ClapYourHands
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2018
Service dogs are also highly trained (noise/soiling/reactions to strange things/people aren't as much of a concern due to the extensive training they receive) so if I saw a real service dog at a resort/park/bus (anywhere really) I wouldn't think twice. With emotional support dogs, there is a big variation of training --- from zero training to significant training and no way for the average person to know which type of dog they were dealing with. The dogs reaction to things other than their owner is less predictable. We've seen this in airport/planes/tourist spots in our travels this week (some instances were just annoying while another instance was downright dangerous.)
While I believe there is a place for genuine emotional support animals, I also think there are waaaaayyyyy too many people who abuse the system. A co-worker was telling me she rents an apartment that charges a fee for pets, but not for service animals, including emotional support animals. She didn't want to pay the fee, so she just got her two dogs "certified" as emotional support animals (zero requirements, just free on-line registration). She freely admits they are just pets, they are not trained to do anything special, and she doesn't have any special emotional needs; she just didn't want to pay. So, yeah, I don't take any registration of emotional support animals at face value.