I am a dog lover and would do anything for my two boys, however, I just can't imagine claiming them as therapy pets, emotional support pets, or a service pet just to get what I wanted. All of these bogus 'certifications' are making it harder for people who truly need a service pet to go about their daily lives. They are doing a great disservice to those who need help.
I might get some grief over this but I believe that a true service pet is trained to do a specific, or specific things, to help its owner. They are always trained and/or well behaved.
I was at hotel recently and I saw a couple with a husky going through the lobby. I said to the front desk clerk, "I thought animals were not allowed?" She replied back with "well, its a service animal so we had to allow it." Fair enough I thought.
I head out to my car and I see this 'service dog' off its leash running around the parking area while the owners are packing the car. They have to call and coax their dog back to them. This took several minutes while the dog continued to run around.
This is NOT a service dog. Period.
Okay, I will get off my soapbox now :-)
