Dear Todd and Candy, Please read my articles again in the light of the discussions we were having at the time of the articles. We were talking about service dogs and whether or not pet dogs should be allowed out in public. I wrote “description” as you rightly quoted and not “definition”. And you’re right, there is a difference. Service dogs do give people a better quality of life no matter who is describing what service dogs do. I haven’t met anyone who would disagree with that. Of course you knew I was talking about disabled people when I talked about someone needing or having a service dog. The ADA states, “The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.” The ADA does not require licensed or certified training of dogs.

I’m sure that you’re not saying that someone has to have paid doctors and hospitals to diagnose them as disabled in order to enjoy the services of a service dog. Whether they have the ability to pay for such services or statements, they are still disabled. For our Readers: The ADA states to businesses, “Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.”

So If you are saying that a disabled person must first pay doctors and hospitals to be diagnosed and receive certification that they are geninely disabled, please send me the legal proof of that. In a perfect world, anyone with a disability, whether they have the resources to pay to have a doctor say that they are disabled, should be able to have the services of a service dog.

If you’ll read it all again in the light of the discussion and the intention of the articles, I think you’ll be happier with me. Thanks. – Darcy

Please read my articles about service dogs again. Your note says that you think I support people who pretend that their dogs are service animals. That’s not what I said in the article. I said that if a business won’t let a service dog in, that person with the service dog may want to withhold business from the store who is breaking the law. I’m not sure how anyone could argue with that.

I’ll continue to encourage people to train their dogs, I’ve been doing that my whole life. You must be new here and just haven’t gotten around to reading my help articles yet.

If I was in this business to get rich, I’d be selling electric shock collars and bleached rawhide like most of the pet stores do, those things sell like hotcakes to people who don’t know how harmful they are. I won’t do that because I don’t believe they are good for dogs. I write about that often. It’s been said by me before, I’d rather live in a box than hurt a dog.

I hope you heal quickly from your incidents with dogs, it sounds like you’ve had quite a lot of trouble with them.

Just to clarify for readers who might see a dog wearing a vest: A dog wearing a vest may be a therapy dog or a working dog. Service dogs are not the only dogs who wear vests. It’s the patch and the message on the vest that makes it clear what the dog’s career is.

Kirsten, I hope that you write again after reading my service dogs articles again. It doesn’t happen often but when someone misreads my articles, it hurts my feelings. I work so hard to get it right and right is good.

Thanks for listening. Darcie

Above she states “I agree that dogs who are not well behaved in public and people who hurt other people should not get to share public space. I don’t think there is one person who would think that a dog pooping, tearing up displays, jumping on everyone, licking whatever they want, or people with guns or who toss obscenities around are welcome in our public life.” So you and her agree on that.

Oh and by the way, how can you possibly “know” that most of the vest customers are pet owners? You can’t. You are making an assumption and I’m pretty sure, a wrong one. No where does Darcie advocate putting vests on non-service animals. She advocates better training and better dogs.

I think you and her both want the same thing. She does it by educating dog lovers, you do it by helping to pass laws. One works with dogs before a problem, the other after.

Given your attitude about supporting people pretending pets are service animals, and your advice to boycott businesses that don’t treat people with disabilities with respect, I’ve started a campaign to boycott your business. Yes, I know the majority of your vest customers are pet owners so it won’t really hurt your business.

On the plus side, I also helped pass legislation that fines fakers and sends them to jail, and that gives me a small measure of increased safety. You campaign for pets being passed off as service animals and make just as much money as you can off them, and I’ll show off the scars on my arm from defending my dog to legislators and continue my own lobbying efforts. At least one of us won’t be doing it for the all mighty buck.

I think some of the people who have problems with service dogs have an underlying belief that somehow we (the disabled) are “getting away with something”. Like we’re getting to “play” with our doggies. Or Maybe they’re just stodgy old Republican right winger fundamentalists er somethin’. But I know what everyone is referring to. It’s like a jealousy thing. Gee, I’d give them my disability anyday!!!!

P.S. I’ve included a link to a picture of my sweet boy, Lobo.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/freedomshocked/Lobo3.jpg