[MeganS]

there is a difference between a therapy dog and a service dog. a therapy dog does NOT go out in public to restaraunts and on airplanes, they go to nursing homes and hospitals to visit people. That is *fine* - that is *wonderful*.

The problem comes in when people who do *not* need service dogs register their dogs. They can do this because with some registries, dogs don't have to be specifically trained, all you have to do is enter their information and pay a fee. Tucker is my mom's service dog. She actually needs him. There are people who register their dogs as service dogs just because they want to take them out shopping in places where dogs are not normally allowed. By doing this, it makes life even *more* difficult for the people who actually need them, because laws change and regulations change and people don't realize how serious the need for a service dog is. Disabled people are finally getting more rights, and they are being allowed to have their service dogs with them where ever they are needed. If non-disabled people take this as a joke and register their dogs despite having no actual need to have them with them, then the entire system is taken less seriously, and ultimately it results in people who have a physical/mental dependence for these dogs being unable to use them and bring them out as needed.