You are onto something. My evil sister in Hyannis, Massachusetts pretends her small dog is a service animal and got an official to okay that. I’m sure a lot of other phonies get away with it. She claims it is an emotional support dog.
Amusing blog about the scams. Law in CA against phony ones.
California Penal Code 365.7 (a) against fraudulently misrepresenting animals.
Sign.
“Please Don’t Try To Pass Your Pet Off As A Service Animal.”
https://www.sandiegoville.com/2016/01/your-service-dog-is-making-me-anxious.html
California also has a law prohibiting any dogs except legit service dogs in grocery stores, but I see a lot of regular old “Fifi”, etc. dogs in Walmart, and other grocery stores lately.