Update on service lizard

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Ah, hate to be the spoil spot here, but there's more to a service animal than a psychologist declaring you need one. Clearly your psychologist doesn't know much about this at all.

A service animal, as defined by the ADA (which makes the rules), must be an animal that can perform at least two tasks that help mitigate your disability. Her simple presence calming you does not count as a task, nor does carrying medication; those are two things some people mistake as tasks, but while they're nice add-ons, they don't count towards that requirement. Reminding you to take medication, being able to get help in case of an emergency, alerting you to hallucinations - those are all legitimate service animal tasks.

If all your lizard does is make you feel good - and yes, preventing panic attacks by doing nothing but being there is just a feel-good task -, then she's an emotional support animal, not a service animal. That means you get some leeway - living places have to let her live there, regardless of their pet policy, and in a few towns, they're allowed out as service animals. However, in most places, they are not allowed access rights to any place a regular pet wouldn't be allowed in.

Sorry, but reading over your other posts, your lizards is not a service animal. She's an emotional support animal, and if someone challenges you and brings you to court, you will lose. And when you lose, you will make it more difficult for others with legitimate service animals to go into the same establishment. Please do not claim her as a service animal, because she's not at this point.

How am I supposed to train a lizard? She IS a service animal regardles of if the ADA reconises her or not. She does a service so there. If I couldnt bring Pippin I would not be able to leave my house. I don't plan to take her to dinner and my parents do all the grocery shopping. There are just some nasty people like that one lady. Most people don't even think Pippin is real because she just sits on my shirt and sits there ever so still. If someone does challange it, I don't plan to sue. I will just never go to that place again and just tell others via word of mouth of their nastiness.

Well, if you can't train her, she can't be a service animal, simple as that. The ADA is not a voluntary, follow if you want kind of thing; it is the law, which means you are breaking the law if you claim her as a service animal. I assure you, "so there" is not a valid argument that will hold up in court. See, if someone challenges you, you won't be the one suing; you'll be getting sued. And you will lose. And when you lose, you may have to pay damages, and your psychologist will probably get into trouble as well, for "authorizing" a non-trained animal in that manner. Besides, if you van go to dinner without her, clearly your claim about being incapable of leaving the house is false.

Who would be suing her for damages...?

I mean if you take your lizard into a pet store and he escapes and eats the lizard food then maybe I can see you being charged for the food. But really, is the library going to sue you for bringing in a lizard? If anything, suing an autistic person for use of their doctor approved comfort animal is going to cause a company more bad publicity then simply asking her to leave and keep the lizard away.

Although this does bring up an interesting point... How do you train a lizard not to use the bathroom at inconvenient times? Is pippin potty trained?

Are ADA violations prosecuted by the state, or via suits brought by individuals?

The reality of suing people is that it is very expensive, and usually neither side wants to do it. The threat of the expense is often more useful than going to court and winning.

So a business owner is going to need to see a lot of damage to his business to even think about actually suing. And it's hard to see how a lizard is going to cause thousands of dollars in damage.

PK will have back down if challenged, but the idea that someone is going to sue her for walking in the door with the lizard is a bit much.

OTOH if it's a matter the state prosecutes, then that could be a problem. Anybody know how that works?

She's on a leash and always clings to my shirt and never tries to run away. If she does anything she just looks around. She's only seventeen inches from nose to tail tip. Her "potty sceduele" is pretty precdible so in a way I guess she is.

No one is going to sue me. As I said if someone tries to kick me out with her, I will never return to that store again and diss them left and right on Angie's List. I never plan to take her out to eat because I never do go out and eat. I don't plan to take her with me everywhere forever but I will never get over my paranoia if I can't bring her now. I may have to have surgery and wonder how I am going to be able to take her to the hospital with me.

I'm not entirely sure who would be in charge of that Apple_in_my_Eye. I have the question out to a group of informed people who should be able to tell me within a few days. I'll let you know then. (Edit: Anyone can report a false service animal to the DOJ, who then handles it.) And Tracker, you'd be surprised; even if they don't get upset about the pet itself, her trashing of them may prove to be sufficient motive. As it is, I would report her in a second.

PunkyKat, your behavior is foolish. You don't get to claim a pet as a service animal simply because you want to, and you especially don't get to be indignant when you're called on it. You intend to attempt to blacklist companies who are following the law when they turn you away. You are not going to be able to take her to the hospital; trust me, they are going to turn her away, and that's good. She is not a service animal.

Here's a set of definitions for you. I'll even be helpful and highlight in bold why she is not a service animal.

If you stretch it, you can claim her as an ESA. Not a SA. You cannot claim her as one, you cannot take her out in public as one, and she will never be one according to your own admission that she cannot be trained. She has to perform more than one task, specifically for your disability, and she does not and cannot meet those standards.

You're being irresponsible. You're claiming a pet as a service animal, which will cast negative light on actual service animals. You are breaking the law, and not only that, you decided you will slander anyone who follows it. You found a psychologist uninformed enough to write a letter for you, but that does not and will not qualify her to be a service animal.

Oh good grief, if the lizard makes her feel good and isn't hurting anyone what's the harm? And who cares what it's called - service animal, emotioal support animal, whatever... the fact is it obviously helps her function better. Rainsong, stop being an old stick in the mud.

Does this mean you can take her to college to keep calm?

Really? I'm actually surprised you get a service lizard, congrats... What does a service lizard do exactly? And do you bring it to public?

Thank you. She prevents panic attacks and meltdowns. I could not go out for extended periods of time with out feeling like I was going to die. Medication made things worse. I wanted to take her to Petsmart to show her off and discovered I never had a panic attack with her. I bring her in public all the time. She hurts no one and just sits there and looks around. She's becoming somewhat of a local celebrity. If she was a savannah moniter or an iguana, I'd think twice about her being a service animal emotional support animal or whatever. Bearded dragons are small and agression is virtualy nonexistant in them.


Hopefully. I'm not going to go for at least a year. I plan to bring her carier so I can stick her in there if I need both hands or can't hold her like I do when I bring her to the chiropracter. I couldn't leave the house without SERVERE panic attacks before taking Pippin with me. What do you suggest I do? Rain song, are you suggesting I become a shut-in?

Awesome... That is the best alternative compared to medication, but medications are just pointless when it comes to alot of things like ADHD etc and normally at times makes matters worse.

I'd be surprised if you became famous... at least your getting abit of fame in your local area.

do you have a link to the website?


this is so cool! congratulations! Can your lizard walk on a leash?

To start with the easier question - the terms service animal vs. emotional support animal are actually very important. In almost all communities (perhaps all now; there was a rather high profile case in a city in OK where they didn't differentiate, and a poorly trained ESA attacked and killed another one), there are laws that affect where they are allowed access. An ESA is allowed under Fair Housing. so if someone with an ESA wanted to move into a no-pets apartment, that apartment would be required to allow the ESA to live there as well. They are not allowed in restaurants, stores (beyond pet stores), etc - essentially, they're not allowed where any other animal would not be allowed. On the other hand, a service animal is not only required access to housing, but also public places where a non-disabled person can go.

As for harming - actually, false service animals are causing problems. Did you know that psychiatric service animals are now required to show papers 48 hours before being on any flight? By comparison, other service animals (such as mobility assistance, guide, hearing, etc) are allowed on without that. This change is very recent. The reason is that so many people began claiming pets were psychiatric service animals and that couldn't be verified in time to prevent an ill-trained animal from boarding a plane. Naturally, once you're on a plane, it's hard to get off until it's landed, so if the "psychiatric service animal" begins biting, pooping, etc, it's stuck. In other words, if someone with a legitimate psychiatric service dog has an emergency - let's say a family emergency - they have to wait at least 48 hours and get papers before they're allowed to fly. Someone with that same emergency but a physical service dog can go immediately. False service animals impede those who have real service animals. Those papers are required to list your disorder. In every other instance, it is illegal to ask what disorder the person has, as it's invasive. Because of all the people who are claiming pets as service animals, those with psychiatric service animals are no longer allowed the same privacy.

That probably won't be the last change. Certification is not required by law because it would be exceptionally difficult. Different people have different needs - how do you devise a test that works for dogs that are hearing aids, those who are guide dogs, those who help people with diabetes, those who help someone come out of a PTSD episode, etc? It'd be almost impossible. Still, there's talk about implementing such a test, with certification required to go out in public, because people are taking false service animals.

That goes into another problem. Currently, it's possible to train a service animal yourself. You don't have to obtain a dog or any other animal from a specialty school. Again, that helps because there's so much difference between cases. It'd be near impossible to know how to train them all. But it also helps because there's usually a waiting list involved, and sometimes training one yourself - or with the help of a trainer - is quicker. There's also a matter of cost; a school can be extremely expensive. It can also be free; it all depends. There's talk of removing that right too, so that people are all forced to get an animal from a school.

Did you know that currently you can get fines and even some jail time for claiming a pet as a service animal? You can. There is also a change in the law being considered, excluding a wide variety of animals from being service animals, including reptiles.

When it comes down to it though, it's not just other service animal users she could harm. What about the businesses? They're going to be confronted with a girl and a so called "service lizard." When they find out she is not a service animal at all, but a pet, and they rightfully expel her, she, by her own admission, is going to give them negative reviews on a well known site. People who read that site aren't going to know that she was actually in the wrong, and that yes, she should have been kicked out. Instead, there's a strong chance they'll side with her, and the businesses will suffer.

Then, when the businesses get this negative kickback, they'll start to be even harder with service animals. They are by no means required to have certification, but the stores will start to demand it anyway, worried about having a repeat incident. It's happened before.

And all for what? A girl who knows the law but refuses to follow it, so that she can bring an untrained pet around? A pet who isn't even potty trained? Please, she's got the potential to cause a lot of damage. It's selfish.

Now:



I'm suggesting you follow the federal laws. There are ways to get a service animal - an actual, real, follows-the-rules service animal - that can help with panic attacks. Finding an incompetent psychologist to sign off on a pet is not the right way. The lizard, by your own admission, will never be a service animal, because you can't train her.

In the meantime, I'm assuming you've been able to function enough without the lizard in the past, considering the pet store revelation seems to be somewhat recent. Maybe you didn't go out too much then, but it's not something that happens overnight. It's something you've got to work on - exposure therapy, trying a variety of medications, working to get past your phobias. An animal is not a cure all. What happens when the lizard invariably dies? What happens if someone picks up on the fact that she's just a pet and you can't take her anymore? If you're going to move at any point, people are going to realize, because the whole world is not a small town that's willing to put up with that kind of nonsense. Are you going to return to being a shut-in? You need to take steps to becoming able to handle yourself in public..

Look, I get it, I really do. I'm not being a hardass just because I can be. I'm a thousand times more comfortable with my dogs than by myself. One of the easiest places in the world for me is the vet's office, because I can keep my dog with me the whole time. I only went out when I absolutely had to; I lived alone for a while, and I would only go to the store if I absolutely needed food - as in, I was all ready out of food. So I get it.

The reason I know so much about service animals is because I, at one pointed, wanted one to help with the anxiety. But I did the research beforehand. I did the legwork, figured out what would be required, what would be expected, I joined forums specifically for that just to understand more, and it wasn't really realistic at the time. It takes training, it takes time; it's not an instant fix. The law is there for a reason. It's there to protect everyone involved - the businesses, the people with the service animals, the bystanders. You have to take it into account. A single psychologist does not have the authority to override that. Not even a dozen do.

The fact of the matter is, you didn't look at the laws. You decided to take the easy route, to claim a pet as a service animal, simply because she makes you feel better. It doesn't work like that. It's unfair to the people I know, the ones who do have legitimate service animals, because they've worked so hard to get to that point, and they face so many more consequences because of the actions that you and others like you do. You also mislead others; you come on here, and almost everyone is willing to encourage you, because they don't know the laws either. How many people do you think would have looked at this topic and decided to start claiming their pets as service animals? It's a snowball.

Sooner or later, you will be caught. The hospital, the colleges - do you think they won't check? By law, any place can ask what tasks your animal performs. You don't have tasks, because you don't have a service animal. You have a pet. Maybe a cute, comforting pet, but a pet nonetheless. These places, they're going to look. It's not just a come on in policy. And then what are you going to do? Are you willing to face heavy fines and possible jail - which is possible even for first time offenders - because she makes you feel good and you weren't willing to do the work beyond that? Or will you blame them as well for your failure to follow the law?

I understand the temptation, but in the end, it's wrong. You need to stop saying she's a service animal, because she isn't.

congrats!

It'd be too bad if they got too strict legally about species. I have heard of genuine service lizards before such as an iguana trained to wake up an asthmatic man if he began to have breathing trouble in his sleep so he could get an inhaler or call for help before things got life threatening. Much like a seizure alert animal.