Assistance dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that directly mitigate a person’s disability and to behave while in public.

• Pet dogs don’t have this training and may act unsuitably in a public setting.

• Pet dogs can be stressed by being out in crowded places or might not be good with other dogs.

• They may interfere directly with a working assistance dog by distracting or threatening it.

• Pet dogs can also interfere indirectly by behaving inappropriately, like having accidents, barking, eating food or disturbing other customers.

• Additionally, impersonating someone with a disability to obtain benefits is a crime and it is punishable in many states including Florida by fines or jail time.

• If a friend, family member or stranger asks you how to bring their pet dog into a public setting, how do you respond?

• Education is the key to reducing the number of pet dogs masquerading as assistance dogs.

• Explain how bringing a pet into public is detrimental to the lives of people with disabilities who rely on highly skilled assistance dogs to enhance their independence.

• Explain how an assistance dog is trained to help its handler who has a disability.

• You might also clarify that posing a pet as a service dog is against federal law.

• Florida Statute 413.08.  This statute was amended in 2020 to include a criminal penalty for persons who fraudulently claim the need for a service animal.

• Please visit canine.org

• STOP DOG FRAUD click here

• Combating Service "Certification"Dog Scam 

• Service dog registration fraud and certification scams are on the rise making an already difficult situation worse. 

• Online businesses with very official sounding names are emerging exponentially claiming to certify any dog – sight unseen as a service animal. Without ever testing the dog or verifying a disability, they will provide a service dog tag, vest and certification for nothing more than $26 fee.

• Service dog certification scams are abusing the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and putting the rights of people with disabilities at risk. They claim to help people and I guess they are. They’re helping themselves with no regard for the fact that they’re hurting the very people that the ADA was designed to protect — real people with real disabilities. Anyone that purchases their products is just as guilty.

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