Over the past few decades, Boise has seen a growth of service dogs. A majority of this growth has to do with our booming population, but a small portion of this has to do with people presenting their family dogs as training service, therapy, or emotional support dogs so they can take Fido everywhere.
Let's take a look at what the significant differences are in these types of working canines.
Legitimate service dogs are well trained and a necessity to the people they are assigned to. These dogs are calm and will only cause a scene when their owner needs help. Service dogs never bark, growl, or jump up on people. These dogs are highly trained and will only do their business when appropriate.
Fake service dogs are a safety issue for the general public and have been creating negative opinions toward the acceptance and public opinion of service dogs. It's not hard for people to pass off their regular pets as a service or therapy dog.
A legitimate service dog will also display the following:
Idaho law protects those with disabilities who have service dogs in public places. According to Idaho code and the ADA laws though, there isn't a requirement of documentation or identification including unique dog tags with regard to service animals. While this is meant to protect those with actual disabilities from being discriminated against, it does present an issue for others to identify "fake" service dogs.
Idaho Code ยง 18-5811A states that any person, not being a disabled person or being trained to assist disabled persons, who uses an assistance device or assistance dog to gain treatment or benefits as a disabled person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
What we can do is all be advocates for service dogs and spread the news about the real harm that can be done when people pose their pets as service animals so that they don't have to leave their furry baby at home. We all love our pets and want to bring them everywhere, but we all need to be responsible owners and know when it's appropriate to bring Fido and when it's not.