tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2403681948899952643.post7377782287942653703..comments2023-06-12T05:28:41.710-07:00Comments on Life with Ranger: Therapy Dog vs Service Dog vs Pet DogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2403681948899952643.post-64216272784312178722011-03-28T18:28:30.285-07:002011-03-28T18:28:30.285-07:00Why couldn't a tag be issued like handicapped ...Why couldn't a tag be issued like handicapped license plates and rearview mirror hangtags? My mother's doctor has forms in his office. He filled one out for her, and I took it to the courthouse annex and got a hangtag to use when she's in the car with me.<br /><br />People who need service dogs are under a doctor's care, aren't they? Their doctors could fill out a form to be taken to the courthouse for a tag. <br />Or, the service dog's veterinarian could issue the tag, like a rabies tag. The vet would surely know if the dog was a service dog.FancyHorsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17597963447367752342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2403681948899952643.post-81065317724769959512011-03-27T01:25:13.095-07:002011-03-27T01:25:13.095-07:00Thank you Elizabeth for providing such a clear exp...Thank you Elizabeth for providing such a clear explanation. I hadn't thought about the cost issue. Where I live there are quite a number of Service Dogs (haven't seen other Service Animals) all clearly identified as such with vest, cape, bandanna or harness. But since there is no requirement that they wear any sort of identification it's very easy for unscrupulous people to claim their ill-mannered pet is a Service Animal. I know the question of certification for Service Animals is a big can of worms so I was looking for the smallest change that could possibly make a difference. <br /><br />I like the voluntary registry idea for a set amount a year (TDI charges $35 for example) the Service Animal partner receives an ID card identifying the animal in question as a Service Animal, bandanna (since those are pretty cheap) saying Service Animal and an ID tag. <br /><br />Still, education is, as you say, the real key.Kathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15220021390399819368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2403681948899952643.post-61742636025664359372011-03-26T21:27:02.901-07:002011-03-26T21:27:02.901-07:00It's financial. The federal government has de...It's financial. The federal government has determined that, just as a blind person does not have to pay for badges or capes to identify a white cane as a cane for a blind person, a person with a service animal does not have to be forced to buy and badges or capes for a service animal. The federal government's position is that the service animal is an auxiliary aid--just like a white cane, a hearing aid, or a wheelchair. The feds believe acquiring and maintaining an auxiliary aid is already a financial burden a disabled person is forced to bear, such that further financial burden would be unjust. The financial policy comes from both the federal courts and the US Department of Justice (agency that enforced disability rights). <br /><br />Given the federal government's position that disabled people cannot be forced to buy badges and capes and such, the question is if the American taxpaying society as a whole would now be willing to pay an annual tax or something to fund the federal government to screen service animals for being genuine service animals (not fake), and to issue service animal ID. However, the federal government presently declines to take up the responsibility due to expense to set up a government agency to issue service animal ID, inability to figure out standards for a real versus a fake service animal, inability to pay for DOJ to learn how to tell fake versus real service animals, fear of backlog in the courts if disabled people challenge DOJ for unjust mistakes when they begin classifying service animals as fake versus real, and potentially other administrative burdens and costs. That said, many of us in the disabled community are frustrated that we cannot go to our government to have our animals definitely certified as real service animals. <br /><br />Service animal users already incur costs for veterinary care, and tend to be on limited incomes. Thus the federal government's position that the service animal users should not be treated as second-class disabled citizens (forced to bear extra costs for our auxiliary aids) is just. <br /><br />All of the above leaves us stuck where we are now. In the gap, a few private organizations formed to offer private registration of service animals, and to offer those registered animals capes, badges, and patches. <br /><br />Education of the public is key to alleviate confusion, and to reduce abuse. Education and outreach would help all people know the benefits for service animals for their disabled human partners, the benefits of therapy animals for the group of different patients they "treat" with animal assisted therapy, and the benefits of pets, but ultimately the important differences between these three different groups of animals. Education would also appeal to the conscience of pet owners to remain honest. Just as public education has drastically decreased death by drunk driving, education could influence pet owners not to cheat and register fake service animals. <br /><br />Personally, I think an intermediate step the federal government could take would be to offer optional US Government registry of service animals, at the expense of the person whose animal is registered. In essence, the US Government could open its own shop like the ones operated by the private registries. Because registry is not mandatory under the hypothetical system I suggest here, the government could charge for the service to cover its costs. Furthermore, because such registry would be optional, the government could remain immune from litigation against it if the government is uncertain if an animal qualifies as a service animal, and on that basis refund money to the disabled applicant and provides no registry for the animal in question, and the disabled person with a real service animal not registered could continue to try to prove an animal is a real service animal and reapply. (Much the way a farm that doesn’t initially get certified as “organic” may try again.)<br />--Elizabeth WinchellElizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01778569262477216378noreply@blogger.com