From what I observe, the perps are usually elderly folks. Now, what supermarket manager is going to confront a senior citizen with a bogus service animal? Really.
I saw one recently... a chihuahua ....who while prancing down the aisle on a leash ...with the owner's attention keyed into her smart phone, paused and peed on the boxes of pasta. Gross.
We were in a fancy-schmansy resort in Maine ....with a *dog friendly* policy ...which is fine ...but at breakfast the table next to us had the woman pull up a chair for the microbreed and let it get on the table.
I'm expecting to come home from errands, one day, and have flea bites on my legs.
There are websites, where you can *register* your dog and get a *kit* with a vest, for a mere fifty-200 bucks. Their dog is never tested and their disability is never verified. All the product really means is that the person was willing to pay good money to get it.
Here are some scary quotes from some of the sites:
"Since 2003, Goldstar has certified over 1,300 dogs of various breeds, large, medium, and small."
"SDA recognizes that every person in America may have some form of disability."
"Get an SDA kit so your dog can accompany you everywhere you need."
"This is a site designed to assist disabled people in obtaining a valid certification and ID card for their service dog so that you can take it on public transportation, into public places such as restaurants, grocery stores, etc."
"Service Dog Certification of America recognizes that every person in The United States of America may have some form of disability."
"If your dog exhibits occasional nipping, Service Dog Certification of America recommends muzzling."
God Bless the groups who train and match *REAL* service dogs with the disabled.
