Posted on 11/13/2017 7:48:58 PM PST by mairdie
The WINNER!
It makes life so much easier for ADD sufferers when they can say, “Look! A squirrel!” and there’s one right there.
I have an emotional support turtle.
Only draw back is when I take it on a leash shopping it takes forever to get anything done
I am completely against this, but not because I have a problem with people owning squirrels, or taking the side of a landlord, etc.
It is the twisted concept of “support animal” that has taken hold.
It appears now that you can have any animal or object designated as a “support” thing, and that means (or is going to shortly mean) that you will be able to take it anywhere you want to take it.
Planes. Buses. Cafeterias. Restaurants. Hospitals.
So, if your support thing is a large box of insects such as spiders or cockroaches, you will (or will be able to in the near future) be able to take them on the plane with you.
People think I am merely being pedantic for painting this scenario, but I have come to believe that if you can conceive of something, it is nearly certain that it can happen.
Look at the Equal Rights Amendment back in the late Sixties and early Seventies. It was defeated nearly single-handedly by Phyllis Schlafly who took elements of the proposed ERA and said “If you take component X in the ERA, it could result in situation X, Y, or Z.”
Her critics would say she was insane and stupid for saying X, Y, or Z would ever happen.
But it turns out in the end, that many of the things she said would happen, did happen as a result of legislation that was passed to achieve the same results that the ERA would have obtained.
These are things that normal people are aghast at, but radical, feminists, and deviants think are perfectly acceptable.
In mandatory training at a hospital, one is asked a question about how to deal with a person who enters the hospital with a support animal that doesn’t really seem to be a support animal, but is instead wearing one of those stupid things you can buy in a pet store that simply says “Support Animal” and some even come with some bogus certificate.
The answer is, you pretty much let them be.
The way I see it, it becomes a case of what is not forbidden becomes mandatory.
For the record, I like squirrels (and chipmunks too) as long as they aren’t burrowing into my attic. Then, they are an enemy.
I understand their destructive nature in many ways, but I find them interesting and entertaining.
I have one of those bird feeders with an electric motor in it, so when they climb on it, it spins them around, but birds can land fine. You have to charge the battery occasionally.
It is hilariously funny when they first encounter it, and the internet has great videos that show tenacious squirrels hanging on for dear life, refusing to let go. I have a brilliantly good one where a squirrel is hanging on by its back feet with its torso swinging through the air as it travels around the feeder four times before it finally gives up and lets go to fly through the air.
The squirrels learn very quickly not to climb on the feeder, and it sticks. I have an older model outside my office window, and I haven’t had to charge it in about six months now. They go up the tree like they are going to go on it, then a figment of memory seems to pop into their heads, and they go back down the tree to feed off the ground. I figure I will let them forget and allow them to feed for a few weeks, then recharge the battery and film them again as they relearn...:)
Hehehehehe...one of my favorite movie scenes from “Up”!
Hospitals: Most hospitals allow any ESA on property - individual hospital policy applies. All hospitals are required to permit service dogs where any member of the public is permitted.
Buses, cafeterias, restaurants: Under federal law, service dogs are permitted in and on all of the above. ESAs are not.
Right...my contention is...there will be a legal challenge (like a squirrel in a condo or apartment) which begins the road to allowing them anywhere.
If I read the article right, I think the HSA said he was an unapproved sublet, so he may not have a choice or they may just make life miserable in the most legal way possible.
Which means that if he’s forced to move, he probably wouldn’t have to pay a large penalty to the person he’s subletting from. Let’s hope all the squirrel lovers out there get together to support him and help him find a place that’s safe for squirrel lovers to live.
I once met a very strange old woman running a used furniture/thingies store who sat in a huge recliner wearing an immense fur coat. She described the litter of squirrels she had saved and how they would snuggle in her fur coat, which also protected her against inadvertent scratches. It’s over 40 years and I can still see her sitting there.
ADA’s regulations specifically state only service animals which are dogs are considered to be under the act, and they must perform a service. They are required to be under the owner's control at all times when outside of the residence.
HUD’s service animals don't operate under the same restrictions and are oriented towards residences.
All service animals under all regulations require training (can be trained by the owner), none require certification (except for a non-apparent disability where a request can be made for confirmation of the disability such as a doctor's note.)
There is a movement to amend HUD’s regulations to require therapeutic goals for ESAs and amendments to ADA to include specific waivers for additional animals (which might even take out the self training and require actual certification.)
Truthfully, this would have been done years ago, but the rampant abuse of the service animal laws, as you point out, is creating quite a lot of resistance to any fixes - both by the abusers and those who want to put an end to the abuse.
Honestly, I'm sure it will likely drift for another couple years until 2020 when HUD goes through their review process again and likely tightens quite a few regulations. Likely any modifications for ADA will come from state level actions first.
https://www.american-apartment-owners-association.org/property-management/latest-news/pet-policies-vs-companion-animals/
I still agree that if this guy is really PTSD he should be able to keep his squirrel as a ESA. That doesn't change the self made issues of not being a HSA approved tenant and the after the fact prescription for the ESA from his doctor. If all is true I wish him well, otherwise he's just another person making it harder on those of us with a valid need for ESA's.
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