Service animals have been a godsend to people with spinal cord injuries for decades. With services like Helping Paws, Can-Do-Canines and other nonprofits across the country, the training of service animals has made the lives of people with disabilities incredibly more independent. Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1992, their indispensable nature led to them being covered by the ADA too.
The only problem is that there isn't a national registry for service animals. There's also no Federal law outlining how one must procure a service animal, or what goes into training one, which means it can be tricky cracking down on the issue of fake service animals. That's right, in recent years able-bodied people have been pretending to need service animals. If you have a serious disability like a spinal cord injury, these fakers are pretty easy to spot.
It's never a good idea to confront these people. Most of the time when confronted with having a fake service animal, most owners will literally run away, and this is because in recent years, over 20 states have passed laws that prevent people from pretending to need service animals.
Naturally, there are some who are worried these new laws may make it hard to use a service animal in public if you really need one, but with so many fakers being spotted recently, it’s paramount these anti-fake service animal laws are passed.
"That’s the good and bad of it. Having a service dog should be as easy as possible for people with disabilities. We shouldn’t have to have professional training if we can do the work ourselves. We also shouldn’t have to pay for any certifications or have to prove ourselves beyond the two questions that people are allowed to ask. But those loose guidelines are also what allows people to cheat the system. It’s a tough one,” says Joe Stone, a C7 quadriplegic.
One of the first states to pass an anti-fake service animal law was California in 1995. A fine of $1000 or six months in prison is required if you're found guilty. Other states that have passed laws that fine anyone who uses a fake service animal include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Idaho, Maine, and Minnesota. Minnesota’s law passed just this past spring, fining people up to $250. These fines can range from $100 - $500.
Even more recently, the state of Hawaii passed an anti-fake service animal law that will go into effect at the beginning of 2019. This law will fine people as high as $500 for trying to pass off a pet as a trained service animal. Let’s hope these fines work! If they can prevent future incidents, they’re worth every penny. Have you encountered a fake service animal before? What did you say or do? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
