WICHITA, Kan. (KSN) – A KSN investigation into service dog fraud has exposed serious gaps in oversight and accountability in the service animal industry.
KSN News reached out to service dog trainers and a local long-time guide dog user and we found out that the fraudulent practice is nothing new.
Defining Service Animals
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a ‘service animal’ is defined as “a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability.” Further, under the ADA, “the task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.”
“They’ve been born and bred to be in the service industry,” explained Sue Pearce, a volunteer puppy raiser with Canine Companions for Independence. “They are working dogs.”
All legitimate service dogs are trained.
“They come to a puppy raiser at eight weeks of age [and] stay 16 to 18 months,” said Pearce. “Then, they go in for professional training and that professional training can be anywhere from six months to one year, before they’re actually placed with a disabled person.”
In Kansas, since at least 2012, the state legislature has provided the state’s definition of ‘assistance dogs’ and ‘professional therapy dogs.’
According to the Kansas State Legislature,
An Assistance dog means “any guide dog, hearing assistance dog or service dog.”
A Guide dog means “a dog which has been specially selected, trained and tested for the purpose of guiding a person who is legally blind.”
A Hearing assistance dog means “a dog which is specially selected, trained and tested to alert or warn individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to specific sounds.”
A Service dog means “a dog which has been specially selected, trained and tested to perform a variety of tasks for persons with disabilities. These tasks include, but are not limited to: Pulling wheelchairs, lending balance support, picking up dropped objects or providing assistance in, or to avoid, a medical crisis, or to otherwise mitigate the effects of a disability.”
Kansas law states, “The presence of a dog for comfort, protection or personal defense does not qualify a dog as being trained to mitigate an individual’s disability and therefore does not qualify the dog as an assistance dog covered under the provisions of this act [K.S.A. 39-1113, 39-1101 through 39-1109].”
Despite both federal and state legislation surrounding service animals, because the ADA does not require service animals be certified, fraudulent registration sites have become increasingly prevalent for pet owners wishing to bring their animals with them everywhere they go, posing their pets as service animals.
Service Dog Fraud
According to Canine Companions for Independence’s Sue Pearce, it becomes a “serious problem” when pets are posed as trained service animals for people who are not disabled.
“[Service dog fraud] gives a bad name to the service dog industry,” said Sue Pearce. “People who really need service dogs then can be denied service or entry into an area because business people will just eliminate them all.”
Sanford Alexander & Guide Dog, Abby
Wichita-native, Sanford Alexander was born legally blind. He never had normal vision.
Although Sanford Alexander used a cane between the ages of 16 and 23, he soon chose to use a guide dog as a mobility tool. Now, he has used a guide dog for 47 years.
Abby is Alexander’s ninth guide dog. Even though Abby has only worked with Sanford Alexander for the past year, Sanford says Abby could have saved his life at least twice.
“She performed in a way that kept me from getting hit by a car,” said Sanford Alexander. “All of the eight ahead of her, they have gold stars for each of the times that I know they did something that saved my life.”
Sanford Alexander continued, “I know my guide dog has saved my life.”
For Sanford Alexander, his service animal literally means life or death. A service animal, to him, is critical to his daily life and ability to function.
Alexander calls Abby his “livelihood.”
“She’s part of my body. She’s part of my being… I need her to be able to do her job,” he said.
Sanford Alexander told KSN News that Abby’s ability to do her job is challenged by fraudulent service dogs.
“Occasionally, you run into a case where somebody with a dog that shouldn’t be there is in a place where you’re in, and your dog is put into a very awkward situation if that other dog is not under control and gets aggressive,” said Alexander.
Sanford Alexander stated simply, “It’s frustrating.”
“She’s part of my body. She’s part of my being… I need her to be able to do her job.”
— Sanford Alexander
“The problem with the fraudulent service dogs is they create situations where the public now has to be dealing with dogs that are not real service dogs that are being brought in, that they’re being told are service dogs,” said Alexander. “They are not behaving, they’re not under control, they’re disruptive, they’re causing problems, and the next time when I walk in there after that particular person, I have to live with the consequences of what they did.”
Sanford Alexander told KSN News that the increase in service dog fraud has also meant an increase in discrimination.
“I don’t expect to be discriminated against when I go into a public place – a restaurant or a hotel, or any place like that,” said Sanford Alexander.
He continued, “[Pet owners] they don’t realize the ramifications of what they do. You just have to deal with it when it happens.”
Service Dog Fraud: KSN Puts Online Accessibility to the Test
The tools available online to “register” your service animal, pet or otherwise, are readily available and easy to navigate. With a simple Google search, KSN found several businesses that sell service dog vests, leashes, and certificates of all kinds and variations.
Following the instructions on the sites, and without ever having to provide documentation or proof of a disability, KSN News registered an employee’s pet.
For $123 on the website, www.RegisterServiceDogs.com, we bought the 12 pound dog, Oliver, the site’s basic service dog kit and vest.
We were charged $99 for the basic package, and spent $24 for a small service dog leash.
Pursuant to the site’s ordering requirements, we had to provide the name of the service dog handler and the service dog’s name to complete the order. The option was available to add the dog’s photo, but we chose not to include a picture of Oliver in our order.
In total, our $123 purchase allowed for us to pass off Oliver – the hyperactive, untrained, sometimes disobedient dog – as a service dog, registered to seemingly possess the same skillset and training Abby has… Remember Sanford Alexander’s guide dog?
The package arrived at our KSN studios in only one week. No questions asked.
“It is complicated and it’s very sad that people are doing that,” said Pearce. “That they can go on the Internet and get a vest, and call their pet a service dog.”
Sanford Alexander commented on available resources online for fake service dogs. He says anyone who purchases these materials online is “supporting a crook.”
“There’s a fraud that they’re helping perpetrate,” explained Alexander.
For him, the problem is only getting worse.
“It’s a bigger problem than it has ever been because it’s just too easy to obtain phony papers,” he said. “They’re never going to be confronted with some of the problems that I encounter where you are facing legitimate discrimination and have to work your way through… Those individuals have made my job of negotiating a peaceful settlement with a distraught merchant who had a terrible experience with one of these fraudulent animals, and I’m paying the consequences of it later on.”
For more information about Canine Companion for Independence’s efforts to stop service dog fraud, click below.
LINK | Pledge To Stop Service Dog Fraud
Service Dog Fraud: Calling for Public Awareness
Sanford Alexander says people who participate in service dog fraud may not realize it, but what they are doing is “very destructive.”
“We’re asking people that try to foist their pets off on the public as service animals to consider what they would need to do to legitimately need that animal,” said Sanford Alexander.
He continued, “If you’re not willing to do what they need to do to need that animal, then don’t abuse the privileges that we have worked for years and years to be able to establish.”
Alexander says he understands that people love their pets and want to be with them.
“In their mind, they don’t see the harm of bringing their dog that they love with them where they go, but not everybody’s pet is well-behaved and under control, and they inadvertently create these situations.”
“Would somebody be willing to lose their sight to be able to take their dog into the store?”
— Sanford Alexander
Sanford Alexander issued his own personal challenge for users of fraudulent service dogs.
“Ask them if they would be willing to assume the physical attributes that would be required to need that service dog legitimately,” he said. “Would somebody be willing to lose their sight, [among other ailments], to be able to take their dog into the store? That’s the question.”
Service Dogs vs. Therapy Dogs
According to the Kansas State Legislature’s website, a Professional therapy dog means “a dog which is specially selected, trained and tested to provide specific physical or therapeutic functions, under the direction and control of a qualified handler who works with the dog as a team, and as a part of the handler’s occupation or profession. Such dogs, with their handlers, perform such functions in institutional settings, community based group settings, or when providing services to specific persons who have disabilities.”
Further, a Professional therapy dog “does not include dogs, certified or not, which are used by volunteers for pet visitation therapy.”
Kansas law states, “The presence of a dog for comfort, protection or personal defense does not qualify a dog as being trained to mitigate an individual’s disability and therefore does not qualify the dog as an assistance dog covered under the provisions of this act [K.S.A. 39-1113, 39-1101 through 39-1109].”
“Certified therapy dogs don’t train for specific disabilities,” said Sue Pearce. “They don’t train for depression, they don’t train for anxiety… They train to ignore their surroundings, they train to visit, to walk up, put their head on a person’s leg [to provide comfort, for example, to someone residing in a nursing home].”
The industry standard provides that a therapy dog must complete classes and pass certain standards from the International Therapy Dog Institute.
According to TDI’s testing requirements, dogs wishing to become registered therapy dogs through TDI must complete the following 13 tests, in addition to having proof of rabies certificate and any other state or locally required inoculation certificates and licenses:
Phase I
Test 1: TDI ENTRY TABLE
Test 2: CHECK-IN AND OUT OF SIGHT
Test 3: GETTING AROUND PEOPLE
Test 4: GROUP SIT/STAY
Test 5: GROUP DOWN/STAY
Test 6: RECALL ON A 20 FT. LEASH
Test 7: VISITING WITH A PATIENT
Phase II
Test 8: TESTING OF REACTIONS TO UNUSUAL SITUATIONS
Test 9: LEAVE-IT; PART ONE
Test 10: LEAVE-IT; PART TWO
Test 11: MEETING ANOTHER DOG
Test 12: ENTERING THROUGH A DOOR TO VISIT AT THE FACILITY
Test 13: REACTION TO CHILDREN
*Source: Therapy Dogs International
Although certified training dogs do not have near the training as legitimate service dogs, therapy dogs are tested and registered.
Therapy dogs can go into nursing homes, hospitals, and schools to provide comfort based on training the dogs have received.
“When you take a pet that’s wearing a vest, it has no training, it doesn’t know how to lie at your feet and to ignore everyone… it’s just someone’s pet and they call it ‘emotional therapy,’” added Pearce.
SUPPLEMENTAL LINKS
Canine Companions for Independence (CCI)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA
Therapy Dogs International (TDI)
Related: KSN viewer speaks out about need to train service animals