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"service" animals-where do we draw the line?

ozarkmama

By ozarkmama,
in Celebrity Cruises

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

Posted
Posted

If a person really needs a therapy dog, it might be seen that said person is arguably emotionally unstable - perhaps sufficiently so to represent a peril to other passengers. If there is absolutely no chance of the person being a peril to other passengers, then it can be argued that the person is not so impaired as to require a therapy animal.

 

The whole concept of therapy animals (particularly their imposition on others) is BS.

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grandgeezer

grandgeezer

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Amen. Minimal pets on board. OK no animals or X should grow a set of ***** and just say no.

 

Don't hold your breath. They don't enforce the rules they made so how would you expect them to do anything else? For example, when's the last time you saw a cruise line enforce, no saving seats by the pool or theater, or their dress code for dining? They are so afraid to offend a paying customer, even if the customer is wrong.

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Caribbean Chris

Caribbean Chris

Posted
Posted (edited)
I don't mind if other have service animals on board,it's that I do mind being taxed for their presence.

It appears every time I order a drink I get a service charge

 

That tax only will appear on your shipboard account when you order Bloody Marys the next morning (aka "the hair of the dog that bit you.")

Edited by Caribbean Chris
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keithm

keithm

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The problem is that asking the question is only a formality.

It accomplishes nothing because a person who brings a pet is likely to be prepared with an acceptable reply as well as the person with a genuine service animal.

 

If the owner of an establishment asks what service is provided by the animal, and the person replies "He alerts me if I am about to have a seizure" the owner has no way of knowing whether or not that is true.

 

The abuses will continue unless there is eventually some sort of standardized, recognizable licensing required for service animals.

 

We just had a woman arrested in a Boston hospital today after trying to bring her dog in. She was asked to identify the service the dog provides. She became very belligerent, refusing to say what service the dog provided & the police were called & came & arrested her.

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ghstudio "Live from...." Rare

ghstudio

Posted
Posted
If a person really needs a therapy dog, it might be seen that said person is arguably emotionally unstable - perhaps sufficiently so to represent a peril to other passengers. If there is absolutely no chance of the person being a peril to other passengers, then it can be argued that the person is not so impaired as to require a therapy animal.

 

The whole concept of therapy animals (particularly their imposition on others) is BS.

 

The "fly in the ointment" here is that therapy dogs do wonders for our servicemen and women who have PTSD.....that's not BS.

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keithm

keithm

Posted
Posted
The problem is that asking the question is only a formality.

It accomplishes nothing because a person who brings a pet is likely to be prepared with an acceptable reply as well as the person with a genuine service animal.

 

If the owner of an establishment asks what service is provided by the animal, and the person replies "He alerts me if I am about to have a seizure" the owner has no way of knowing whether or not that is true.

 

The abuses will continue unless there is eventually some sort of standardized, recognizable licensing required for service animals.

 

Yes, you're totally right. A good set of legal standards & proper enforcement would certainly help. It's these "PC" people I see on this site who seem to feel it's everyone's right to bring rover along because he/she comforts them. Rubbish! I'm in full support of service animals, NOT therapy animals. I used to have a 40LB Snapping turtle as a pet(yeah, I really did!) Could you imagine me bringing that into a restaurant because it "comforted" me? My sister does that with her African Parrot! She always wants to bring it to our house. Fat chance!Thank God the morons in "DC" haven't gone insane with laws for "therapy" animals yet. I guess give those idiots time...

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bananawindnj

bananawindnj

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I was in the gym on a treadmill on a RCI ship and watched a woman with a service dog come up to the rock climbing counter and proceeded to climb , as her friend held the dog's leash.

Woman may have been hearing impaired, who knows. I just stared in amazement.

True story!.

 

 

from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

Posted
Posted (edited)
The "fly in the ointment" here is that therapy dogs do wonders for our servicemen and women who have PTSD.....that's not BS.
Therapy dogs are not service animals. They are pets that are trained to go to hospitals, nursing homes, etc. and interact with the patients/residents. Please, therapy dogs do a lot of good for people that are confined, they don't belong in the same category as the emotional support or comfort dog posers. Therapy dogs have to be trained and certified prior to any hospital, nursing home or other intuition will allow them in. They don't go to restaurants, grocery stores. etc.

 

The dogs that help servicemen and women with PTSD are actually service animals (they fall under the ADA rules and regulations and PTSD is a disability that is recognized by the ADA), they are not emotional support or comfort dogs nor are they therapy dogs.

 

From the ADA website: Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Edited by NLH Arizona
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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted
Llama's!

 

That New Yorker article is very true and describes today's culture of accommodation.

 

My DW is in the education field for a professional organization and between the various professional organizations in Canada and the U.S. this is also an issue when students bring emotional support animals with them to write their exams. I've heard her tell stories about students bringing the types of animals that were in the article. The best one though was a support iguana.:eek: As I understand it, as long as a medical professional has certified that the support animal is needed, the students get to bring them to the exams.

 

So I wouldn't be one bit surprised to see more strollered Yorkie's, Miss Piggy’s, Yertle's, Kaa's, and even a few Fernando Lamas' on our future cruises.;)

 

Common Sense is as rare as a Leatherback Turtle these days (it's on the Critically Endangered List).:(

 

 

A support Tutle :), perfect for a cruise :p, I might try for an emotional support elephant:eek:, see how the lines deal with that one

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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In Australia a "service dog" has to be certified, not real hard actually to pass such legislation, then its simple no certificate no go.

 

Certification isn't easy, the dog has to meet the same obedience and behaviour standards as a guide dog, and then be trained for it's specific purpose about 90% that start the course fail.

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deise17311

deise17311

Posted
Posted

Saw a guy (about 25 yrs old) yesterday carrying his very small dog with a vest that said "service" animal...it was so obvious he paid the $29.99 for the online BS for the "anxiety" dog...As a health care professional, if you need to carry around your dog for emotional support except in very few cases, it's time to seek qualified help...this is getting out of hand like most things...clearly this guy wanted his dog to fly for free...I was slightly embarrassed for him

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dkjretired

dkjretired

Posted
Posted (edited)
Hey -- don't make me get out my apnea parrot!:p;)

 

I've told this story before but after I retired I worked in a supermarket and a woman came in all the time with her service parrot. My understanding is it had something to do with her neck and a balance problem.

Edited by dkjretired
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