I recently attended an inservice that discussed the differences between service dogs, working dogs, therapy dogs and ESAs. The speaker owns a service dog who is trained to detect and react to seizure activity. She had a lot of anecdotal stories of businesses asking her for proof that her dog is a service dog (versus an ESA). They are only allowed to ask two things though: (1) is the dog a service dog required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.
Usually the vest on a service dog has a patch that alerts people that the dog is working and not to interact with them. Versus therapy dogs who typically wear vests with patches inviting people to pet them, as well as a patch from the agency they are certified through. These dogs are different than service dogs or ESAs; they go through months (sometimes years, depending) of training and need to pass a test together with their owner. They have to be comfortable in various settings, love interacting with people and canāt be bothered by loud noises, medical equipment, crowds, etc. Once certified they can volunteer in schools, hospitals, hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, etc. Maybe this is what your friend did with her dog?
She was the puppy trainer for the dog, starting in 2019. She took him to all kinds of thing to socialize him as well as to training. They were hoping heād be a full service dog. She is a teacher so as a puppy he went to school with her every day. Because of covid, he couldnāt go to advanced training to see if heād make the cut, and when he was 2.5-3, they decided he was too old so she adopted him and he is now a school therapy dog. He still goes to school every day and is a pretty well trained dog.
What is funny is that after I posted above I checked my FB and there he was in a post as it was Dog Day. The district posted photos of 5 of the therapy dogs that work in the schools. Heās still not supposed to go into restaurants or to other public places like a service dog.
The ESA issue has seemingly blown up, post-Covid, with some people just slapping Amazon-bought vests on their animals and claiming they are legit ESA. I feel bad for people who use actual, trained service animals of various types because the exploitative use of the service vests has resulted in no one really knowing which animals are actually trained and which are imposters. Airlines were afraid to get involved with making inquiries into passengersā mental health but even they had to put and end to it after the influx of ferrets, lizards and peacocks. It also doesnāt help that they make strollers for dogs, which makes it easier to bring them everywhere. Iāve been in a couple of airports and witnessed alleged service dogs yipping and growling at each other from across the gate area.
As far as colleges go, I think they are going to have to be more proactive with requiring students to declare and register ESA animals, and to somehow require it to be disclosed on roommate search forums. I canāt imagine someone not mentioning that they are bringing an ESA, especially a cat, which many people are very allergic to, but here we are. Because the cat allergy in particular is very sensitive to sufferers (who often begin to react the minute they enter a space that is occupied by a cat), colleges should have designated ESA floors in dorms.
I would be livid if my kid was blindsided on move in day with an ESA animal in her dorm room, but then she had to be the one to scramble to provide medical documentation of the allergy in order to be placed elsewhere. Nope, nope.
I think what finally did it for the airlines was that there were a number of bites and it really was a safety issue with several animals on each flight and no where to put them all.
College may have to get to that point, claiming dorms are temporary housing (like a hotel) and donāt have to comply.
In my day, some people had fish in their dorms, but no one brought pets. I donāt remember any ESA animals back then. I do remember every once in a while seeing people with seeing eye dogs, but it didnāt seem to be super common. Now, you hear about so many people with ESA animals and not just dogsā¦like do people really need an emotional support rooster or sloth?
I think they need to be stricter with that sort of thing, so people who really NEED an ESA animal can have them when they need them.
I think colleges need to do the same. I know pets can give us all a lot of pleasure and happiness, but college students donāt really need pets at school.
I was on four different flights last week- saw an ESA dog lunge at a TSA officer (was leashed but not muzzled), a group of dogs snarling at each other waiting to board, a dog growling and menacing the gate agent because she put her hand up to show the line they had to wait to go through.
Anyone who can buy a vest on Amazon and is claiming ESA status for an untrained or poorly trained dog is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I get that itās a lot cheaper to claim your dog is an ESA vs. paying for a kennel when you travel, but the first time an untrained dog mauls an airport or airline employee youāre going to have a LOT of unions pushing back.
I cannot imagine a dog in a typical dorm room. My kids rooms barely had space for desks, laundry basket, bed. The common areas? Also tiny. And are students going to be conscientious about walking, vet visits, cleaning up?
Southwest- didnāt see a single carrier. I have no idea who paid what feeā¦ I donāt know which airline had the privilege of the dog lunging at the TSA agent- that was in the security checkpoint, well before you got to the gateā¦Also a woman carrying her dog in a tote bag. Thatās a new oneā¦
In March, Southwest Airlines joined American, Delta, and United in banning emotional support animals from flights and only letting trained and documented service dogs accompany passengers into the cabin.
This was in 2021
" No, emotional support dogs do not fly free on Southwest Airlines. They are treated as pets and are subject to the $95 pet fee."
And to ride in the cabin, they must be in a pet carrier (under a certain weight.
I just havenāt noticed any problems since 2021 when the airlines got rid of the ESA āin the cabinā policy.
I recently watched a move in vlog where the girl unknowingly moved into a room previously occupied by a kid that had a dog. The second she walked in she could smell it. When she moved the dresser, the wall was caked in dog hair (kennel must have been kept in that spot). The university sent the janitor to shampoo the carpet. That did not work. They ended up having to replace the entire flooring (was carpet but they put in vinyl plank).
Not sure if the pet was legal or not but the room clearly wasnāt cleaned or inspected before the next round of students moved in which is gross in and of itself.
My D & her roommate moved into a dorm room second semester, following study abroad. The room had not been cleaned AT ALL ā¦ it was absolutely disgusting. I was really mad & let the housing manager know how I felt. If there had been a pet, I would have really lost it.