Traveling with Pets

[laundryhater]

Yes, back when I was a Receptionist at a State Government office I had a woman come in carrying a Shitzu. I gave her a look that I thought should have let her know I was not happy. She ignored it.

Then when she had to dig her checkbook out of her purse, she set him down on my counter! Ewww, how unsanitary (dogs poop but they don't wipe with toilet paper AND they don't wear pants so there's no barrier between poop residue butt and counter surface).

So that's when I drew the line and decided to say something to her. I said, "Could you set your dog some place other than the counter? It's not designed to hold that much weight. We wouldn't want her to fall."

Luckily appealing to her sense of safety for precious worked and she moved little Fifi onto the floor and onto a leash.

[joe hx]

so i got my, um, guide, um, tiger? king cobra?? it's a service animal, i swear!!

[laundryhater]

I just remembered...

I once worked for a trucking company. The owner's wife, who also worked there (I think she was Vice Pres but can't remember) brought her Doberman to work with her every day.

She'd let the Doberman roam wherever she pleased.

It was good in that it was a good guard dog for the company. If one of the truckers ever so much as raised his voice at Vivian*, that dog would growl and the trucker would be put in his place.

But very intimidating to be typing away at my computer then turn around to be met with a large Doberman staring up at me.

I will say she was very well trained. She growled but never bit anyone. She never tried to eat food off our plates we had on our desks on potluck days.

And I always got a chuckle seeing that large intimidating Doberman wearing a sweater and shoes in the winter time.

Her car even had a special seatbelt harness thing in it for the dog. I know this because she gave me a ride home one night when my car broke down.


*Not her real name.

[Andara Bledin]

Unfortunately, with how often people abuse the whole "if they say it's a service animal, you have to believe them" rule, I'm thinking that we might want to start issuing simple cards that declare that the animal is a trained service animal and list the name and type of animal (dog, cat, bird, etc). Nothing at all fancy, but it would stop 90% of all abuse.

But if you want to see idiocy related to a service animal on the other end, look into the story of John Cave Jr and how the principal of his school refused to let him bring his service dog to school with him, and how the school board supported the principal.

^-.-^

[MoxisPilot]

I thought service animals -had- to wear a vest indicating that they were such, and more for the safety of the owner than for access to stores? (In other words, when a service animal is wearing an "On-Duty" vest, you're not supposed to pet or play with it.)

[Seshat]

No, MoxisPilot. That's just recommended because
(a) it signals to the animal whether he/she is on duty, and
(b) it reduces the number of idiots who whine about bringing the animal places.

Unfortunately, it also has effect (c). Assholes who complain about the disabled can easily identify them. 'You should be in a home' is one of the mildest things we get thrown at us.


Effect C is one of the reasons some disabled people don't want to 'seem' disabled.


Of course, not seeming disabled also has its own negative effects. But this is starting to get into Fratching territory.

[pile of monkeys]

If I want to travel with my pets, I call the place I'm looking at staying and ask if they're allowed. If not, I thank the person and move on to the next place on my list. I don't see anything sucky about that. Some people choose to travel with their pets. Some people choose to travel with their children. As long as it's allowed and doesn't interfere with anyone else's enjoyment of their trip, I see no problem with taking my pets where they're allowed.

And I second (third, fourth, whatever) the whole you can't ask someone anything beyond "Is that a service animal?" (and, I believe you are legally allowed to ask if the dog assists with a medical condition. You are not allowed to ask what the condition is or what acts the dog performs. This is in the US.) The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) does not require registration of service animals, and does not require any documentation or identification. I feel a lot of the "fakers," who make it more difficult for those with legitimate disabilities to get access to what they're legally allowed to, could be stopped with a national registry and some kind of government-issued standardized card identifying a service animal. It wouldn't have to say what the disabillity is, just that it was a legally recognized service animal.

Also, please keep in mind that service animals beyond guide dogs exist. There are seizure alert dogs, blood sugar alert dogs, dogs who are trained to help those with mobility problems, dogs who can retrieve medication, prevent a fall, alert to all sorts of things, etc. You don't need to be blind to need a service animal. And any kind of animal can be a service animal, even a chihuahua. There are chihuahuas who are very good blood sugar alert dogs because of their ability to be very physically close to their owner. I do usually find that you can tell a service animal just by its behavior. They are generally extremely calm, focused on their owner and not what's going on around them, and many owners do use vests, although that is not legally necessary.

Pet owners who try to pass their pets off as service animals are the suckiest kind of customers, because it makes things so much harder for people who actually need them. And if pets aren't welcome at a business, respect that and find someplace they are welcome.

[draco664]

Royal Blind Society (Australia) website about service dog law in Aussieland

That's interesting. There is a penalty for denying access for a service animal, *and* an identical penalty for falsly claiming that an animal is a service animal.

I'm going to have to give my parents that link. They get all sorts of people applying to rent from them claiming that they have service animals. Dad hates to rent to them because cleaning afterwards is always a massive job, so he's going to love that link.

I can imagine the conversation.

Paris wannabee : You have to let him in! He's a service animal!!!!!Eleventy!
Dad: One of us is going to be fined two hundred and fifty bucks. Guess who?

Or, he could just let Mum at them before she has her daily coffee...

[PepperElf]

o yeah, i never touch them. i just look and think "ooo cute!"

there's a beautiful one at my college. i think his owner is legally blind (some sight but bad enough to require a doggy).

hehe course i also think drug sniffing dogs are adorable too. but yeah. ain't gonna touch the MP's doggy

[protege]

I don't think I'd ever take my kitties for a trip. They don't like being in their carriers as it is--Baxter meowed the entire way home when I got him from the shelter. Sally, not so much. She curled up and took a nap. Still, I wouldn't want to keep them cooped up like that.

The worst animal to travel with...was Kitty. He *hated* his carrier, he *hated* being in the car, etc. Before I brought him home from the farm, I'd put him in the carrier, and take a few trips. Not far, just around town to get him used to the idea. Didn't work--he was pretty pissed off when I'd let him out. Even more so when I brought him home

[Shpepper]

If I want to travel with my pets, I call the place I'm looking at staying and ask if they're allowed. If not, I thank the person and move on to the next place on my list. I don't see anything sucky about that. Some people choose to travel with their pets. Some people choose to travel with their children. As long as it's allowed and doesn't interfere with anyone else's enjoyment of their trip, I see no problem with taking my pets where they're allowed.

You would be a blessing when it comes to a guest asking about having their pets stay with us. I love it when people do just ask and accept the answer. I try to offer alternatives to them as well. There are just some that won't stop. So far I haven't had anyone sneak an animal in, but I am waiting for it to happen. Not going to be fun waking up the boss in the middle of the night to tell him I am kicking someone out because they snuck fido into the castle.

[Golden Phoenix]

Personally i think that an unobtrusive way of picking out fakers would be the following exchange:

SC: Oh, and we have our dog too.
Worker: OK, is that a service animal?
SC: Huh? Uh, no?
Worker: ok, in that case we can't accomodate the dog i'm afraid, we dont' allow pets.

Of courswe there's the risk of people either gettign wise or claiming after the fact that it actually is a service dog but a fair few SC's flounce off with their nose in the air when directly blocked like that.