The Republic, a newspaper in Arizona recently published an article titled “Arizona makes it Illegal to misrepresent pets as service animals”. This article discusses a new bill that was recently signed into law in April of 2018 in Arizona. This bill makes it illegal to misrepresent a pet as a service animal and creates fines for violations of up to $250.00.
This article also discusses some key factors I think are important when having conversations regarding service dogs and stopping service dog fraud. Service dog fraud is when an individual passes their pet off as a service dog with the intent of this dog having access into facilities it would not have otherwise.
Important points in this article:
- Lack of education for pet owners of current law for service dogs.
- Lack of education for business associates regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- Lack of awareness of current law as it relates to persons with disabilities using service dogs
- Unintentional discrimination due to the need to judge if a disabled person has a legitimate service dog
- Need for more discussions between business owners and persons with disabilities for better understanding of the current ADA law
