be a Rabbit, Monkey, Sugar Glider, Miniature Horse, Cat, Dog etc…… Then that Dr. better be ready willing and able to testify in a Federal Court of Law as to why he wrote the letter or note. Any Dr. that would write such a letter as to allow you to have an animal with you at all times in places of public access needs to be ready willing and able to justify himself or herself in Federal Court. It is highly unlikely that a Podiatrists would be legally able to write you a note or letter for your Mental Condition. That is not their specialty and opens them up to be hauled into Federal Court to testify and have their reputation raked over hot coals.
Ignorance is no defense in a court of law. You and I are expected to know the law and we don’t know all the laws. This is why true users of Service Animals who have legitimate disabilities either Mental or Physical will never lose a case of discrimination in Federal Court. I wonder what fines you and perhaps your Dr. would have to pay if you did get your Podiatrist to write you a letter or note for a Mental Condition. Remember both you and your Dr. if challenged and pushed by the right person will have to explain it to a Federal Judge.
I suggest that you educate yourself on this information. Their website is located in my previous post number 9. The following was copied and pasted from “IAADP
International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners”
“SERVICE DOG TASKS
FOR PANIC DISORDER, PTSD and DEPRESSION
According to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal must be individually trained to do work or tasks of benefit to a disabled individual in order to be legally elevated from pet status to service animal status. The following list identifies a number of tasks a service dog could be trained to do that would serve to mitigate a disabling condition classified as a psychiatric disability. In particular, the tasks were developed for those who become disabled by Panic Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome ( PTSD), or Depression, conditions attributed to a brain chemistry malfunction. The author, a mobility impaired service dog trainer who has been deeply involved in the assistance dog field for the past decade, initiated research into this new kind of assistance dog in 1997. She became familiar with these disorders through the input of early pioneers of the psychiatric service dog concept. Subsequent research has involved garnering input from experts in psychology and psychiatry and from patients to gain a better understanding of the symptoms, treatment goals, and ways in which partnership with a service dog might become a valuable adjunct to conventional therapy.
In addition to task training, it should also be recognized that housebreaking, basic obedience training and mastering the behaviors of no nuisance barking, no aggressive behavior, and no inappropriate sniffing or intrusion into another person or dog’s space are an essential part of educating any dog for a career as an assistance dog.
Assistance Work or Tasks for Psychiatric Disabilities
I. Assistance in a Medical Crisis
II. Treatment Related Assistance
III. Assistance Coping With Emotional Overload
IV. Security Enhancement Tasks”
The website breaks all these things down for you and explains it all to you. Just so you will be a little more knowledgeable with the tasks.
If Mental Conditions like Anxiety, Depression, PTSD were not true debilitating problems then the ADA would not recognize it as being any form of disability. Like it or not the real folks out there that have these real medical conditions can and do benefit from the use of Service Animals. You may be some big bad fearless woman that isn’t scared of anything. You may be so ignorant that you do not understand these types of debilitating conditions. That is totally fine because you are entitled to your opinion.
The good news is that the ADA knows of these conditions and they have made laws for folks with these conditions and no matter what you may think, or no matter what your personal problems with these kinds of folks are. There is nothing that you can do about it. If you try then you open yourself up to having to speak to a Federal Judge if you violate the laws that protect folks with these disabilities. This includes discrimination.
Take care all,
Sutton
22.
Sharon | August 10, 2006 at 10:38 am
Hey, Sutton
I was joking, because abuse like that happens all the time. I don’t have any personal problems with people who legitimately need assistance. I have a problem with people who drag their pets to restaurants, airplanes and other public places by citing this law, pets who have no specific training to provide assistance. There is abuse out there, no matter what you may think.
23.
Sutton | August 11, 2006 at 8:46 pm
I bet there is, however I personally would not want to take a chance on challenging the wrong person who quotes these laws to me. If they are truly breaking the law then eventually something will happen and eventually they will be held liable. If they are not legitimate then one of these days something will happen and they will have to explain it to a Judge. Then if they are abusing the law I hope the Judge would throw the books at them.
In my line of work I deal with lots of people all the time. So much so that you can easily become bitter about certain “types of people”. For example, Grandma is sick and has been for 3 days now. So the family calls an Ambulance to take Grandma to the hospital to get checked out. When my partner and I pull up to Grandma’s house there are 5+ cars in the yard. All of the cars in the yard have current license plates on them. When my partner and I enter inside the house there are like a total of 12 family members all sitting around a TV and they tell you that Grandma is in the back room and she has been sick for 3 days.
Then they explain that Grandma has Medicare and Medicade and they want my partner and I to take Grandma to the emergency room to get checked out. When my partner and I make contact with Grandma in the back room Grandma is about 100 pounds and she is up on her feet packing a bag to take to the emergency room with her. Then Grandma walks outside the house past all of her family members and hugs and kiss them goodbye and then Grandma walks over to our stretcher that is waiting outside for her. My partner and I make her as comfy as we can and then wheel her past all of her family members vehicles, load her into the back of our Ambulance and the off to the hospital we go with Grandma.
None of the family members move to meet Grandma at the hospital during all this time. This happens daily and unlike folks with their pats in public your tax dollars are paying for the Ambulance ride. Grandma had family there at her house there was 5+ cars sitting on Grandma’s property with current tags. You and I just paid for Grandma to go to the emergency room and none of Grandma’s relatives even offered to follow her there or ride with her to the hospital. There are much worse things going on then folks just wanting to have their pets with them all the time out in public.
Take care,
Sutton
24.
Lynda | August 12, 2006 at 12:02 am
Admittedly I read only 3/4 of some of the longer posts… as a dog trainer/educator of handlers and a behaviour specialist. I have trained and worked with service dogs. The difficulty lies in the fact that they must be professionally trained but there is no certification for the trainers… in Canada at least. There are limitless ways in which dogs can aid people with disabilites BUT the dogs should all have to pass a min. proficiency exam with their handlers. The handlers must be profecient in handling and caring for their dogs.
I agree something must be done to stop people from taking their ‘pets’ into public establishments. Service dogs must be highly trained and adaptable.
25.
Alli | August 31, 2006 at 7:08 am
I think we have it backwards here in the US and Canada. In Germany and Paris, etc. you can take your dogs into restaurants just like children. That’s the kind of world I want to live in. I’d much rather eat beside a well behaved dog than a snotty nosed screaming kid anyday of the week. Dog allergies aren’t that common. We’re still working on getting rid of smoking in hotels and resturants…that bothers far more people. Wouldn’t you rather see a person with a dog on board a plane then have what happened recently when a woman went crazy on a flight saying she was a terrorist because she was claustrophobic? I know I would. I agree that it should be regulated better though.
26.
LyonTamer | September 2, 2006 at 3:14 pm
I agree that the system in place today for service animals is largely misused. This is due to a lack of specific laws and guidelines. Currently, any schmuck can buy a tag at any number of venders and claim the animal as a service animal.
Unfortunately, the boundary between that group and the group of people with genuine, documented disabilities and genuine, documented and TRAINED service animals is extremely fuzzy, becuse of the same lack of legal policies.
It is impossible to determine just by looking at someone, whether or not a mental disability really exists or an animal is trained as a service animal. And to date, it is not required of such a team to show ID – in fact, there is a law stating that people with service animals be accomodated without having to show ID. Another fuzzy law.
I personally am such a disabled person, with two service cats. And while I agree that more stringent laws should be in place (such as service rabbits being in carriers and labradores be trained nto to hunt them, as it would be if it truly were a service animal), Those people with documented disabilities who have documented service animals “must” be acomodated. If the team is genuine, then there should be no problems due to training of both the animals and the handlers.
Likewise, while America is an individualistic society, which puts needs of individuals over the needs of the group, laws for other accomodations specify that the disabled team be accomodated “within reason”. A horse on a crowded 747 isn’t too reasonable. Disabled folks need to understand that they are allowed “acomodations”. They are not allowed to impose. And yes, there are a lot of folks who put themselves on a pedastal just because they are disabled.
People with emotional instabilities have service animals in order to remain stable. Nearly all of us are also on medications, for the same reason. Simply institutionalizing people isn’t the solution, that’s like saying that children should be seen and not heard, and there’s plenty of imposing screaming brats on airplanes, too. LOL Sometimes, life mandates flying. So rather than complaining about people who may or may not be disabled whith animals that may or may not be trained service animals, what should be happening is educating the public about accomodations and what exactly is appropriate, as well as defining laws and guidelines more specifically.
27.
Gene | September 20, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Recently, I became embattled with the complex I live in about a dog I adopted. They basically said the dog had to go because no new dogs were going to be permitted ( the complex has 421 dogs that can be replaced, but no new dogs can be grandfathered in ).
I found this to be ludicrous. I investigated and discovered the Federal Fair Housing act which allows people with either mental or physical disabilities to own an animal regardless of lease agreements, etc.
Since I was being treated for PTSD through the VA, I filed a complaint with HUD. With the help of the VA, HUD and my attorney Rusty was declared an emotional support animal. Long story short, I won after a 6 month legal battle.
The thing is this dog truly lives up to the title “emotional support animal”.
I read some of the comments made about narcissistic pet owners, helplessness, self-serving ideals etc…I do agree to a point. I’m sure it exists and in some cases, extremely excessive.
However, the joy and comfort my dog brings to my life cannot be equaled through any therapy session, medication or any other method.
Living near central park, I have met so many other dog owners that i’ve become friends with. I get approached by strangers wanting to either pet Rusty or just ask about him which condones social interaction. I get exercise by walking with him daily. The bond I have with him gives me something to look forward to when I get home.
Further, he is as well-behaved as a dog can be. I know I can take this dog anywhere without any problem whatsoever. I’ve brought him to parties, he stays by my side, and I’ve been told by certain people they didn’t even know a dog was present until they saw him next to me.
If I thought there would be a problem, being a responsible owner, I wouldn’t take him.
My point? Although I benefit from having an emotional support animal, I still exercise judgement on when and where I should bring him. People need to be responsible and not abuse the right the law has afforded them. Ducks in diapers & goats on airliners is a bit over the top.
I agree that you should be able to get on a plane by yourself and perform any other task without your animal HAVING to be present.
At the same time, if your animal presents no problem in public, is not a nuisance, does not present a safety issue, is properly trained and housebroken I don’t see why a support animal should be banned from going anywhere with his/her owner.
If I want to get on a bus or train with my dog, I should be allowed to. Doesn’t mean I do, but I shouldn’t be told I cannot (living in the city, I get around solely by using public transportation).
Basically, a little common sense goes a long way.
I also agree that the laws should be made more clear & the guidelines specified on the dos and donts.
28.
Beth | September 24, 2006 at 9:47 pm
I understand your frustration surrounding the increasing use of emotional support animals; however I believe that you need to do more research on this subject before you condemn them. Many people suffer from debilitating psychological diseases, such as depression and agoraphobia. These people are not “unstable” as you suggest, but they do suffer from very real diseases and in some cases they can greatly benefit from having an emotional support animal. These animals are just as important to people with psychological needs as they are to people with physical disabilities. Some people do take advantage of the laws, but people always have, and if you are upset about this then please take action to improve the ADA and the definition of an assistance animal, rather than take out your frustrations on the many people who greatly benefit from having assistance animals of all types.
Also you should know that NO assistance animal has to have a certification or specific specialized training; they can be trained by anyone and simply have to perform one task (of any kind) for a disabled person.
29.
Melissa | November 16, 2006 at 11:30 pm
It’s as simple as this: For anyone here that thinks that an Emotional Support Animal or Psychiatric Service Animal is a load of crap….all I have to say is, if YOU were in a position to be benefited by one, you would not feel the way you do. You cannot judge what someone else needs or does not need if you have not walked in their shoes. I have a psychiatric disability and am currently doing research to determine how I can acquire a service animal for myself. Anyone who does not suffer from a psychiatric disorder does not know what it feels like to suffer from a psychiatric disorder…and I am so tired of people thinking that people like me are just “narcissistic”, etc. I often deal with symtoms like serious depression, incredible lonliness and sadness, and at some points in my life, have been rendered unable to work due to these symtoms (and others, such as being suicidal). From what I have read about these animals, one could benefit me in the following ways:
1. Be trained to recognize when I am extremely depressed or lonely and react by nuzzling, licking or cuddling me to help alleviate my symptoms. This is not what a regular dog would do…these dogs are trained to recognize changes in mood and to respond appropriately. This is probably the biggest theraputic benefit that I would receive from a service animal on a continual basis. Giving and receiving affection is so important and can make such a difference in the life of a clinically depressed person. (Especially in the absence of friends or family that would typically fulfill that role),
2. Remind me to take my medication everyday at the same time.
3. In the event of an emergency (which they can also “sense”) be trained to dial 911 on a special pet-phone…this is an extreme example, but could save my life should I become suicidal again.
I take medication regularly and go to therpay as well. I see a psychologist as well as a psychiatrist. Have a service animal would be something to have in addition to everything else that I do to manage my disorder.
Thanks for reading,
Melissa
NOTE: I have a pet who responds with nuzzling and cuddling me when he senses that I’m sad or lonely. Both my dogs can remind me of something at a certain time of day (i.e., meal time), and they do this without training. I know someone who trains medical service dogs. Her own dog made the papers when Emily had a stroke. The dog brought her the phone and Emily dialed 911. (You can read the full story here.) To my knowledge, dogs are not trained to dial 911 themselves, as this would require more dexterity and complex pattern/reading skills than a dog can master. I think a lot of the actions that you’re assigning to a service dog are instinctive responses to us. The line between pet and service dogs is growing thin. If you’re trusting an animal to dial 911 when you’re feeling suicidal, I strongly urge you to get professional help before you hurt yourself. – L.W.
30.
Julie | November 25, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Mellisa, I don’t think anyone here is questioning the mental health being qualified as a disability. Rather the discussion on people who are abusing the law and using emotional needs as a way to bring their pet with them. It’s those people who make it more dificult for legitament people like yourself. I’m all for assistance animals certified or not as long as they are properly trained. Just the other day a so called emotional needs animal on a retractable leash in shopping mall went 15ft across the main aisle and went after my hearing dog who happens to be certified. It was very obvious this dog was not trained as he could not be controled by the handler and therefor had to be kicked out out of the shopping mall. The security officer appoloigze for letting this guy in but I explained he didn’t have to appologize. He followed the law and trusted that this guy was telling the truth even though the dog was not wearing any cape or anything identifying him as an assistance dog. He did the right thing by removing the dog and it’s owner as the dog could not be controlled. I thank the officer for that and reminded him that should he come across another dog regardless of whether they are certified or not. They law does say uncontrolled dogs can be removed regardless of their training status. I did not question whether the person had a true disability or not. Rather the question lies in whether or not the animal was trulty an assistance dog. Luckily my dog was remained on her best behavior and set the example of what assistance dogs are trully like. I’ve even scolded my friend for passing her pet as an hearing dog because simply watching your dog to respond and bark at the front door does not quality her dog as a hearing dog. Her dog’s response is that of a normal pet and does not perform a task. I truly think that there needs to be some place easilly accessible to have your dog assessed for public access and for if desired certification test which includes performaning tasks. Right now there isn’t any place for people who have legitamately trained their own dog to get some kind of papers or something that would definitely weed out the people who try to pass off their pets as assistance animals. Because there is a lack of testing facilities for those who train their own dogs, the law also protects the self train dogs and relies on an “honor” system.
Mellisa, you do have a disability that you can benefit from having an assistance dog. Unfortunately there are people who abuse the priviledge and law that make it harder for the rest of us have legitmate disabilities and legitmately trained assistance dogs.
Good luck in your quest for your assistance dog.
Julie
31.
Annoyed | November 28, 2006 at 5:04 pm
I would just like to say that Americans need to get over their obnoxious thoughts that animals should be treated with less respect then humans. I for one would rather sit next to a giant dog, miniature horse, duck, chicken, or monkey then the out of control children that kick and scream on red eye flights, or an absurdly obese person who overflows into your chair. It is not safe for animals to fly as cargo, and if you think that any animal should be placed down there then I suggest you place your child in cargo the next time you fly and see how much they like it. If you are allergic to dogs, then you will have the sniffles for a while. Big deal. Do you have any idea how many germs are spread on planes from other people? You could contract much more serious viruses. I don’t hear anyone requesting that people with diseases be prevented from flying with healthy people, so why make a big fuss over a puppy?
32.
frustrated | December 22, 2006 at 10:16 pm
As the spouse of a disabled person with a highly trained service dog from an organization that is recognized by the ADI (Assistance Dog International), I feel forced to speak up. My wife waited six years for a dog of this quality with the necessary ability to truly help her with her disability. She feels it was well worth the wait!
There is no law or even agreement on what makes a ’service animal.’ People should recognize there is a distinct difference between Assistance Animals and ESD (Emotional Support Dogs).
PTSS, depression or panic attacks are quite different from fear of flying or ‘normal’ anxiety – and anxiety IS a by-product of today’s world. There are such things as PSDs, physciatric service dogs, who help people with these conditions.
There was a time when the airlines limited the number of ‘pets’ (animals in carriers under the seat in front of their owner) to two. What happens now? Is there no limit? Will my spouse, with her well trained, internationally recognized dog, be forced to put that dog in cargo?
The argument that a dog is small is no consolation! There are constant problems with the airlines because a large dog is needed to deal with the disabilities of my spouse, who frequently flies alone. Are we to be forced to purchase a seat for the dog that gives her the ability to live her life with a small amount of freedom because he’s large, while a small, untrained ESD can sit on it’s owner’s lap at no expense?
As for hotels, my spouse was taught that her dog’s place is on the floor, not in the bed of a hotel room! She travels with a small, roll-up bed that her dog is comfortable on everywhere. His only requirement is that my wife is nearby.
As to the EMS person who said service dogs were allowed, by law, into the ER, he’s quite wrong. At least one court said the treatment areas of the ER are NOT public areas and access is not automatically granted. I doubt an ER would seperate a service dog team, but now a precident has been set because of a woman intent on bringing her dog into the treatment area of an ER to see her boyfriend. When access was refused, she took her case to court and lost.
The ADA was drafted, not as a defense for dog owners, but to insure non-discrimination in the job force against disabled people. That is why the definition of disability is so broad. In addition, they were dealing with physical accessibility rights, housing and other issues. Different laws by the ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act), HUD and the DOJ do nothing to clarify things.
To see the ADA reduced to an arugment about questionable service dog access is very sad.
33.
A Little Balance Please | January 9, 2007 at 3:32 pm
With all due respect, Lisa, I have two problems with your opinion on this issue.
Firstly, you employ only “slippery slope” and “what if…” arguments to defend your disapproval. You go from talking about a small number of people with legitimate needs to worrying that huge mobs of undisciplined narcissists will sit idly by while their untrained Rottweilers savage small children or ruin the careers of allergy sufferers everywhere.
That is not unlike the people who worry that if homosexuals are allowed to marry, suddenly millions will want to marry goats and pandas. “Slippery slope” arguments are great for stirring up emotions but they very rarely turn out to be true.
Secondly, you accuse these individuals of narcissism and yet what legitimate objections have you raised other than a bunch of “what ifs”? Do you have statistics to back up claims that flights have been made insupportable for thousands of people because of dog fights? How many allergy sufferers have been rushed to hospitals because animal hair was forced on them in hotels? Are you reacting to legitimate statistics or do you simply want to disapprove and feel superior to all those “helpless, self-aggrandizing, celebrity-worshiping, pampered, unstable, emotionally-unglued people.” Sounds pretty narcissistic to me.
I think a little balance, common sense and compassion is called for here. Yes, people abuse rights but let’s deal with the abuses when they actually occur instead of condemning whole groups based on convenient labels and “what ifs.”
You ask “when did we become to helpless?” I ask: when did we become so smug and judgmental?
Oh yeah, when blogs were invented.
34.
Robinson | May 28, 2007 at 8:25 am
I would be homebound if my support animal was unable to travel with me. I think the writer of this editorial has never suffered from severe depression, anxiety, et.al. If it weren’t for my dog, I wouldn’t be alive today. Don’t be so quick to judge someone’s emotional problems when the person discussing it obviously has never suffered with mental illness. It is an absolute necessity that my support animal accompanies me when I travel…I suppose my two mental health physcians (psychiatrist and Psy.D) wouldn’t agree with you.
35.
AMP | July 20, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I’m shocked and dismayed that a self-described dog lover could be so truly ignorant to the realities of emotional support animals. You dismiss all individuals who might rely on them as being “celebrity-worshipping” or narcissists, or even worse, too ill to be anything other than institutionalized. I have to question if you did any actual research for this blog whatsoever, or just fired off a knee-jerk reaction to an editorial that likewise lacked a fair and balanced perspective.
Not that you asked, but just so you know, emotional support animals have been found to be very beneficial for a number of emotional and mental conditions. Individuals afflicted with conditions such as agoraphobic, posttraumatic stress disorder and panic disorders frequently benefit from the inclusion of an emotional support animal within their treatment program. This means there is a more legitimate need to have animals allowed in these public settings, and it’s a travesty that the disabled community is allowing for the perpetuation of such a ridiculous dichotomy.
Blog Editor’s Note: The writer of the first post did not dismiss “all” who rely on emotional support animals. As has been stated repeatedly in this thread, the comments were directed at those who abuse it. However, we welcome viewpoints that do not agree with ours. – LW
36.
Shannon | August 20, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I totally disagree with this blog, sorry. While I do agree with the fact that people overuse it just to get attention or bring their pet everywhere with them, emotional support animals are very important to people. I have a friend who has severe anxiety about flying and being around people she doesn’t know, but unfortunately it’s not so easy to avoid flying completely, is it? What if you have a dying family member across the country and the only way to get there fast enough is to fly? If your choice was between a panic attack and keeping that from popping up with an emotional support animal, what would you do? I do believe that people should have to carry letters from their doctors about their disability – I’m going to ask my doctor about a note for if I ever need to fly with my dog, because I get seriously depressed and even suicidal at times. Does this mean that I should have to be locked up? Absolutely not! That’s my biggest problem with what you’ve said here. Just because someone has very severe depression or anxiety, which they’re most likely also trying to control with medication, they shouldn’t just be “locked up” because their trained animal helps them. I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in how I feel since I got a dog several years ago, and then again when I brought a new one home, who along with being the dog I’m hoping to get a note for after he’s been trained, is going to be my show dog. Should this make a difference? No. My friend who has severe anxiety breeds and shows Rat Terriers, and I actually believe a dog who’s used to going to shows will do just as well or even better than any other service animal. Show dogs must be well socialized to not be afraid of anyone or any situation they may end up in. If I didn’t have my Rat Terrier/show dog, I’d probably have another smaller dog that I would feel comfortable taking on a plane. I wouldn’t take my large dog, although he’s very calm and would probably just sit on my lap the whole flight, because he gets nervous around some people and situations. If he was my only choice at this time (I very recently went into a program for 2 months for severe depression), I absolutely would take him if it meant the option of me being either not able to function as well and functioning what’s normal for me.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Of course, I never suggested locking anyone up, as Shannon knows. And I have recognized that there are both people who legitimately need service animals and also those who make excuses to get privileges denied to the rest of us. I’ve never objected to the former, but if someone threatens to have a severe panic attack unless she get to take her show dog on the plane with her, that’s when some of us get annoyed. – LW
37.
Lola | September 11, 2007 at 6:08 pm
The biggest problem I have with this is that what the writer fails to recognize, is that you cannot tell from looking at your fellow passenger whether or not they are mentally ill. I have extreme panic attacks,but my dog knows intuitively that when I start hyperventilating, he needs to touch me, and make me pet him. He’s a little poodle, and yes, I carry him in a designer doggy bag. You are perpetuating the stereotype that people like me are selfish and narcissistic, when you have no idea whether these stereotypes apply. You say you only rant against those taking advantage of the system, but articles such as these hurt those who aren’t. Thanks to things like this, I face scorn, rude remarks, and horribly insensitive jerks if I want to function in society, which of course causes panic, and makes me need my dog increasingly more. The truth of the matter is, you can never tell from appearance or attitude whether someone needs a emotional support animal, and attacking anyone who uses one, legitimate reasons or not, hurts all of us.
38.
Jessie | October 1, 2007 at 8:42 am
You obviously aren’t a person with a disability. And until you have a disability, you’ll never know what it is like to need a service dog. Maybe one day you’ll have the misfortune of becoming disabled and you’ll have to deal with judgemental jerks like yourself. GET OVER YOURSELF and stop judging other people!!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Okay, once again, for those who engage in name-calling and wish me to become disabled (how hateful is that?) without even reading the post, I’ll repeat: I’m talking about people who ABUSE the service dog rules, not those who legitimately need it. I recognize that there are readers of this blog who react emotionally and aren’t interested in a logical discussion of views contrary to their own. But for the rest of you, I wanted to repeat the key point. – LW
39.
Michelle | October 17, 2007 at 11:48 am
Lisa,
It seems your experience with your family members who have phobias hasn’t been enough to let you know what it’s like to live with a mental illness. I recommend you visit the website nami.org to learn more about mental illness and try to attend a presentation of the program NAMI offers in various states called In Our Own Voice. You clearly seem to be under the impression that people with mental illness just need to (a) take medication or (b) be institutionalized if they are unable to function in society without special assistance such as service animals.
Mental illness is not always easy to treat; sometimes it’s just a matter of learning how to live on a day to day basis. Like many people, I’ve tried for years to get symptoms under control both for my own illness and that of my children. To think that my daughter might be able to be calmed during one of her frequent panic attacks (which she still suffers from despite medication and counseling) by a service animal- you can bet I’m going to look further into that.
I wish you would take the time to look into the experience of people with mental illness a little more and be less judgemental. It seems there are others who agree with me too. But it’s your blog.
40.
Riley | October 18, 2007 at 12:09 am
I cannot believe how rude you are being. I have psychiatric service dog for many reasons. He goes everywhere with me. I suffer from PTSD, Anorexia AND Generalized Anxiety disorder and for me to be in public is sometimes one of the hardest things in the world for me. Especially at resturants where I have to eat with people. This produces a huge amount of anxiety and sometimes just having my dog at my feet helps me get through a meal. I travel a lot for work and having my dog with me when I’m prepping for a presentation in front of a ton of random people that I’ve never met, keeps me calm. He’s there in all my therapy sessions and anywhere else that is hard for me. No I’m not being spoiled and no he doesn’t go EVERYWHERE with me, but it’s nice to be able to have him there when I do need him. Please try to understand about stuff that other people go through and grow up. We have real problems and sometimes we need help. My dog has done what no medication has been able to do yet. The world is changing and you can either grow up and change with it or sit and gripe about something you can’t control. Just please be a little more understanding before you rant and rave about something you have no clue about.
41.
Venus | October 19, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Both of my parents suffered from mild depression and my father found it very difficult to get on a plane prior to getting a dog. Since we’ve had our dog – a fluffy, cuddly 15 pounds of non-dander, non-allergen-producing-so-please-take-your-theory-and-shove-it dog who has no formal training other than in obedience – both parents have been off anti-depressants, are more active, and both fly with no issues.
I’d encourage you to either educate yourself on actual scientific studies of dogs emotionally aiding the ailing… or to at least recognize your own blatant ignorance. I’m sure you believe you are quipping up a storm of witty holier than thou banter, but in reality you’ve just demolished any shred of credibility I may otherwise have paid your blog.
Best,
Venus in NYC
42.
Dawn | November 26, 2007 at 12:11 am
My issue is with Lisa and other self-proclaimed dog lovers who are making breed specific blows. Is it really necessary to point out that a woman had to take her “Pit Bull” on the plane with her? And in response a man refers to this particular Pit Bull as “Fang.” As if it’s not bad enough that people with emotional disorders and diseases are being persecuted in these discussions, but now it’s dog breeds as well! But I guess it comes with the territory. Opinionated people often don’t base their cases on fact, but on their own closed-minded views. I do think that dogs can be a necessary tool in helping people with emotional disorders, but I also feel that they should have formal training as well. It costs next to nothing to put your dog through a Canine Good Samaritain class. And as someone pointed out, common sense goes a long way. Have you hugged your Pit Bull today? I have!
43.
Allie | November 27, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I just learned today about emotional support service animals, and I’m ecstatic. I live with (wrestle with, argue with, experience sleepless nights with…) post traumatic stress disorder and post concussion syndrome. It was nothing less than pig-headed determination that saved me from full-blown agoraphobia, and when I have to fly, it sucks the breath out of me to get through boarding and deplaning. The last time I regularly took drugs for the PTSD, they interected with the medicine I take for brain trauma, and I ended up at an ER, misdiagnosed as a drug abuser!
My rabbit gives me a sense of groundedness. Learning I could bring my little guy on flights with me has me up in the clouds (pun definitely intended).
The commentary about the assisting german shepherd eating the assisting rabbit did make me laugh, but it seems to me simple things like planning ahead and using good sense would thwart (most of) that.
When I next travel, Bug is going with me; suited up, dressed and contained appropriately, and well-documented. I’ll be working with my case manager ahead of time to be sure we’re both well-prepared, as any responsible consumer should.
Editor’s Note: You’re a great example of a responsible person with a legitimate need for an assistance animal is. In my original post, I was specifically not referring to travelers such as you. Good luck with managing your condition, and with taking Bug traveling. – L.W.
44.
Nicholle | December 21, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I thought that this article was great until I felt that you went too far in stating that “if you’re so unstable that you need your pet to sit on your lap to enable you to fly, then you’re not functional and should be institutionalized”. Being that I have emotional and chemical disorder that is terrible difficult to deal with. In my case I have been in therapy and seen two different psychiatrists. I have tried at least 6 different medications, and in each case I either became allergic to the medication or it did not work for me. My doctors are baffled, and are getting frustrated. So we all decided that I need to take a break from the medication route and try something different. So now I am getting my pup (who has been in training for the last 4 months) back and we are going to start using him to help me keep my stability and composure. I do not believe that you should say that just because someone needs a dog to help keep them stable that they should be in a hospital some where. I believe that is a very old world view and sometimes there just isn’t a medicaiton that works yet.
Personally, I have not much experiance in taking my dog with my anywhere, but to petsmart or something. However, in those experiances along with my two small children I felt that it was hard to have everyone with me. I am not sure yet if I will take my dog with me places or not. I know we have a long way to go still with his training. I do plan to make sure that whatever I do, I make the burden on others as minimal as possible. We plan to bathe our dog every other day and brush him vigorously before I go into an establishment to limit the amount of dander others will have to deal with. We also plan to only go to pet friendly establishments until he is very reliable in what he does and is able to be quiet and still.
I do agree with what you said about untrained dogs. I feel that if you need your dog to be with you everywhere you go and cannot do the training yourself, get someone else to do most of the work for you. That is what we did. Now we have our trainer on a retainer for later down the road if I have problems with not knowing a good way to train something. I think that if you are going to take your dog into the public, you need to be responcible about it and make sure your dog is obediant and does not cause a fuss by being there.
I do hope that there are others out there who can see this and realize that having a dog to help you is not an easy fix and you need to be responcible in what you do as to be respectful of others and the conditions others may have such as allergies and fears. Thank you!
45.
Nicholle | December 21, 2007 at 7:58 pm
In reading all of the other comments, I have a few more things to add. I have been told, and still do get told that I need to “snap out of it” or “take a pill and it will all get better” or even “I know you are just doing this to get attention”…..I even had my therapist say that she was worried that I would teach my dog to do everything for my including but not limited to getting my breakfast for me. I informed her a little more about who I really am as a person and what I planned to have my dog do for me. She actually appologized to me for not understanding, and wrote me the letter I needed to have my dog in my house while he is finishing his training on the spot.
I have had to take a lot of critisism for using a dog for the things I plan to because all of my problems came on so suddenly. I have literally had to re-learn how to do some of the most basic things like how to handle any sort of stress in a constructive and non violent way. I went from being the best mother, wife, and friend you can find to being unable to do simple things like laundry, the dishes, or even taking a shower. I have been so affected by all of this that within one week of these symptoms I got in to get help. I know that not everyone is like this. However I feel that the post that you wrote about mental conditions and even emotional wellbeing is unsensative and even if you think you are only talking to those who are “abusing” the system…..who are you to say who is or is not abusing the system.
I have a number of things going on, and even to the person who wrote about the obese person on a plane, that too is insensative. Yes, this is a problem that more and more people face. As for myself I am 365 pounds and no doctor or psychiatrist can figure out why I am like this. They suspect that I have sleep apnea that keeps my body from resting properly. They want me to do a sleep study to find out, but our insurance does not cover much. We have to pay for so much with our children and our home that we cannot afford for such things. I do not eat any more than my husband who wieghs 165 poounds and is 6′3″. I exercise just as much if not more than he does. Yet, I continue to gain weight. I am exhaused all the time, but I try not to let that stop me. Most of the time I do more in one day than my skinny friends do in two or three days.
I have tried a lot of different things for my Bipolar, anxiety (social and general), OCD, PTSD, and I am trying to fight off agorophobia (fear of leaving your house). I am very highly allergic to medications, and there are a ton of side effects to these medications I have tried. One of the main ones that treat Bipolar cause sedation! That is not a good thing when you have two little boys to look after during the day. I cannot work anymore because of what happened with my chemical and emotional health. So putting the kids in daycare or even getting a nanny is not an option. If you have ever had an allergic reaction to a medication you will know what it is like. If not….It is the worst thing you can imagine. Your skin will progressively become more inflamed and itchy. You might not think that is so bad, but the itchyness is so bad that the only relief you get is by scratching until it bleeds! Imagine that all over your whole body with no end or escape for over two weeks! That…..Is what I go through each time I have tried another pill to take. I have been in the hospital so much for all of this that I don’t even bother going in anymore. I already know what they are going to say and what over the counter things they will give me. Why waste the $500 copay each time I go!?
I think that there are people out there who have problems like me. I also know that it is not easy to get a letter for an animal. If you do not need that animal the doctor is not going to give the letter. It took me over $1000 in co-insurance, and fees to get a letter just to have my dog in the house. I had to try everything else before they would allow that. I also know that even with all the things I deal with now, I still have even more problems like where I live the average home is about $450k, and my husband does not make enough money to get one of these houses that are not falling to pieces. Since he does make what he does, we are not considered to be low income. That means that we just have to pay more and more money for things that insurance won’t cover.
Try to be more kind!!
46.
Pami | January 22, 2008 at 8:33 pm
This is to Betty Winkler that has a service dog and all people that have a service dogs you can get a service dog ID Tag go online to Pup’parel she upgrading her website so if you don’t see it email the website and ask for a picture of it. Let her know Pami sent you.
This should help you when you are on the bus also the ADA law is on the back of the ID Tag.
People that do buy the service dog ID tag are
truley people that real do have a trained service dog.
You will not find any service dog ID tag as nice as hers are.
Good luck to all the people that buy the ID Tag!!
47.
Heather | January 24, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Has anyone looked at the fact that you need to covered under the ADA to be protected by it? Congress created it, but the courts interpret it. Look at cases such as Littleton v. Wal-Mart in which a mentally disabled man was not found to covered under the ADA and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals made a statement that it is unclear whether thinking, comunnicating, and social interaction are major life activities under the ADA. A person must also be substantially limited. The courts have not been found to be all that favorable to the disabled and several cases have been potentially limiting. In 2007 a ADA Restoration Bill was introduced. I sugesst that if you want to keep any rights and get the ADA back to what it was meant to do, then you should support this act. The use of service animals by those who really who really don’t need them or do not qualify only truley hurt those who do.
48.
Heather | January 24, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I forgot to add the animal has to individually trained to perform tasks related to that persons disability and the ADA allows any animal that is disruptive to be asked to have them gotton under control or removed.
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Eric | January 28, 2008 at 7:09 pm
No one has mentioned this, so I will. Why is it perfectly OK for the airlines to charge you $75-$80 each way to take a small, well-behaved pet on board in a proper pet carrier — no questions asked other than certification that the dog is rabies free — BUT, we go bananas over someone bringing a similar pet on board for “free” as a comfort animal? Who is abusing whom?
50.
D | February 9, 2008 at 4:49 am
You claim that you’re not targeting the genuinely disabled with your nasty comments, but the fact that you assume that so many people are abusing the law suggests that you are.
Can you prove these people are faking? I doubt it.
I’m glad that the lawmakers were less ignorant, controlling and mean-spirited than you.
51.
Jo | February 18, 2008 at 3:10 am
Ok, here is the problem: While it is deplorable that there are people who abuse or take advantage of the law, the tone and specific phrases used in your post were not clearly aimed at those violators alone. It seems like you took off on a fiery vent on a topic that would (as it has) elicit many strong responses and page views. While you post disclaimers (I’m a dog lover, I have family members with phobias, the comments were not aimed at the disabled) you have already done damage and those disclaimers won’t change that. All that your post did was make it yet more difficult for those with a true emotional disability to be allowed the accommodations they need and are entitled to, and yet more difficult for them to speak up for and demand it in the first place. Real emotional disabilities such as PTSD and Panic Disorder still carry a heavy social stigma, so congratulations for encouraging the perpetuation of that stigmatization: “and who belongs to someone who’s so emotionally unstable that she can’t fly without the dog? ” Contrary to your claims, nowhere do you differentiate between those with a true need or not (”So really, all you need is a doctor’s note…”) nor do you concede or even hint that you approve of the need for EAA’s for people with emotional disabilities (”My question is, when did we all become so helpless?”). So kindly stop adding insult to injury with the subsequent disclaimers. “You done messed up”, to put it politely, and, imho, should probably own up to that.
52.
PTSD girl | March 21, 2008 at 11:58 am
There actually are people that have psychiatric conditions that are very valid. I do not understand how you can say that emotional support animals do not perform any service. I have PTSD and my husband is bipolar. Both are legitimate illnesses just like any other illness. My husband is very scared of flying and transitions cause him to trigger into Mania. Our dog alerts me when this is happening so I can stop it. Please do not assume that because you cannot see a disability it is not there. It is plainly ridiculous! My dog has saved my life many times when my husband went manic.
53.
Dr. Lamborn | March 30, 2008 at 8:33 am
This article, rant, rage, or just otherwise poorly researched and written verbiage is deplorable garbage.
I have had my psychiatric practice for 26 years and have helped many clients both physically and mentally handicapped obtain permits for both service animals and emotional support animals.
Unlike this ignorant, prejudice and ill informed author’s emotionally driven rant, some comments use their intellect and have provided some links to real research. Please refer to these comments and follow the links to get some real facts.
I will not write a letter to just anyone that wants to take there pet on board a plane, they must provide very specific documentation. I interview them in depth, and require that they bring in the pet and that it meets many requirements. Among these requirements is that the animal is well behaved and will not be disturbing to others. The clients sign a contract in which they agree to control the pet and clean up after it and be courteous to the needs and requests of others. These people are not seeking attention and are far from movie stars, on the contrary many of suffering terribly on the inside.
The entire tone of this article is despicable in how it degrades and makes fun of people with mental disabilities. It reminds me of writings against equal writes and how crazy it was to have whites and black s use the same rest room or sit in the same section of a plane or bus.
Shame on you Ms. Woods your comments are slide, rude and degrading. You obviously have no education in the subject of mental illness or disabilities. You likewise have done no research. You have thus read one newspaper article and posted your personal journal article. In this journal article have shown your readers that you are judgmental and prejudice towards people with disabilities. Its just wrong.
54.
Philippa | March 31, 2008 at 1:18 am
Wow. Not reading your blog again. You strike me as someone who writes before they’ve thought something through or really considered both sides. I’m an emotional person too, but I don’t sit on a pedestal and dictate concrete opinions to the masses as if they were fact. I take time and great pains to temper what I write with reason, and I consider my reading audience and the whole gamut of experiences out there before I publish a stream of criticism. However, you. You really take the cake. Your insensitive – nay, callous – style of communication is simply not worth my time. My advice, if you’re open to any, is this: Be kinder all round, and give people (yes, even strangers) the benefit of the doubt. You’d be surprised how many people are NOT trying to rip you off in this big, wide world of ours. Good luck to you, and goodbye.
PS: People on this blog are trying to tell you you cannot tell who’s “abusing the system” just by looking at them or even by judging their dogs’ behaviour, yet you remain resolutely quiet about those comments. Also, almost everyone here disagrees with you. Are you so arrogant that you’ve taken nothing onboard from that? Have you learnt all you’re ever going to learn in life and not ever concede you could, in fact, be erroneous?
PPS: OK, see ya!
Editor’s Note: Hmmmmm … I guess since we can’t tell who’s abusing the system, then abuse is not considered wrong anymore.
55.
Tom Nelson | April 4, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I have to say that Lisa exhibits more tolerance than most of the self-proclaimed tolerant people who leave comments about this post. People like Philippa like to talk about reason and temperence, than in the next sentence, start with the name-calling.
56.
Sheree P. | April 4, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I agree, Tom. I agree with Lisa that the problem is with the people who abuse the system, like the specific cases she quotes. The people who give knee-jerk, emotional, abusive rebuttals aren’t actually reading the original post. I think we’ve gone soft as a country. We focus so much on the problems of people, and try to convince everyone that they’re a victim of some sort, that we’ve lost the stomach for common sense (because it might offend someone). Hats off to Lisa for having the guts to say it like it is. Come on, people. Do you really think it’s fair to impose a Pitt Bull with no formal training on a plane full fo people becase Precious there has to fend off dark moods? How absurd!
57.
Denise | April 8, 2008 at 11:40 am
I want to thank all for their comments and links. I am writing a paper about various service dogs, and know many who have them. This was a great start to the issues at hand, and I hope I write a good paper.
58.
Lonnie | April 15, 2008 at 8:52 am
I’m a dog lover and also someone who suffers from emotional conditions including anxiety and depression (a person who has one often has both). I think you’re right. What kind of simpering culture have we created? All we’ve gotten ourselves is perpetual victimhood, designer drugs, extended childhoods and schools that build fake self esteem. I was unable to fly due to anxiety, and you know what I did? I worked with my doctor to find the right medications to help my condition, combined with therapy to give me the tools to cope. I don’t make people on the plane fly with a pot-bellied pig or a big dog just so I can feel a little bit better about myself. There are other ways, and people have been using them for decades. The people who are using mental illness as an excuse to take their dogs on the plane are probably using a lot of other excuses for how they live the rest of their lives: me first.
59.
Hope4Tomorrow | April 18, 2008 at 12:55 am
While I was slightly upset by the tone of the blog, I can certainly understand where LW’s frustrations are coming from. I suffer from severe manic depression, anxiety, and bipolarity, among other things. I was off and on different medications for 10 years, though none seemed to work until I was re-evaluated by my fourth therapist and diagnosed with ADHD on top of my other diagnoses. He took me off my depression medications and put me on something for the ADHD, which helped…a little. When we began talking about other options in addition to the medication and therapy sessions, he suggested an emotional support dog.
I researched dog breeds and ended up acquiring a pembroke welsh corgi. The reason we discussed and eventually chose this breed was because of her small size, keen intellect, and high energy to match my own hyperactivity. She is trained to wake me up in the morning (as my medication, in addition to depression, tend to make me oversleep), to remind me to take my medications, and to offer comfort and calm me down when I get particularly upset or hyper. When I take her out, people approach me and therefore her presence coaxes me to talk to them, which I normally wouldn’t. I have to walk her quite often because of her energy level, and we wear one another out; that works out well because after our “sessions” I have exerted myself and expended some energy, allowing me to focus on housework and homework (I am a third-year college student).
I currently live at home (due to my instability) and attend a very small community college, but since I have made progress, I am moving to a city 2 hours away to attend a larger college. I am living on-campus and have permission from the school to keep my ES dog in campus housing. I have been given stipulations which I will happily follow (vaccinations, designated “potty” areas, and proper identification and documentation as an ES dog).
She serves a purpose and is extremely well-trained, though she doesn’t come absolutely everywhere with me. She doesn’t accompany me to class like she used to, as she was a terrible distraction to the other students who didn’t understand her purpose and it became a horrible situation for all involved (which was extrememly unfortunate). She doesn’t come shopping with me or on airplanes, but that is also probably because I tend to have to have someone, usually a friend or family member, with me to restrain me should I become beligerant due to anxiety (I am a weight-lifter and trained kickboxer and therefore rather strong, so even though my ES dog is helpful, she cannot hold me down should I get physically violent).
But because of the people that LW mentioned (those who cannot bear to be without their precious, obnoxious, yippy, badly-behaved puppy), I sometimes fear that I will be judged or worse because I do not have a physcial disability but instead a mental instability, along with the fact that a corgi is not a “traditional” service dog breed. I have been lucky that campus housing has been extremely helpful and the college has been extraordinarily receptive to my needs, and I do not anticipate any problems with the students that will live on my floor in the dorms, but there is always that “what if” that eats away at me.
But LW, I do wish you would have toned back a little bit…it did seem like a tirade and obviously touched a lot of nerves. You make a good point, but I think it could have been approached differently.
60.
doglover | May 24, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I as a dog lover and owner of two emotional support dogs I can understand your point. I do not and will not take my dogs on a plane. However, there are people that need to have their dogs with them but……these people are disabled and these dogs provide them with comfort.
I’m a disabled person and as I see your point about taking dogs on a plane, i do believe that you need more than a doctors note to take your dog on a plane. If not then you should. You should be disabled as this is what I was told. You must be collecting SSDisability to qualify to have any dog considered an emotional support dog.
Service dogs are completely different as service dogs need to be trained and certified and if you read the rules, only service dogs are permitted to go where emotional support dogs are not like restaurants and public places. I am not permitted to take my dogs in public places nor would I.
As for traveling and staying in a motel, I would never take my dogs into a hotel unless that hotel allowed dogs and many do now. Many, many hotels allow pets not just service dogs.
What insulted me about this post is that I am now battling my condo association. This battle has been going on for 3 1/2 years. I’m disabled and yes, I feel that I deserve to have two dogs in my home as long as I walk them where I’m told and clean up after them and make sure they do not bark at all hours of the day.
My dogs were approved back in 2005 by the condo board but i now face fines if I do not get rid of my dogs by the 26th. Do you think this is fair?? After all they were approved. The reason they gave me is that the condo board never remembered approving my dogs and they don’t want any dogs in the complex. I had to refresh their memory by showing them the approval letter that mysteriously disappeared from my file. So, being this my Mother’s condo and having very little money, I have actually considered living on in a van if it means keeping my pets as that alone would set me over the edge to lose them. I have depression and anxiety disorder so your comment about mental people insulted me very much. I don’t consider myself to have be ‘mental’ but apparently many people do.
I’ve had to hire an attorney and this could cost me money that I do not have. Do you think that is fair? I certainly don’t. I’ve been harassed by other residents and accused of things that just never happened. My life has been a living hell here for the last 3 1/2 years so now I will have to leave in order to keep my dogs that my health so desperately needs.
Do I think that people take advantage of this support dogs ruling? Hell yes and it is hurting people like me that really need my dogs for my health.
61.
doglover | May 24, 2008 at 10:27 pm
BTW…Pit Bulls are not mean dogs. It is their owners that train them to be.
Personally if I had to travel with my dogs, it would be in a car because putting them in the luggage area is dangerous and some dogs have died and left on the tarmac until they die from heat.
I’m not sure what the difference is if a blind person would fly with their dog or a person that has some very severe mental illness. Does this mean that a blind person doesn’t deserve to have their dog with them because someone might be allergic to that dog. After all, I believe you have to contact the airline ahead of time to let them know you are traveling with a service dog so they can make special arrangements.
62.
Kat | June 11, 2008 at 8:35 pm
As a user of a psychiatric service dog I am highly offended by the authors blatant disrespect of those with mental illness. Obviously this person has never been effected by mental illness and shows the ignorance of today’s society. My dog is trained to do work that mitigates my disability. Not only that, she has also been trained to behave in public. She is a service dog not an emotional support dog. Emotional support dogs (ESA) have no rights beyond the DOT and FHA while my service dog does. Yes there are those that take advantage of emotional support being allowed to fly but there are those that truly need them. I don’t think you understand that the person that needs an ESA doesn’t mean they are unstable. A person who truly needs an ESA on a flight is usually a person with anxiety. Dogs can help immensely in giving the person something to focus on instead of going into a panic that would make it more dangerous to the passengers than a dog would be. Many dogs will pick up on the anxiety and solicit attention from the owners to comfort them. Dogs are great for grounding. Airlines can disallow an animal that poses a hazard to other passengers such as growling or barking at others before take off. If an animal is too large to fit in the space without blocking the isle or emegency exits, then the airline may require the animal to fly in cargo or allow the person to take a less busy flight later if the animal can be accomodated at all.
My service dog is also a German shepherd so the comment generalizing that shepherds are animal killers also shows your lack of knowledge. Did you know that many guide dogs are German shepherds? Frankly I wouldn’t worry about your 4 year old being near a big dog on a flight as much as a small nippy lapdog. If you don’t want to sit near an ESA or service dog tell the attendent that you wish to be moved.
Yes people are using ESA to get away with things but businesses are allowing them because they are unaware of the laws. An ESA is NOT allowed in restaurants and unless hotels must abide by the FHA (which I find unlikely) they do NOT have to allow them. ESA’s must stay in pet-friendly lodging because they are PETS with a fancy name. They also must pay the pet deposit. ESA’s are not service dogs under the ADA. Service dogs are not pets. Trained service dogs for mental illness are not ESA’s. Service dogs are allowed in public places where pets are not allowed and do not require proof while ESA’s can only live in no-pet housing and fly on airplanes and require a letter from a qualified mental health professional including diagnosis stating the need of one. People with dogs for psychiatric illness will usually not state that their dog provides emotional support as emotional support is not a task accepted by the ADA. Normally they will be more specific of what their dog does. So if you see someone in a place they shouldn’t claiming they have a right to be there because their dog is an ESA, inform that manager that an ESA is not a service dog and is just a fancy name for a pet that makes a person feel better, that you would appreciate it if they would ask the person to remove their “pet”. In many places falsely representing your dog as a service dog is punishable by law so someone representing that an ESA is a service dog is breaking the law. If you are the manager and they refuse to leave the police can be called and will verify whether or not they should be there.
Still learn the difference and educate yourself. Those of us in the mental health community must keep our disabilities hidden because of the lack of understand in society today. No it isn’t just in our heads and we aren’t all dangerous and crazy. Should the soldiers returning with PTSD (a mental illness) be called crazy or unstable? Why should the rest of us be called crazy or unstable for a similar illness?
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Kat | June 11, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Also I keep my dogs extremely clean which cuts down on allergens to bother others.
Before I got my first dog I was constantly getting hospitalized. Being that I was already considered disabled and colecting ssi, the tax-payers were the ones forking out the bill to pay for the expensive hospitalizations. Since I haven’t been hospitalized for mental illness for 4 years. I do take medication which helps to a certain point but I am unable to function on anti-anxiety meds. I’m pretty much a drunk on them and practically pass out for hours. I am also on pain medication for a chronic pain disorder which interact will interact with anxiety meds. My dog also assists me with that and my balance issues along with migraines. She can bring me my meds if I’m unable to get them.
Also dogs can be trained to call 911. There is a device called a K9 rescue phone which has a special plate on the front for the dog to hit which turns on speaker phone and automatically calls 911, then the dog is trained to bark into the phone. The dispatcher then will send police to investigate the call though most with such a phone notify the police before hand to send help if the dog calls. Dogs can also be trained to unlock and open the door to let the emergency personel in. Yes it requires a certain lock and door knob but they can do it.
Also I have seen poorly-behaved service dogs from not only owners training their dogs but from so-called fully trained dog from programs. I remember someone saying that one time they were out with their service dog and a dog came running up across the highway wearing a guide harness. The poor handler was on the otherside calling for the dog who was program trained that had bolted from the blind handler. Some of the best behaved service dog I have met were owner-trained.
64.
Conure | June 11, 2008 at 10:53 pm
**Sighs**
While I can agree with some of the blogger’s views about untrained dogs, I have issues with the idea that because I’m mentally ill, having a dog to help me through tough emotional patches somehow makes me less of a person. Or that my dog – which is NOT an ‘emotional support animal’ but a fully trained psychiatric service dog – is not needed. Would a person with a wheelchair be denied access to a plane because someone was allergic to the materials the wheelchair was made of? If someone can use a walker, they don’t need a wheelchair. If they’re blind, they don’t need a seeing eye dog. Just use another person and have the blind person hang off their arm for the entire trip. Besides, service dogs for the blind (or Paraplegic, or deaf) are just a commodity. An extra expense, especially if you can use a sighted ’service human’.
The BS attitude works for just about every disability. I want to make it clear that ESAs are NOT service dogs and those people who do have service dogs to aid with mental health issues are not abusing the system. The dogs are doing real work and keep their handlers out of the hospital.
65.
Mary | July 15, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I sure learned a lot reading thru all this. Im not sure where I stand. I became aware of a restaurant nearby who had a little llaso apso in a stroller (for humans) in it. Other patrons were offended by the dog’s presense.(incl one who claimed they were allergic to dogs) The dog was nipping at, growling, barking at people passing by & when questioned the man produced the certificate for ‘emotional support’ (for his wife.) The employees there couldn’t believe this nippy,loud little dog was a ’service dog’. Certainly not trained the way other service dogs were & they thought about the complex issues if a kid walked by, leaned over quickly to pet the dog, and got bit.
I’d not known you could take a dog or other animal places w/you for ‘emotional reasons’. While the employees did allow the dog in they didn’t have a v. good attitude about it & thought it was ridiculous.
Im a little mixed . I love animals and share the tone w/the ppl who would rather sit next to a well behaved animal than a loud, bratty child or obnoxious adult. I’d rather eat w/a bunch of chimpanzees in some instances…but I am wondering how far this will go.
I feel stressed too…and would love to take one of my pets to work with me.
I bet there are certainly a lot of ppl abusing this.
66.
Merry | July 22, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Wow – I found this while trying to look into getting documentation to certify my dog as an ESA. What I find most disturbing is those who mock people with phobias and suggest “take a pill”. What is wrong with you people? Don’t do something sensible, like work through your fear with the assistance of an animal – just drug yourself!! I “took a pill” to get on a plane (lowest dose Xanex available) and it made me completely sick and incoherent – but no less panic-striken about the flight. I couldn’t drive a car when I got off the plane or keep my head clear enough to send a text message. Talk about safety issues!!!
Editor’s Note: A few people posting comments have said that I urged people with emotional disabilities to “take a pill.” I never did. This is wrong. Read the original post and you’ll see.
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RapeVictim | July 26, 2008 at 7:29 pm
If you have been raped, you will understand why you’d want to have an assistance dog with you at al times.
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sadegh | August 4, 2008 at 10:12 am
I dont know what do I have to do for killing our homeless dogs in our country/IRAN/.
Please help me or take advances.
Thanks alot
69.
sadegh | August 4, 2008 at 10:13 am
Excuse me.
Take advices.
They are murderer.
70.
Joel | August 4, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Or, you pompous putz, it’s our inability to trust a an unaccountable industry to take proper care of our pets as they travel as baggage. Unlike you, I have taken the time to properly train my dog and he is probably more respectful and better behaved than the average apes we refer to as humans that you would find on your average fight. My 70 pound dog has flown with me, in cabin, across the country without incident. As a matter of fact, he was probably the popularity leader for the flight for everyone that walked by and saw him sitting there, and I would wager that the rest of the plane didn’t even realize he was there.
It wasn’t about helplessness, it was about placing my loved one in a situation where there is not enough accountability for his safety. If an airline makes a mistake and your dog is lost, or killed, the most you’re likely to get is an apology. No matter what the circumstance. If I’m killed on a flight, lets see them get away with offering my family a simple apology.
What’s funny is that most people afraid of dogs would claim that they are wild animals and we are the chosen ones designated by god to be above the other animals, when the actual truth is that their fear of anything different is a tribute to their animalistic instincts to cling to their own kind for survival purposes.
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Todd | September 29, 2008 at 8:29 am
Could you be more wrong??? As a frequent flyer, I understand that not everyone is comfortable around animals. Guess what? I’m not comfortable around everyone, either, so let’s call it even. As for your comments about medication, specifically “take a pill” I was on Prozac for 2 years before gettng my ESD. Trust me, you’d much rather have my dog on the plane, than me on Prozac. Both me and my dog will try and help others in an emergency, while me on Prozac “just don’t give a damn”. That’s the point of having the animal, it give me the positive emotional boost without the “emotional numbing” effects of anti-depressants.
Editor’s Note: I’ve thought about your argument, but it doesn’t square with me. In an emergency, I believe most pet owners would be focused on the dog. I know I would. I’d be busy keeping the dog safe and out of the way while others react to the emergency. Why? Because my dog is family. I wouldn’t want her trampled or hurt. I just can’t buy that you’d turn your back on the dog to jump in and help in an emergency. So actually, there’s one LESS person who can help. I have a friend and a family member who take Prozac. I have no doubt that they’d jump in and help if there were an emergency. Unless, of course, a pet needed their attention. My comments were simply to point out that a growing element of our society expects everyone to accommodate them, while they accommodate no one. – L
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Shari | October 2, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Amen, sister! Compared to past generations, we have become a nation of whiners. We wear clothes and expect to take them back, we teach kids in Spanish rather than requiring them to learn English, we sue McDonald’s when we spill our coffee. What has happened to us? If someone has a service dog, trained in specific skills to assist that person in daily life, we should make room for that dog. If someone wants to bring their pet aboard because it makes her feel better, I don’t see why we should all make way for that.
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Dan | October 2, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Joel, your situation is not what Lisa was talking about in the original post. You flew with your dog because you didn’t want to put him in the baggage section, not because you “need” him in order to make it through the flight. It’s those people whose (often untrained) dogs airlines, hotels and restaurants are forced to accommodate.
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Pam E. | October 2, 2008 at 1:53 pm
There’s no doubt that a compassionate society should make accommodations for those with disabilities. Unfortunately, the accommodations are growing and the definition of disability is becoming ever more fuzzy. In public schools today, “special ed” classes are filled with students who “can’t learn” unless they receive tactile stimulation, or uniless they are in a swing, or some other situational prop. How are these kids going to become functional adults? What will happen when, as a delivery driver, that kid gets into an accident? What will happen when that kid in the swing gets fired?
People who abuse the service-dog laws (which is what the original post was about) are asking the rest of us to enable them. Real service dogs receive specific training and provide specific services to their owners, and do things that their owners cannot do for themselves. Dragging a pet onto an airplane because a person is “emotionally unable” to fly alone is abuse. I think airlines should require paperwork proving that a “support” dog has completed accredited training to provide assistance to the handicapped before they allow a dog on board.
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speak4serviceanimals | October 3, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I found this blog and was just going to move on due to the fact that the original was back in May of 2006. However there are still people commenting here so I guess I will add a few myself.
First I understand some frustrations but unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation that goes on. Add that into the mix of having some not many individuals abusing the law. Including some celebs’ staffs.
There are specific definitions of what is a service animal and what is an emotional support animal. The DOT includes ESA however individuals must have documentations that proves that the need for an ESA is validated.
A Service Animal is an animal individually trained to perform specific tasks to benefit an individual with a disability. (visible or invisible). read more about the different types of service animals http://pwdsdawareness.freeforums.org
Both ESA and SA must have the right temperament and be socialized and both handlers must have control over their animal.
One important thing people always miss is that Service Animals or Emotional Support Animals do not have Legal Rights. It’s people with disabilities that has the Legal Right (civil) to be accompanied by their individually trained service animal or emotional support animal.
I would say one should really read up more about the different types of service animals and about emotional support animals along with the laws including the New ADA Restoration Act that goes into effect in Jan 2009. Read more: http://pwdsdawareness.freeforums.org/ada-regarding-service-animals-update-proposal-2009-t27.html
They have in their writings made the interpretations less confuse while excluding exotic and farm animals. It’s more specific to include those individuals with mental illness in which many people would love to just excuse them from their civil rights.
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Elizabeth | October 7, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Are you a psychiatrist trained to decide who should be institutionalized? No? I didn’t think so. But that isn’t the only issue you address on which you are not qualified to speak. You further exhibit your lack of intelligence and judgment by denying the necessity of emotional support dogs for those who genuinely need them. And I won’t even begin to address your obvious lack of even the smallest degree of compassion for the mentally ill. I will, however, address your idiotic statement that any mentally ill person who feels he needs an emotional assistance animal to help him function as near to normally as possible should instead be institutionalized. And I do mean IDIOTIC. I can prove it, too: I have bipolar disorder. I earn my living by editing medical journals and physics journals. I get PAID to write, honey–I don’t need to post my writings as a “blog” for people to read without having to pay for it. I also care for a sick husband, six animals, and a household. I am perfectly capable of coping with daily life. HOWEVER…sometimes I have episodes of severe mood swings in public. For this reason, an emotional assistance animal would be a precious resource, because when I have such an episode, people can’t help me. But my animal companions at home can help me return to a level emotional state. Having an assistance dog who could recognize it when I’m sliding into a sudden bout of depression or mania, and could comfort me and calm me, would be a precious gift. (And by the way, NONE of my doctors thinks I need to be institutionalized–that’s how I know how completely and utterly wrong you are. Not to mention ignorant, intolerant, and lacking in compassion.) In future, stick to topics about which you actually HAVE knowledge.
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Andie | October 18, 2008 at 3:10 am
I skimmed through a good portion of the messages on here. I am very disturbed and saddened by a lot of the things that were written. Thank God for the people that are educated about the issues of disabilities and the ADA laws … and that this is a civil rights issue. Someone with a mental disability is just as disabled as someone who is blind or deaf or in a mobility device — and very often, they are less able to function than those listed above, particularly because there is not as much assistance for them … and they have to fight much harder for it … because mental illness is an “invisible disability”.
The reality is that mental illness many times IS a physical disability. It is a chemical imbalance in the brain and how it functions. The stress of many of life’s BASIC functions can cause someone with mental illness to be “set off”, particularly people who suffer from PTSD or are Bi-Polar. It has been proven that the companionship of animals or stroking an animal has a cathartic effect on people. I understand that people have allergies to animals … but they would have those same allergies to Service Animals that are, by law, allowed.
I had not really heard much about emotional support animals until recently. Being disabled myself, with one of my disabilities being mental illness, I know that it would be therapeutic for me to have some sort of animal. Being around them and being able to pet them brings me a sense of peace and calm that I rarely feel otherwise. Because of my disability, I could very easily qualify for an emotional support animal and probably even a psychiatric service animal. However, I am also very allergic to most animals.
There may be a time where I decide that it is worth it to live with the allergies to be able to live life in a more functional manner rather than run the risk of having “melt downs” every day or every few days. Whether I would get a support animal or just a pet, I don’t know. Just having a pet at home would help some, but a lot of my stress situations can be in the workplace. But, that can pose other issues as I note below.
Because of my allergies, I’ve been in the unique position to wonder what happens when an employer has to make an ADA accommodation to allow a dog in their workplace and yet another employee is highly allergic. In talking to someone who is very knowledgeable about this, she said it has been an issue in some cases.
Anyway, my biggest reason for posting here was to say that there is a huge need for understanding and acceptance of mental illness as a real, disabling condition … and that those who live with it deserve the same respect, civil rights, and accommodations as those with other disabilities. It is not “all in our head” … though I joked with my doctor that, in a way, it is (physically) because of the messed up brain chemistry. When set off, many times we cannot “think it away” … and people trying to offer advice or “fix us” just make it worse … but if there was an animal that was accepting and comforting and calming, we could come back to our baseline much quicker.
Even having a mental illness myself, sometimes I am uncomfortable around other mentally ill people, particularly if they are in a bad place at the time. But, we need to look at them as people who have a medical condition that is causing chaos in their life, where they don’t see things in life in the same way that others do, and show them patience and compassion. Many times people are not able to take medications or the medications do not effectively treat their symptoms.
One thing that is a huge problem is that there is very little known about how the brain works and even less known about how these psychiatric drugs work. It’s all sort of a guessing game. There needs to be TONS more research done in these areas, and it’s just not happening.
People with mental illness, though they may experience life very different from you in some ways, are very much like everyone else. They want to be functioning members of society. They want to hold down a job and marry and have a family and contribute to society. It can just be much more difficult to do those things.
So, if an animal can provide some relief for people with these conditions, I think it is a much better option to accommodate this need rather than ending up with people with mental illness unable to work or function in life, living homeless on the streets, spending time in psychiatric facilities or taking their own lives — if having an emotional support animal or a psychiatric service dog would help them to deal with the stresses in life so that they are functional.
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Andie | October 18, 2008 at 3:14 am
ps: My comments are not directed at any one person or comment … it is just my thoughts on the overall blog history on this item in general as well as to the generalized thinking of much of society on mental illness.
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Gwen | October 21, 2008 at 6:07 pm
You obviously know nothing about mental illness. There are actually certified emotional support dogs for people with depressive or anxiety issues as well as agoraphobia. It is a treatment that is as effective as medication. There have been numerous studies done. Look them up before you write about something you don’t understand.
Editor’s not: Actually, there is no certification for emotional support animals. And once again, since you didn’t read the original post, I’m not criticizing those who use emotional support animals; just those who abuse the tolerance of others to take pets into areas where pets are not allowed by claiming that they need their pets for emotional disorders, real or imagined. LW
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Lisa | October 23, 2008 at 4:15 am
Wow. I am taken aback by your insensitivity and obnoxious rhetoric… it leaves me with little else to say that you have thoroughly painted yourself in a negative light by writing this. Perhaps you could start by not generalizing. This huge mistake makes you appear very uneducated and definitely not keen enough to even comment on this issue. It’s a shame that you even have a forum to do so.
However, I do wonder if you considered that the reasons these animals travel with their owners may be because the owners also need them at their destination. How else is this animals supposed to get there? Lengthy separations resulting from travel are likely to aggravate any emotional condition. Thus, why wouldn’t these people want their ESA (emotional support animal) to be with them when they have to travel to a distant location? Why would they go through all the inconvenience of travelling with an animal just for the heck of it?
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C. Davenport | October 23, 2008 at 2:07 pm
It’s interesting to me that the people who bash the blogger do not make any distinction whatsoever between people with legitimate psychological, mental or emotional disorders who use therapy dogs and those whom the blogger is talking about who abuse the system. I have a friend who trains service dogs. She tells me about teenagers and others who call up and want to know if they can get a certification so they can take their family dog with them in stores, movie theaters and restaurants. There is no “disability” for which they want to bring the dog. They’ve just heard that if you have a piece of paper, everyone has to let you in.
I hear a lot of people lumping both legal and illegal immigrants into the same term, “immigrants.” This is the same mentality that Lisa, Gwen and others have used to condemn the blogger. They slam her for her attitudes toward people with mental, emotional and psychological disabilities without acknowledging that she made a distinction between those with legitimate disabilities and posers, about whom the original post was actually written.
People for whom facts are irrelevant will always rely on emotion to get their point of view across. Keep up the good fight, LW. You will reach the thinkers out there.
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Norell | October 24, 2008 at 2:17 am
And what if “normal people” trained their “normal dogs” to function at the same level as a service dog does?
To Trynna. You say you wouldn’t put your $10,000 dog in the cargo hold. Well my dog is worth more to me than $10,000 (it would have been smoother, nicer if you said that you love your dog more than any money can buy) and I would not put him in the cargo hold either.
He is a Certified Therapy Dog who behaves himself in all public situations and he and I are capable of undergoing the training necessary to not infringe on the public more than necessary. I don’t have a disability, so I do not “need” his services, as a disabled person with a service dog needs their dog and I understand, VERY well just short of experiencing them myself the access problems that disabled people have, with people denying them access with their service animals. I understand that and I do not bend laws or break rules to get my dogs into places where they are not welcome.
Further more, despite being a dog lover in every way shape and form, very experienced in obedience training and having made a career based on this passion, I too have had practically more negative experiences than positive experiences with friends or acquaintances’ ill behaved dogs completely ruining outings or trips due to their being out of control and their ignorant owners not knowing any better. In general this nation still has VERY low standards in terms of the level that their dogs’ training and socialization needs to be at before having their animal out in public. The local bus company is doing an experiment right now in response to the thousands of people that have written in request of this– they’re experimenting with allowing “peoples’ pet dogs on one particular bus route. And the dog advocate that I am… I think it’s going to be a bust and I don’t even recommend it. Because of what a mess so many peoples’ dogs are and they are entitled owners who don’t know any better! I feel that this privilege should ONLY be open to regular everyday pet owners are are open to and able to give their dogs the training, socialization and conditioning they need to handle public situations with grace and ease. Namely, I believe that “pets” should not be allowed public transportation, but the privilege should obviously be open to service dogs and certified therapy dogs. Certified therapy dogs should have more privileges– if these privileges were made true and made known it would encourage more regular pet owners to get their acts together and actually train their animals to a set standard.
But there are other people in the world too that value their dog too much to put them in the cargo hold of a plane and who are able to, and capable of training their dog to the level it needs to be to fly safely and politely alongside other people. If there came a point where I wanted to move overseas, I would hope that both my dogs (both are Certified Therapy Dogs, one is small enough to ride in a carrier under the seat) could SAFELY and comfortably travel with me.
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Heffron | October 28, 2008 at 4:59 am
I personally suffer from an axiety disorder, and if it wasn’t for my emotional support dog, Sophie, I don’t know what I would do! My anxiety attacks get to the point where I can’t breath and sometimes I even pass out. Sophie is the only one who knows when an anxiety attack will come on. She will put her paw on my foot or my arm and that’s when I know that I need to brace myself for an oncoming attack. If it wasn’t for her I don’t know what I would do.
Also, my dad suffers from a lot of serious medical problems and several times he has told me that if it wasn’t for our dogs, and the love and affection they give him, he wouldn’t want to live anymore.
Dogs have a sixth sense about these things and I truly believe that people like me and my dad and several other people I know, benefit from having their emotional support dogs. And it is true that I have met people who have tried to pass off their dogs as emotional support dogs, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there with a true need to be accompanied by their dogs.
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wellsmon | October 31, 2008 at 1:36 am
Interesting Read! Very detailed blog,thanks for sharing
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Boggled | November 2, 2008 at 3:01 pm
It boggles my mind how the human race has made it this far. How did people live even just a few decades ago when everything wasn’t labeled a ‘disorder’ or ‘disability’ and they didn’t have to have Fluffy or Fido by their side every minute of the day just to function. I’m sure that if most of these emotionally disabled people who can’t leave the house without a dog at their side suddenly developed a severe allergy and couldn’t be around doggies, they wouldn’t suddenly become homebound when they had to get rid of Fido. People coped without Emotional Support Animals throughout humanity, but society has turned into a bunch of me-first, quick fix woosies.
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geekgrrl | November 18, 2008 at 4:40 pm
It wouldn’t surprise me if some people with small pets who insist they’re pet is an emotional support animal are just too cheap and lazy to get the vet travel forms and pay the airline fee to have the animal in the main cabin with them.
We have a dog, a pug, under 20lbs. She has flown with us a couple of times, she stays in a crate and fits under the seat in front of us and we book overnight flights to ensure that she will be asleep when we fly with her so she won’t bark or bother anyone. We book the seats way in advance since airlines are limited as to how many animals they can have in the main cabin. Airlines have to make sure they can filter the recycled air so that no one with allergies will be affected.
There are also plenty of hotels and restaurants that are dog-friendly and we have always been able to find a dog-sitting service wherever we’ve gone for those places where pets are not allowed – just have to make sure you have the right paperwork with you but even if you don’t, they’ll usually have no problem calling your vet to verify vaccinations.
Really, it just takes some planning.
I can’t help but wonder if someone is so emotionally unstable that they can’t be without their pet, they could end up fostering unhealthy behavior in the pet which potentially puts other people at risk. People who are obsessive and overly-attached to their dogs, in particular, often end up nurturing and rewarding territorial, aggressive and anti-social dog behavior as a result.
Regardless, there are people who truly need service animals with them and it would be criminal if those who are abusing the privilege for their self-centered purposes were making it more difficult for those that really need them.
Apologies for the verbosity.
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Pami | November 29, 2008 at 2:23 pm
This is for all People that what to get their SD Certified the ADA law says. The ADA does not require proof or “certification” of the service dog’s training. When out in public.
But if you still want to be certified go online to Pup’parel and order the Certified service dog patches and also if you don’t see the service animal ID badge email the website and ask to see a picture of it. Ask for the ID badge that was made for Taffy. Also Ask her to put down certified service dog or service animal on ID badge. It would help you a lot. also she has service dog law cards you can buy to keep in your service dog vest pockets and back pack pocket. also anoother good patch to wear is access required by law.
She has a new vest color Moss Frost ask her to sew the patches on.
I hope this helps everybody out that want to certified their dog.
But you don’t have to by law, but it great to do! before you do certified your SD you need to take a clicker training class with your service dog.
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Pami | December 5, 2008 at 1:04 pm
People say Emotional Support Dogs don’t have rights out in public like a true service dog, Well I’m here to tell you that in Tacoma, WA
You cna take your Emotional Support Dog on all public Buses and on the Public Light rail. But they must have a vest and the Emotional Support Dog Patch or the Bar Patch that says Service Animal, to find these type of patches go online to Pup’parel also you can bu the vest there and this website will sew on all patches also they must have on top of vest any style please don’t pet or just the hand with no text.
Also they must have all basic down and be able to lay by your feet, can’t bark and must be able to do a task for you and be on a harness of any type.
Don’t let people pet your dog tell them the dog is working. The Bar patch is on of the hots patch today to put on your Emotional Support Dog.
Good Luck in training your Emotional Support Dog. Also go online and take the Emotional Support Dog Test.
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Celt | December 9, 2008 at 11:28 pm
It is not my intent to bash the writer of this blog post. But I wonder if she honestly sees “narcissistic” people flouting the law and bringing fake emotional support animals everywhere. Because I DO have an emotional support dog and I have yet to meet another person who has one. It was not easy to get one, and it was not my idea, but I am so glad this dog is part of my life because he has given me my life back.
Due to extremely serious and life-threatening health and emotional issues, including PTSD, I became extremely depressed. My doctor and therapist prescribed sleeping drugs, antidepressants, and amphetamines. Nothing worked. Either they didn’t resolve the symptoms, or caused debilitating side effects, or both. Then I was diagnosed with an aggressive and deadly cancer. Needless to say, I had a meltdown. I became a total recluse, only leaving for doctor appointments and to see my therapist. I was ready to give up and die.
My emotional support dog has changed my life. His presence makes me feel confident, and caring for him makes me feel cared-for. I don’t even know what exactly is the mechanism that makes me so much more able to function when I have him with me. But I do notice that when I start feeling closed-in and freaked out, wherever I am, I can focus on him and calm down right then and there. I don’t have to wait until I get home to my dog, or until I have a therapy session. My family is astounded at the difference he has made, and are convinced he has literally saved my life. No one who knows me from before would dream of asking me to leave him behind at any time.
When I tell people the type of service my dog performs is emotional support, they often comment that their dog does the same thing, and that maybe they should make theirs an ES animal.
But it is not the same thing at all. It is a last-ditch attempt to get a patient back to something approaching a normal life when drugs and therapy have not worked. It is the hardest type of service dog to get, because a doctor or therapist puts their reputation and possibly their license on the line in writing the documentation attesting to its value – because to write false documentation is fraud, and utterly illegal. An ES animal is the only type of service animal that is required to have this documentation, and the owner can be required to produce it at any time. I have a friend who desperately wanted to make her cat a service animal because she loves it so much. She was denied by her therapist because it wasn’t absolutely necessary. And if one lies and cannot produce documentation, it can mean federal prison.
There is a reason federal law does not require certification of service animals. Some people cannot afford to have someone train a service dog for them – a certified guide dog can cost over $20,000. Some have had service dogs for so long they know how to train them. Some people have a pet that has learned to alert them that, say, they are having a seizure. They may train them, but the dog may have some fault, like barking at other dogs, that makes them uncertifiable. But they are still valuable as a service dog to their owner.
I have self-trained my dog since he was a puppy, though we are now in a certification program just to “dot my Is and cross my Ts.” When we stay somewhere, we hear about how horrible some service dogs have been. When we leave, we hear “Come back again any time, your dog is so well-behaved.” I bring my documentation with me and cause as little trouble as I can manage. But I DO allow myself the help that has been deemed medically necessary – my emotional support dog. Even though op-ed blog posts like this make it harder.
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John Moon | December 10, 2008 at 9:09 am
I just read #87/Celt comments about Emotional Support Dogs and want to second their thoughts about the innate value of canines to bring someone’s attention back to ‘reality’, essentially, both the innate ability of animals to ‘connect’ with their human (and vice versa), as well as animals trained specifically for that purpose. I work with NEADS, an assistance dog provider based in Princeton, MA and we recently expanded our programs to include canines trained for those with PTSD as well as seizure alert dogs, in order to provide a valuable service to those in need and to take advantage of the growing acceptance and recognition of a canines ability to detect oncoming ’stress’ through scent and vibration. As a society, we are developing a broader awareness and application of the ‘value’ of canines to humans, in the positive sense (s) of the word…thankfully. We have programs for Veterans, those with MS, those with Autism, hearing loss, balance complications and more.
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Elle | December 16, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Are you serious?
When did we all become so helpless that we can’t fly without our dogs?
We didn’t suddenly become helpless. In the past, mental disabilities were seen by the public as shameful so instead of finding solutions to our problems, we hid them. Some did (and still do not) leave their homes due to fears of every kind. We finally have been given the power to say,
“Hey, I have a disability. Just because you cannot see it, does not mean it doesn’t exist. I am mentally/emotionally disabled, and I’m not ashamed of it.”
Does someone not have the right to enjoy going out into public or performing other daily tasks just because they have not been given the apparent mental stability that you have?
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Angela | December 19, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Maybe you should be asking when did we become so uptight about animals??? In Switzerland dogs are allowed in restaurants on busses etc. Why is everyone in America so paranoid about animals…all these silly sensitivities, “oh my allergies”….maybe we should lay off the obsession with household cleaning products and give our lungs a break from all the chemicals…and get back to nature.
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Sutton | February 16, 2009 at 6:04 am
“30. frustrated | December 22, 2006 at 10:16 pm”
“As to the EMS person who said service dogs were allowed, by law, into the ER, he’s quite wrong. At least one court said the treatment areas of the ER are NOT public areas and access is not automatically granted.”
ONE Court or at least ONE Court? Courts have been proved wrong, just look at EDWARD LAWSON – U.S. Supreme Court Civil Rights Victory. Look him up on YouTube you will be impressed I think.
Fact is, the letter of the law says, if it is a place of “public accommodation” then they must allow service animals in places they allow the general public. An ER is NOT “a sterile surgical environment.” If they allow friends and family members into the ER to visit a hurt, or sick loved one or friend then that is “accommodating the public” which means that it is now a place of “public accommodation” meaning they must allow Service Animals.
Now, if they can prove that the animal is a “DIRECT THREAT” to a person or the normal operation of the ER, then they can exclude the Service Animal. For example, if it’s a German Sheppard, and because something is wrong with it’s handler and it doesn’t understand what is going on and it attempts to fend off anyone who comes near his handler, then it has become a “DIRECT THREAT” but if the person in the next room is allergic to dogs that is not considered a “DIRECT THREAT” and by the letter of the law, they must allow the Service Animal access to all places of “Public Accommodation” just like they do, for friends and family.
Whoever that person was that lost in Court was, they should appeal it to a higher Court. For example, if it was a Federal District Court, then they need to appeal it to the US Supreme Court, I bet you they will win, based on the letter of the law.
As for my local laws here in South Carolina EMS must NOT separate a Service Animal from it’s handler unless the Service Animal is preventing us from treating our Patient or if the Service Animal’s actions, may cause further injury to the Patient. Example might be, a large dog trying to lay on top of it’s Handler causing the Patient not to be able to breath properly. Or due to the weight of the dog and the extent or possible extent of the Patient’s / Handlers injuries may become worse or severely aggravated by the dog’s actions causing much more Patient discomfort / pain, then we have a reason to separate them.
In that case we may try to put the dog in the front of the Ambulance, or contact our County Animal Control officer who will take the Service Animal in protective custody at no charge to the Patient / Handler and they will even return the dog when the time is right for the Patient / Handler to be reunited.
Just because one or two Courts are ignoring the letter of the law doesn’t make it LAW and doesn’t make me wrong either. I invite you to read the letter of the law.
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breathingisfree | February 19, 2009 at 3:16 am
Unless you have suffered from an invisible disability, emotional or otherwise. you really have no right to comment on the subject. It is appalling that in this day and age people can really be so ignorant about emotional, and yes even invisible physical disabilities, which may seriously impair a person’s ability to function. I am only in my twenties and I have suffered from severe agoraphobia, fibromyalgia, and bipolar disorder. I was prescribed my ESA’s after suffering a horrible miscarriage, which almost resulted in suicide. In addition I have had several other “invisible” physical health issues which have caused me to take three medically prescribed leaves from school. I do think it is important for animals to be safe, and mine always travel under the seat in a sherpa carrier. However, I think that the author of this article should apologize, and hope to god that she never has to deal with the kind of agony that wishing oneself dead, and not being able to leave the house out of shear self repulsion can bring. I have never written a response to a blog before and I probably never will again, but I just have to say that it is really disgusting that the level of misunderstanding and intolerance for emotionally related, and other less visible illnesses is still an issue. My mom is also disabled due to PKD for which I am being tested next week. If you saw her, you might not know that she only has one working Kidney that used to belong to her brother, but this impairs her ability to function a great deal, and she is medically, legally disabled. So do not assume that just because someone is not in a wheel chair that they are just fine. I would invite all of you who doubt this to visit a psych ward, or a dialysis center and see for yourself the agony that so many people go through on a daily basis. Shame on you! Don’t you have anything better to do than write about your own ignorance?
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Scott | March 12, 2009 at 6:16 pm
You know what, with the airlines screwing up the regulations about what animals you can bring on a plane, and the prices for whatever they DO allow is just rediculous. If you can get your beloved pet on by saying it’s your ESA then so be it.
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Mother of an Autistic Chi&hellip | March 14, 2009 at 11:19 am
While I am not happy with the content of the article, I can see how people look at ESA’s with grain of salt and lump them into the category of “spoiled dog people”.
My son has Autism and suffers from anxiety with enviromental &social change, is very attached to his Emotional Support Animals which are dogs. We tried to leave them home for the last two vacations to see if he could work his way through it. We spent the majority of the time at Disney World trying to get him to leave the hotel to go to the park. Then once we got there, he wanted to stop the vacation and go home to be with his animals. It severly impacted his (and our) enjoyment at the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
We are heading out for another vacation at the end of the month and have decided to bring the animals with us. I will say though, for the safety of the other passengers and our animals, I will probably leave them in the carriers for the duration of the flight and in the hotel while we are at the Parks. As long as my son knows they are near him he is okay. But, I could understand the need to have them in a lap to calm someone if they are afraid to fly.
There are people I am sure take advantage of the ESA guidelines, but others truly need the benefit of these animals. The balance these animals have given my son is remarkable and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything!
Since the beginning of time there have been people taking advantage of any situation and the people that are legitimate are the ones who get the short end of the stick.
The only thing I ask people to do is to respect the need for these animals without passing judgement. The theraputic benefits are immesaurable and also prevent us from having to medicate our son for anxiety. And one less medicine that we have to give him is one more victory in our book.
Just because you might not be able to see the disability does not mean it doesn’t exist.
Thanks for listening…Blake’s Mom
97.
I have PTSD | March 14, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Lisa, you say you’re a dog owner and a dog lover. So much so that you started a business in which Iyou obsess about dogs all day, every day, and sell to and even befriend doting dog parents, to whom you “totally relate”.
Sure doesn’t sound like it. In fact, it sounds like you don’t like dogs much at all.
What kind of business do you have? I’m not sure I’d subject my dog to your care, no matter how “obsessive” you are about them..
I have PTSD. Having my dog with me means the difference between a full-flidged (hyperventilating/chest pains/cold sweat/shivering) anxiety attack for which I would have to pop three xanax, or a calm flight during which one would never suspect I even suffer from PTSD (and which would keep me from having to take any medication whatsoever).
How does it work? I don’t know, but it does. And I can’t see that it scrapes much skin off your somewhat judgemental nose.
I know this — you’d rather sit next to me and my 8-pound dog than me in the middle of an anxiety attack.
How many times have you been annoyed by a drooling, screaaming, stinky, or hyperactive kid on the plane or in a store or restaurant? And how many times have you been annoyed by a service animal (or any pet, for that matter) in the same venues? If you’re that upset by the mere presence of a service animal, (whether or not you personally can SEE the disability), perhaps you should consider changing jobs. It might also help for you to develop a little empathy.
Editor’s Note: I am not upset by the presence of a letitimate service animal. That’s the whole point. It’s the people who abuse the system to get unlicensed, untrained animals past the door by claiming falsely that they’re service dogs that my original post was talking about. I guess you didn’t read it. If you have a legitimate service animal, I would think you’d agree with me, like so many of the other posters who have legitimate service animals. It’s the people who scam the system who get ticked off when someone points out what they’re doing. Hmmmm … – LW
98.
I have PTSD | March 14, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Hey, Lonnie: a dog would have been cheaper and less time-consuming. Psychotropic drugs are a Godsend, but the less one needs to take, the better.
99.
Jack | March 18, 2009 at 5:39 pm
IF you think Emotional Support Dog should have same rights as a service dog out in public, Just like at one time Seizure Alert Dog were called Emotional Support Dogs, Know they have rights. then DO SOMETHING. Email or call the President Obama and let him know how you feel about this. Ask him to open more training places just for Emotional Support Dogs. Also People with ESD can lie like people with Service Dog we have to have a doctor note for are disablity, anybody can say it a service dog and get away with it. Just add ,this part to the email or when you call. Them more people that do this will help pass this law also email your local senter and congress person and your Governer. Email your local paper about this also. Ask family and friends to do the same please!
THANK TO ALL PEOPLE THAT WILL DO THIS!!
100.
I have PTSD | March 18, 2009 at 9:54 pm
To Diane, the flight attendant;
I’LL COMMENT TO YOUR ENTRY IN CAPS:
Bravo for your editorial! I am a flight attendant/dog lover/dog owner myself. People do not realize they are putting their dog’s safety and health in jeaprody to have a dog sit with them during flight. WOULD THE DOG BE SAFER IN BAGGAGE? I’M NOT BEING SARCASTIC — IS IT SAFER FOR THE DOG IN THE BAGGAGE COMPARTMENT, AND IF SO, WHY?
Many a time I have been in a possible crash/emergency situation ISN’T EVERY FLIGHT A POSSIBLE CRASH/EMERGENCY SITUATION? where if it really happened – the dog would be thrown resulting in injury or death not only to the dog – but the passengers in the plane. WHAT ABOUT BABIES ON LAPS? WOULD THEY POSE THE SAME THREAT?
ALSO, IF IT’S TRUE THAT DOGS IN THE CABIN PRESENT A HAZARD, WHY ARE PEOPLE ALLOWED TO PAY FOR THEM TO ACCOMPANY THEM IN THE CABIN?
JUST ASKING. I’D LOVE THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS.
I commend you for speaking up. – Diane
101.
I have PTSD | March 18, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Also to DIANE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: I have been on flights where people were launching into full-fledged anxiety about the safety of the plane. A noise would bother them, or a smell, real or imagined, would trigger spoken fears of mechanical failure that made every passenger uncomfortable. Probably medication could have prevented these instances. While it might be easier for you to have the anxious person drugged, it sure makes it more difficult for that person to maneuver plane changes, etc., while traveling. Is it really that treacherous to have a dog on board, if that dog’s presence will make the flight easier for every passenger?
I have yet to hear of an onboard-animal-caused fatality.
I have PTSD. It’s not imaginary. It’s a physical response to former trauma. I understand that, but I can’t make it stop just because I know what it is. Having my dog with me is a great comfort.
Are you really a flight attendant? Do you really own or even like dogs?
Tell us.
102.
I have PTSD | March 18, 2009 at 10:06 pm
to LISA, EDITOR:
I agree that abuse of any privelege should be discouraged. Abuse of the existence of “Emotional Support Animal” priveleges should be discouraged too.
Are you saying that there are instances in which Emotional Support Animals are legitimate? If so, I apologize. I misinterpreted your comments.
103.
I have PTSD | March 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Dear BOGGLED:
Let me ask you this: does it personally bother you if there’s a dog in the store, or the plane, or on the bus?
We try to make service animals extra-acceptable by keeping them very clean and inobtrusive.
Have you looked around lately? There are many more stressors than there were even 20 years ago. Psychotropic drugs are a gift from God, don’t get me wrong, but if we can avoid them by having our dog with us, is it really that much of an inconvenience for you?
Does it pose a hardship for you? Does it cost you anything? Does it endanger you? If not, Boggled, then what’s the big woo?
Maybe we are turning into a nation of “wussies” — there’s sure a lot of things to be scared of these days! Could you consider cutting people whose disabilities you can’t see a little slack? We would appreciate it.
104.
Ed | March 21, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I cannot believe this “me” generation. I have allergies to pets, so what about me and others? Also, more than a few people have no love for pets. Anyone that needs a pet for emotional support needs psychiatric help. If the pet is the center of your life, you need to re-examine your life.
The lady downstairs in my “pet-free” apartment has an emotional support dog in which she screams at regularly. Is that what they are there for? Displaced aggression?
Pets (dogs) are unpredictable and unsanitary…PERIOD! I’ve been bitten out of the blue by an owner’s dog and I wasn’t even petting it. What about that lady that was brutally attacked by that ape just recently??
I’m tired of hearing that they like dogs better than children, because that just shows idiocy. Children are the future of mankind…not a dog, cat, horse, etc. Nobody has died from a child-attack, but many have suffered injuries from pet attacks.
The needs of the majority take precedence of the individual. We need to stop accomodating the illegitmate whiners and restore some sensibility. Legitimate service animals excepted!
105.
I have PTSD | March 25, 2009 at 2:07 am
Dear ED,
Almost all service animals are extremely clean. They don’t romp around and spread dander. Sorry about your allergies, but they’re probably not exacerbated by service animals.
Your comment, “Anyone that needs a pet for emotional support needs psychiatric help” is pretty funny, considering that one needs the help of a psychiatrist to get permission to own an emotional support animal…that’s the point.
An emotional support animal is not necessarily the center of one’s life, it’s just a tool to help the person get through what might be incapacitating anxiety without drugs. If re-examination of one’s life could alleviate one’s need for emotional support, we we could just explain to people why they hyperventilate and pass out, and then they’d stop, right? Nice idea, no cigar.
Pets in general may be unpredictable and unsanitary, but it’s nothing short of irrational for you to make that claim about service animals in general. You say you were bitten by an “owner’s” dog. A service animal owner’s dog bit you? If that’s true, you must have posed quite a threat to the dog’s owner. You’re one in a million if a service animal bit you. ‘Fess up, now, Ed, did a service animal really bite you?
Only Mother Teresa loved everybody. Some pets are a pain in the butt — no way around that one, but we’re not subjected to most of those pets. Some kids are a pain in the butt, too. However, very few places forbid people to bring along obnoxious, untrained children, and we are mercilessly subjected to them. And don’t look now, but kids attack and injure people, too, especially other children. Kids bully other kids into suicide, for crying out loud. They even bring guns to school and off each other.
When you say “legitimate service animals excepted”, are you including legitimate emotional support animals? If so, then your other comments are somewhat exonerated. Please remember that many disabilities are invisible but devastating.
Lighten up, Ed! How offensive is it, really, to have a dog on the plane?
106.
Kat | April 1, 2009 at 1:56 pm
We need to get a law pass that will help people that self-train their own service dog each service dog should have to take a clicker training class and all basic dog training class. Be for they would be allowed out in public and must know two task. To many people just train their SD to the basic dog training, that does not cover it as being trained people need to read the (ADA) law again it says TASKS what does (S) mean more then one tasks. So if you only teach her dog one task it not covered under (ADA) as a service dog its only a pet! So please read the (ADA) law again!!
107.
Scarlettlake | April 18, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Honestly, this article offended me greatly. I can not get on a crowded bus because someone’s shoulder, bag,etc might touch me. If the bus becomes crowded, I get off. This had made me late to work more than a few times. I have to take the stairs wherever I go because I can’t stomach being in an elevator. I can’t go anywhere that’s crowded, so no grocery stores on the weekends, amusement parks, etc. It also takes me 5 to 10 minutes to enter my home because I fear that someone may be hiding somewhere and will kill me in my sleep or the shower. Oh, and if someone does bump into me in public, I will have a panic attack.
I just got my EAD and he’s been extremely helpful. He stands between me and crowds and takes any bumping they might do, making it a little easier for me to go crowded places. He also searches the house when I get home and then comes back and sits in front of me if no one is there. Are you going to tell me I don’t need that dog?
Oh, and he gets a bath every couple of weeks, a daily brushing, is always clean, and of course, is polite and courteous in public. He does not bark, jump, beg or anything. He walks close to me and when I’m sitting, he sits or lays down. The only time he will stand and block someone’s way is on command if they’re getting too close to me.
108.
shobi | April 20, 2009 at 11:32 pm
hai how arae r u
109.
Mary | June 17, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I’m not impressed with this blog. I am also not impressed with L.W.’s responses to those who comment. I keep seeing L.W. defend her attack against emotionally unstable people. To quote “In addition, drugs use for anxiety disorders are not dangerous and hazardous. They help millions of people live and function even though they have panic diorders and anxiety disorders. – L.W.”
Hmmm, what a smug bunch of nonsense. You are not a doctor, nor are you the millions of people out there that would rather be dead than take medication. Just because medication works for the people you know does not mean medication works for everyone. And as a reasonably educated person, I would have assumed that L.W. would know that all drugs, even F.D.A approved drugs, can have horrible and yes, dangerous, side effects. Haven’t you ever seen a drug commercial in your life? The drugs I am on can cause blood clots, suicidal thoughts, migraines, desperation, stomach bleeding, etc. Some people would rather not risk it. Some people cannot be aided by medicine. Some people require ESA’s. I would rather that people are allowed those animals and deal with the few that abuse the system than deny those people in need. Or paint all the people who have ESA’s as narcissistic liars.
110.
gmliii | June 26, 2009 at 9:54 am
There is something that troubles me about the style or argument. The author posits: “Or maybe it’s not helplessness and inability to cope. Maybe it’s self-aggrandizement and narcissism.”
However, I am not sure how she reconciles this argument with her other statement: “What about the rights of other passengers and restaurant guests who are allergic to dogs, or afraid of them?” What of them? Why should the scale of propriety tip in their favor? How is getting wound up because you suffer from allergies any less self-aggrandizing or less narcissistic than than that which the author rails against?
If one is so unstable that you “should be institutionalized (or deported to Hollywood),” then, by the same token, if you have such severe allergies, pop a Benadryl.
[Note: I am not a dog owner and have no interest in the substance of the discussion.] However, it seems an unfair method of arguing to assume that complaining about allergies is less narcissistic than wanting to travel with a dog. It also seems unfair to assume that allergy sufferers outnumber dog lovers. And, it seems unfair to again assume that, for some unexplained reason, that when the “rights” of these groups conflict, there should be a presumption that allergy-sufferers somehow get the benefit of the doubt.
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funstufffordogs | June 29, 2009 at 2:02 pm
There are appropriate places to bring a dog, restaurants and airplanes are not appropriate places. Those who fake avneed for a service animal simply want to bring their dogs into places that are inappropriate, places where the rest of us are considerate enough not to bring our pets. As far as the “screaming kid” argument, children and dogs are not the same, and it’s really telling about the poster that she would equate the two. Furthermore, children are not prohibited from airplanes and restaurants. Pets do not need to be on airplanes and in restaurants. Therefore, I side with the people who expect these places to be free of pets. If a blind patron with a dog wishes to use the airplane or restaurant, we all accept his/her service dog. But the professional victims who run around with their pets claiming that they “need” them are hurting the reputation of legitimate service dogs.