I'm finding that the world of pets and animals is filled with a lot of good intentions that can go wrong, eventually -- to wit, service animals. It's very complicated, to say the least!
"While pets inarguably provide emotional support simply by being themselves, they are not trained to help someone with a disability navigate life, or taught how to behave appropriately in public. And since anyone can get an ESA certificate – all it requires is a note from a doctor, though buying them online is easily done – good dogs and bad dogs, sweet dogs and aggressive dogs all qualify for the title.
The problem became so severe that in December 2020, the Department of Transportation (DoT) stiffened their rules to allow only trained service dogs on planes, stating that it no longer considered an emotional support animal to be a service animal.
Dishonest pet owners were not deterred. Instead of declaring their animal to be an emotional support animal, they now fully lie and call it a service dog."
If every dog is a support animal or an Emotional Support Animal, then no dog is either.
It's come up a few times at work and I'm sure it will again, usually in the context of "My animal couldn't have attacked another animal or person because it's an E.S.A.!" It can become a shield, basically, and a far cry from what it's supposed to accomplish in the first place.
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