Meowllo and welcome to another miserable Monday. It’s time fur another educational Service Cat posty. As always, it will be written in human English. Our blog is not a training manual. Any training tips or stories are not meant to be complete, but rather a starting point; as propurr training takes time and is repetitive. Me wants to thank you all fur your questions and comments on our postys. We were asked ‘bout claw clippin’ a squirmy kitty last week. But it wasn’t da furst time we’s been asked dat, so we’re workin’ on a video tutorial fur dat. You know at da end of da day, we are still cats and have to have our claws clipped just like da rest of ya’; and we’re not so crazy ‘bout it. Mommy’s never hurt us, but still…So we decided a video would be da bestest way to ‘splain how to do it, so stay tuned fur dat. As ya’ know, there’s only one mommy, so these things take time. Ifin you have missed any of da postys in this series, you can get caught up by clickin’ da links below. Some of you have also asked about previous training posts. You can use the search feature on our sidebar to read previous posts. Keywords such as Dezi, wheelchair, phone, etc. will bring some of these up.
Well let’s get started. After last weeks post, we were talking with our friends from Bad Cat Chris about some of the laws that pertain to Service Animals and housing and such. His wife works in the housing/apartment business and is often coming in contact with those “fakers” we’ve talked about. You know, those people who call their pets Service Animals to avoid paying pet deposits/fees or so they can take their pet somewhere pets aren’t normally allowed (ie: stores, restaurants, grocery’s, etc.). You might recall, that every week, we plead with the public to NOT call their pets Service Animals unless they fit the literal description the ADA puts forth; an animal that is individually trained to perform tasks for a disabled person. Fetch, shake, roll over, etc. are not considered Service Animal training.
Your question is probably, “how do these people get away with lying about their pets?” The answer is, Easy. Unfortunately, Certification, is not required by law but rather is voluntary. Because of this there are lots of places that certify animals for a price. Certification really means nothing under the current laws. Per the rules, no one is allowed to ask someone to prove their animal is indeed a Service Animal. The only question that can be posed to a disabled person about their Service Animal is: “What task(s) does this animal perform for you that makes it necessary?” You cannot ask what a person’s disability is or require proof of any kind.
In recent years Companion Animals (CA) have become extremely popular. Remember, a Companion Animal is merely a pet. These animals may also go by the title of Emotional Support Animals (ESA). This means that the very presence of the animal has a positive influence on a person suffering from depression, panic attacks, etc.. A Companion Animal has no specific training and IS NOT a Service Animal. There is no certification or training required for an animal to be considered a Companion/Emotional Support Animal. As a result of studies that prove animals have a positive influence on their owners health, Companion Animals/Emotional Support Animals have gained acceptance and some rights under housing laws. Unfortunately a lot of people take advantage of this, and often try to pass off their CA/ESA as a Service Animal.
Landlords may require a note or letter from a medical professional stating that the animal in question is there to provide emotional support for a person. The animal must still meet the requirements a landlord sets forth in their pet policy. A typical apartment pet policy requires animals be 35 pounds or under, current on all vaccines required by law, well behaved and not a nuisance to neighbors. A landlord may ban pets/CA/ESA from certain areas of the property. Companion Animals/ ESA are not allowed in any public place that does not allow pets (ie: grocery stores, restaurants, etc.).
In an attempt to stop abuse of the Service Animal rights, the ADA refined and limited their definitions of said animals. In doing so, they punished those who truly have a need for a Service Animal of another species than dogs. Another way to go about this would be to require certification for Service Animals. However, that’s not as easy as it sounds. Me thinks this is a lot of information, so me’s going to wrap it up fur today. We’ll talk more about Certification and what effect that would have for the disabled in another post. We were also asked to speak a bit on good training techniques as opposed to bad ones (ie: punishment, force, etc.); so we’ll be covering that in a future post as well. As always, if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas you would like answered or addressed, leave them in da comments or send us an email.
Do you think Certification should be required for all Service Animals?
If you’re for Certification, do you think there should be a charge, and if so, how much?
I am a companion animal, but Mommy is finding I alert her to low blood sugar. After al this time! LOL! I’m sort of a Service Animal, but I don’t think I could be certified. I wonder what the little miniature dachshund does for it’s owner that Mommy recently saw in Target with a lady in a wheelchair. It wore the “I am a service animal” jacket. Perhaps he performs duties like you do, Dezi. That would be cool, proving Service Animals can be lots of different sizes! Leaving the door open for kitties to be recognized, too!
I don’t think there should be a big charge for certification, as many disabled are on fixed incomes.
We are getting professional claw clippies this week. TBT has givin up trying. And we are tired of the blankies grabbin our claws, so we aren’t objecting.
yes, I do believe that service animals should be certified as Service Animals. This Certificate process should only be done by one agency however, such as the government. If, all animals were included as being Service Animals some strange person would insist on certifying his ferret as a Service Animal because he can fetch an inhaler. To provide the extra service required to certify all animals, taxes would go up. However, if the qualifying tests were just for cats and dogs, the taxes should remain the same as extra peeps would not be needed.
Dat’s a good view Shoko. We’ll talk more ’bout this topic next week. Dat thing ’bout da ferret we hadn’t thought of, but certainly it could be a big help to an asthmatic who can’t get to their medication. Mommy really purreciates dat we can bring her inhaler ifin she needs it.
It seems the pendulum always swings too far in one direction or another. Anytime the government makes something “voluntary” (like GMO labeling laws) they essentially just avoid doing anything about the problem. This one seems easy to fix if someone in power would just do something.
Yep it does. And yes, it does sound easy to fix, but we think there’s a lot more to it than what appears on da surface. What do you exclude? How much assistance would qualify one? Is one task enuff, or should da animal do multiple tasks? We couold go on and on, but won;t. These are questions dat have been posed by da ADA when tryin’ to decide a definition they put furth in 2011. Unfurtunately peeps in general only think of themselves and not others. Dat selfish attitude causes them to furget common sense. Ifin peeps in general could use good common sense and quit tryin’ to take advantage of everyone and everythin’ all da time, fixin’ this would be relatively easy. But alas…
It is too bad people cheat the system, but I think if certification were required it would be too expensive and being that they all perform different duties, it would be impossible to make a test. Excellent post. XO
We see Raena as usurped the top pedestal. Mom says she’s not sure about the certification. She knows it would be a state by state thing, and there probably should be some kind of yearly fee.XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
Service Cats U.S. 
Great picture, thanks for the share.
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I am a companion animal, but Mommy is finding I alert her to low blood sugar. After al this time! LOL! I’m sort of a Service Animal, but I don’t think I could be certified. I wonder what the little miniature dachshund does for it’s owner that Mommy recently saw in Target with a lady in a wheelchair. It wore the “I am a service animal” jacket. Perhaps he performs duties like you do, Dezi. That would be cool, proving Service Animals can be lots of different sizes! Leaving the door open for kitties to be recognized, too!
I don’t think there should be a big charge for certification, as many disabled are on fixed incomes.
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We are getting professional claw clippies this week. TBT has givin up trying. And we are tired of the blankies grabbin our claws, so we aren’t objecting.
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yes, I do believe that service animals should be certified as Service Animals. This Certificate process should only be done by one agency however, such as the government. If, all animals were included as being Service Animals some strange person would insist on certifying his ferret as a Service Animal because he can fetch an inhaler. To provide the extra service required to certify all animals, taxes would go up. However, if the qualifying tests were just for cats and dogs, the taxes should remain the same as extra peeps would not be needed.
That’s my view Dezi and Raena.
Shoko
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Dat’s a good view Shoko. We’ll talk more ’bout this topic next week. Dat thing ’bout da ferret we hadn’t thought of, but certainly it could be a big help to an asthmatic who can’t get to their medication. Mommy really purreciates dat we can bring her inhaler ifin she needs it.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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It seems the pendulum always swings too far in one direction or another. Anytime the government makes something “voluntary” (like GMO labeling laws) they essentially just avoid doing anything about the problem. This one seems easy to fix if someone in power would just do something.
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Yep it does. And yes, it does sound easy to fix, but we think there’s a lot more to it than what appears on da surface. What do you exclude? How much assistance would qualify one? Is one task enuff, or should da animal do multiple tasks? We couold go on and on, but won;t. These are questions dat have been posed by da ADA when tryin’ to decide a definition they put furth in 2011. Unfurtunately peeps in general only think of themselves and not others. Dat selfish attitude causes them to furget common sense. Ifin peeps in general could use good common sense and quit tryin’ to take advantage of everyone and everythin’ all da time, fixin’ this would be relatively easy. But alas…
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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Well, I guess all you can do is set a good example.
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It is too bad people cheat the system, but I think if certification were required it would be too expensive and being that they all perform different duties, it would be impossible to make a test. Excellent post. XO
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Yep awnty Ellen, dat’s pawrt of da purroblem fur sure.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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If nothing else, an official certification process might tamp down all the registering companies preying on individuals.
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who don’t know any better.
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A lot of those peeps do know better, but da general public doesn’t and dat’s why they get these cards. It helps them take advantage of da system.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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One would hope. But there will always be some who break da laws/rules. It’s human nature.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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We see Raena as usurped the top pedestal. Mom says she’s not sure about the certification. She knows it would be a state by state thing, and there probably should be some kind of yearly fee.XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
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More great info. I wish there was an easier way to regulate it all and make sure the ones who really need the help are getting it.
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Now dat would be worth elebenty billion gazillion dollars. MOL
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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There should be a way to regulate service animals so that people can’t cheat…but honestly, we can’t think of anything right now.
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