Here's a couple of key provisions from Chapter 413, Florida Statutes, governing the rights of individuals with disabilities to use service animals in Florida:
Rights of an individual with a disability; use of a service animal; discrimination in public employment or housing accommodations; penalties.
Interference with or injury to a service animal; penalties; restitution
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Florida's Service Animal Laws
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2 comments:
Well there are some issues I think that the public (and those that have businesses) need some help with. When these people access a place with a service animal what kind of paper work are they required to have? I have seen a lot of stuff that looked pretty fake to me. Do they need an ID card, paper work - both? (letter, document, etc.)? Does it have to have a doctor's signature, a stamp, a seal, an ID or registration number or water mark? Or maybe a combination of these things. Just because the animal has a vest or tag does not mean it's legitimate. What organization or agency can you call to verify that their paper work is real? I am always glad to help those in need but when you get dead beats and fakers that leech off the system it makes it hard for all.
Actually, per the ADA laws, ID card, paper work, doctor's signature, a stamp, a seal, an ID or registration number and water mark are NOT required. Nor are service vests and patches by law.
A LOT of disabilities are "invisible" ie: epililepsy, diabetes, severe migraines, etc and dogs are used for alerting their partners to impending episodes and provide services during an attack. I myself use a Migraine alert dog. He tells me an hour or so before the pain hits which completely incapacitates me for 6-12 hours (on a good day). I appear perfectly "normal" until these attacks hit in which case I experience dizziness, lack of coordination, light/sound/smell sensitivity, nausea and vomiting, etc. Not only does my service dog alert me that I have one coming, once one hits, he helps get me to a safe location to wait out the worst of my medication side effects (unfortunately can't take them until the pain hits) which can consist of mobility assistance (I am not capable of keeping my balance when one hits), retrieving anything I drop as lose my balance easily, helping me get back up when I do fall, and getting me to a quiet location/bathroom area. Before I had his assistance I restricted myself to being nowhere further than a 15 min drive from home when I was alone "just in case". Now I can go out on my own and actually live a semi-normal life.
An actual service dog is best identified by behaviour of both handler AND dog. Both will be well behaved in public whereas "pets" may not be. Service dogs are trained to be seen and not heard. Just because we don't all look disabled doesn't mean there's not more going on behind the scenes than you may be aware of.
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