I work for the City of Tucson. Every employee is required to go through training to learn ADA rules. The poster above is correct. One is not allowed to ask why someone has a service animal. All anyone has to say is "this is a service animal". There is no requirement for documentation (in fact, there usually isn't any documentation as there is no required central clearing house for service animal registration).
So--yes, anyone could lie and say that their pet is a service animal and gain access to places where animals are otherwise not allowed. Needless to say, this is wrong, and I hope no one here would do that, but I am sure this rule is abused.
By the way, I am told there is someone in town with a PYTHON that is a service animal and if that person were to come in, we have no recourse....
There is a difference between service animals and therapy animals. I think of Service animals as those animals that allow the owner to do things he or she would not otherwise be able to do without other assistance. |