This came up one day at the Pentagon a couple of years ago. They’ve always had a dozen-odd people there with eyesight problems and they had dogs with them. No one ever said much about that. But after 2010....folks started to notice dozens of people now with service pets for differing reasons. They tried to word-smith some regulation up on this and tried hard not to come down negative against people....but there was a fear of this getting way out of control...with hundreds of people intimidating management to allow their pets into the facility.
yup- my sister in law had her dog tagged as a service animal for no other reason then to let the dog travel with her to vacation spots which don’t allow dogs...
A year or so ago I was in an In and Out in So Cal. A guy comes into the restaurant with his posse and a pit bull. I love dogs, but I am not so foolish as to trust somebody else’s dog - I have no idea how they were trained. And when their dog is one that was specifically trained to tear flesh and maim and kill....I am extra cautious.
I went to the manager of the store and complained. The manager agreed with me, but told me that he claimed it was a service dog, and they are not allowed to question if someone makes that claim.
Completely stupid.
Yes - we could allow access until they make a ruckus - but such a ruckus could to serious, and possibly permanent damage to innocent bystanders. Since there is no real reason to have the animal with them, it is not worth the risk.
“but there was a fear of this getting way out of control...with hundreds of people intimidating management to allow their pets into the facility.”
I think dogs should be allowed in most office work environments. The suits need to be brought down to earth. Dogs are the ideal tools for doing exactly that.
That is my fatwa.