Trimess

Monday, December 13, 2010

MAX CAMPOS PROVIDES FURTHER DETAIL ON ANIMAL SERVICE CHANGES

I read the service animal changes from the DOJ, which take effect in March 15, 2011.

The biggest change is that now a service animal must specifically be a dog or (not making this up) a miniature horse. Gone are the days of the "service lizard" or "service ferret." Also, the animal must be on a leash, harness, etc.

Other than that, it's pretty much same as before -- meaning that the example Neil cited (the "dog with a rope") would still be considered a service animal, provided that the owner answered the following two questions appropriately:

1) Is this animal required because of a disability?

2) What work or task has this animal been trained to perform?

Therapy / emotional support / comfort / etc animals are still not allowed under the ADA; but the person could just lie and say that "fluffy can get my medication when he thinks I'm going to have a seizure" and you'd have no way of knowing.

So SOSDD. Personally I think they should just require a note or certification and be done with it; but they're so hung up on people with disabilities not being inconvenienced _in any way_ that they would never require such a thing; even though most service animal users would probably be in favor of presenting at least a note from a doctor. (sigh)

2 comments:

punkrawker4783 said...

METRO allows dogs on, a lap dog rides for free, but if a dog occupies a seat, they must pay the adult fare to ride. All other animals can ride if the owner has control of it. Any animal that appears to be going out of control from its owner can be removed, service animal or not.

Max said...

Wow, that's quite generous. I guess you can't bring your dog into Home Depot, but you can bring it on a bus in Seattle. Amazing.