The Department’s investigations found that Deerfield and Landmark discriminated against veterans with PTSD when they refused to honor reservations for hotel rooms because the veterans were accompanied by their service dogs.
More Americans are saying they need a variety of animals — dogs, ducks, even insects — for their mental health. But critics say many are really just pets that do not merit special status.
The vast majority of emotional support animals are dogs, but some Americans turn to a wide variety of other species. Wally the alligator was approved by his owner’s doctor in York, Pa., as an alternative to taking medication for depression.
While the V.A. covers the veterinary care and the equipment costs of service dogs for veterans with certain physical disabilities, like blindness or vision impairment, department leaders have long contended that there isn’t enough clinical evidence to prove their benefits for treating mental-health issues.
According to testimony and court filings, SDWR approached Tech students about volunteering as puppy raisers. In September 2017, Burch agreed to take a young service dog-in-training. Lesley would accompany Burch, a junior majoring in criminology, to classes and other public outings. Burch would bring the dog to training sessions SDWR held.
8News found while emotional support animals have some federal protections, they’re not the same as a service animal.
A service animal is defined as animal trained to do work or perform a task for someone with a disability and under federal law can enter almost anywhere.
Emotional support animals may provide medical therapy, but have no special training.
While federal law protects emotional support animals when it comes to housing businesses like restaurants, hotels and malls have a right to say no to these animals.
Recently, the airline industry has started to say no to some emotional support animals. They are now banning peacocks, hamsters other unusual support pets from boarding the plane.
The suit alleges that Service Dogs and Warren sold so-called “diabetic alert dogs” for tens of thousands of dollars, when they were often delivering poorly-trained puppies with significant behavioral issues and inadequate skills or training to notify a customer of a potentially life-threatening high or low blood sugar situation. Service Dogs and Warren also misled customers and charitable donors about certain aspects of the business’s payment structure, and lied about Warren having served in the armed forces.
“Today, any pet owner can go online and buy a vest for a dog to pass it off as a service animal to gain access to restaurants, hotels and places of business,” said Republican state Rep. Kimberly Ferguson, who introduced the Massachusetts bill. “Their animals aren’t trained and end up misbehaving in these public places, which gives real service dogs a bad name.”