Ask Amy: Their false ‘service animal’ claims are selfish and risky

Dear Amy: I volunteer at several public venues (including a zoo) where visitors frequently bring a pet that they claim is a service animal.

Oftentimes this is clearly a lie. For instance, today a visitor at the zoo claimed that her puppy was a service animal. When I told her that pets weren’t allowed, she took exception and dared me to quiz her on laws governing service animals.

Management has warned volunteers like me to avoid getting into tangles with these folks – unless the so-called service animal is creating a nuisance or is a danger. When someone insists that their animal companion is a service animal or an “emotional support animal,” we are told to take them at their word. This is mostly to avoid the threat of a lawsuit.

Would you please remind your readers that a service animal is a specific legal entity? Pretending that your dog – or any other pet – is a service animal does the rest of us a disservice. It’s entitled, selfish behavior that potentially puts other people and other animals at risk.

And it’s not fair to people who respect the rules and (reluctantly) leave their pet at home. This is part of the responsibility of having a pet.

If everyone brought their pet everywhere, we’d be seeing a lot more animals fighting and pooping, and a lot more allergic people sneezing.

There are many places where pets are welcome. But there are also many places where they would be better off at home.

Animal Lover

Dear Animal Lover: I sincerely believe that all beloved pets are emotional support animals, but our love for our companion animals does not entitle us to bring them everywhere.

I am happy to publish this public service announcement.

The zoo where you volunteer is abiding by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which states that: “An individual with a disability accompanied by a service animal may not be asked to provide documentation of a disability, to answer questions regarding his or her disability, or to have the service animal demonstrate its work.”