What constitutes a ‘service animal?’ I ask because a friend recently told me about a fracas on her bus in Olympia when someone left a boa constrictor on the bus and a former bus driver has told me about struggles he’s had with service animals. Everything from two service dogs on the same bus fighting to a man trying to get on the bus with a snake wrapped around his neck, which freaked the driver out.
Apparently I’m not the only one asking, because the Department of Justice is trying to define service animals and things may become more strict. The DOJ received thousands of comments about service animals last year when it announced plans to modify the definition to exclude wild animals including reptiles, rabbits, farm animals, amphibians, ferrets and rodents. The guidelines also would have eliminated as service animals those whose sole function is to provide emotional support, comfort, therapy, companionship, therapeutic benefits, or to promote emotional well-being.
The existing service animal law has no standards of training, requires no animal identification or certification and doesn’t define what a service animal can be. But if businesses and public agencies fail to accommodate a disabled person’s service animal, they sometimes are sued. The Seattle Times takes a closer look at this law that some people may be abusing.
There used to be a blind lady riding the #27 and she had a big white dog, she would sit on the front seat of the bus and the dog would sit under the seat. About a block from he stop the dog would set up and when the bus stopped he led her off the bus. I was always surprised that the dog knew just were the stop was, as he could not see out the front of the bus.
Wow, that's really impressive! Especially considering my dog couldn't even be taught to fetch. The bus driver I used to talk to a lot about stuff like this seemed to think a lot of people were fudging on the definition of 'service animal' just to be allowed to take their pets places they wouldn't normally be able to go. A dog like that didn't need paperwork to prove its worth though!
Does this mean I'll have to get rid of my service weasel? Or my helper possum?
And I'll have to get rid of my service badger. Sorry about that. Probably a good thing though as there was more damage being done than service he was providing.