Disability

the flood of "mutts in a vest" that their owners take everywhere just because infuriates me no end.
i have a therapy dog that volunteers w me. he could go anywhere, as he is a great dog, and well trained. he could wear his harness and bandana, and no one would stop us. the most they would do is ask if he is a service dog, and i could lie and say yes, and that would be that.
but i dont pull that shit.
and i would lose my certification if i did.

this really does need to be regulated SOMEHOW.
there needs to be ada recognition of some kind, some bar that they must meet.
people like me do this voluntarily. we seek out testing and certification for our dogs. we do the hard work, and not for money. for love and duty.

when i see these fakes, i really want to just take them down. i tell people how to block these dogs from their stores, etc.
you arent allowed to grill people about certification, such as it even exists, or about their disability.
you are, however, allowed to ask what task the dog is trained to do. this is the defining characteristic of an actual service dog v a comfort or therapy dog.
you cant refuse a service dog, but you can refuse therapy dogs. and a little knowledge of how a well trained dog acts differently than a "mutt in a vest" would also help. simple tell- if the dog is not focused on the other end of that leash, they arent a service dog. also, ask if you can pet the dog. if it is a real service dog, the answer is no.

all this should be unnecessary, tho. there should be an ada recognized patch and vest.