Phony service dog will get you jail time in Florida
According to News 13, Florida has made it a crime to identify your animal as a service animal when that’s not true;
For guide dog owners like Richard Darrington, this new law could help discourage imposters.
“I think it will cause people who are on the fence to think before moving forward with the decision,” Darrington explained.
He said that’s important because he is constantly asked whether his dog, Malcolm, is certified and trained.
Darrington is legally blind and needs Malcolm, who was trained for two years to be a guide dog to help him get around.
“I’m questioned all the time, ‘Is this a real guide dog?’” Darrington said. “I know part of that is because there are others out there that are masquerading and that hampers my ability to do what I need to do.”
If the dog is found to be wearing false identifiers, and isn’t properly trained then the owner will go to jail.
The bill “Requires public accommodation to permit use of service animal by individual with disability; provides conditions for public accommodation to exclude or remove service animal; revises penalties for certain persons or entities who interfere with use of service animal; provides penalty for knowing & willful misrepresentation with respect to use or training of service animal.”
The punishment really isn’t “jail time” as the article title suggests – it’s 30 hours of community service that has to be performed within six months – the same punishment for interfering with a person who requires a service dog. As the article states, the Americans with Disabilities Act makes it difficult to protect real service dog users and business owners from the phonies.
Of course, the law has to be tested by the courts, and I know just the person to test it in Florida.
Category: Veteran Health Care
They need to develop service dogs with the ability to warn their masters when they aircraft is out of fuel.
The dog cannot do its job When a Non-CPO has it duck taped to the seat.
Or has to stab it because the dog is trying to take over the controls.
Then again, the dog would be a better pilot.
Oh, please don’t inflict that clown on a dog of any kind. No dog deserves dat.
As if poor Snoopy does not have enough to contend with as the Red Baron tries to shoot him from the sky…..Now he has to worry if Dirt dart Danny has checked the fuel tanks.
The good news is that some service dogs can now carry catheter bags.
Now that the deed is done, how about following through with the entire game? By that I mean do SOMETHING about all these people who walk as healthy as any of us into a business……while parking in a handi-capped space usually near the door.
Fake service dog same as a fake “disabled” sticker.
If anyone “will go to jail” for this, as the article says will happen, it will be because the dog’s human punched the cop who asked about the dog.
Queefers probably thinks that a service dog is a type of dog that he can… well, you know…
Dude that needed a spew alert.
I sure wish we would enforce this in our city. Which does have a requirement to get a permit for your service animal, free of charge. The animals for the truly needy, e.g. the blind, the deaf and a few other conditions are NEVER a nuisance or problem to be around because they are highly trained to be in crowds. It’s the little piss ant, “purse dogs” for “emotional support issues” those fat ass sows carry and there’s their husband right beside them with his balls tucked neatly in her purse under the Kibble treats. The managers say they aren’t allowed by “store/corporate policy” (the last refuge of a…) to even ask if it is a service animal or not. I am tired of those fat asses letting their little miniature whatever it is, yap its annoying head off ALL THE FUCKING TIME, run the aisles, shit anywhere they like and if I say, “Hey lady you are you gonna clean that up?” They say, “That’s what the store employees do!” When I ask if they have their city permit they respond, “She’s my service dog for emotional support, my doctor said I could take her anywhere.” To which I ask, “So did you go to City Hall with your doctor’s form and register the dog as a service animal and do you have the permit on you?” They then screw up their faces and huff off with their yapping little, varmint rifle, scope picture and tell the manager they’re NEVER shopping there again. To which I add another mental hash mark on my score board. If indeed they never come back. Problem is, for the one’s who truly use and need them, say the blind or deaf it is a problem for them. Little “fluffy” the emotional distress shit machine, runs up and nips at their heels and tails. These true service animals are very well trained not to respond but I have heard just one, turn and snarl down the little piece of lunch meat. Then “fluffy” runs yapping back to fat ass whimpering. I have even watched… Read more »
“emotional support” chihuaha? Or miniature poodle? Gee, I always wondered what snowflakes got to be once they aged. I was hoping for mature, but hey, I’m nuts!
I’m speechless!
Reading through the article what I gather is that “Emotional Support Dogs” aren’t considered “service dogs”. The only thing having an emotional support animal documented can do is force land-lords to waive the no-pet restrictions for renters.
I take my cat to the pet supplies store. It’s so that he can pick out his own treats himself. The problem is that he wants all of them, but doesn’t get coupons out of the newspaper for them. Yes, he does walk on a leash. If he didn’t, he’d be in the birdcages.
I’ve got a border collie named Scarlett who don’t need no stinkin’ vest to go into Lowe’s where she pretty much has her own fan club.
Ralph does too. Everyone seems to love a Valley Bulldog and she loves kids.
I have a family member who is a retired colonel and he and his wife falsely claims his dog is a service dog so that he can travel with him and take him in places dogs aren’t allowed, like restaurants. They think it’s funny. It infuriated me and he REALLY should know better.
Had a Squadron S3 that used to fly his dog with him to the field in Germany. Great watch dog, loved flying in Hueys.
The problem will NEVER get fixed until they come up with a nation wide standard for vetting service dogs and government issued documentation.
As of now 150 bucks will get you a vest, ID and documents, sight unseen from online sites.
I believe the vast majority of these non-profit organizations who provide dogs for vets aren’t even qualified to fully train the dogs to meet standards, much less check to see if the “vet” is real.
By the way Jarret Otto Gimbl still hasn’t put his “Gunny Service Dog” facebook page back up. I bet he was feeling the heat. The cock-monger had like over 10,000 people following him.
There is a real Gunny service dog page up, but its from a real vet in Colorado.
As far as someone with a “disabled” license plate, or blue handicapped placard in their windshield, the laws do not differentiate between whether the person is “physically” handicapped, or “emotionally” handicapped. Anyone with the proper credentials, can use the handicapped parking spots. So someone who walks just as good as the next person, and parks in a handicapped spot should be ashamed of themselves for taking a spot that is needed for the truly physically handicapped.
I have seen people who park in the spots literally into the store, and when they come out, they have 2 or 3 valve stems missing from their tires where someone has stomped on them and broken them off at the rim.
I’m sorry, but sometimes I have balance issues when my cane isn’t working correctly.