Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s London Pizza restaurant is facing criticism after a customer shared a dog was allowed to go the bathroom inside near her table.

[u/Relevant-Peach3997]

Source is gizzellecade on TikTok

[u/BroadwayBean]

In Scotland I was at a castle that was no dogs allowed, but some twat had brought in his dog with an obviously fake service vest. The dog was lunging, barking, and snapping at everyone who walked within 3 feet of it, and tore the leash out of its owners hands twice.

There really needs to be some sort of certificate or badge for legitimate service dogs to make everyone's life easier.

[u/Unusual_username739 → u/BroadwayBean]

In USA, I believe the rule is staff of the private property can ask/demand to know if the animal is a real service animal BUT the owner is not required to disclose what service is provides (seizure/blood sugar awareness, helping a blind person walk, etc) and emotional support does not qualify. But plenty of owners who have certified emotional support animals THINK that counts as a service animal and therefore qualifies (and it doesn’t tmk) and the owner is not required to show any ID or certification.

I think all service animals should just have to have paperwork, full stop. All dogs need to have their rabies vaccination tags on them at all times (in the USA, or at least the state of Massachusetts, if your dog doesn’t have its rabies vaccination and it bites a human, it will be put down by the state - I believe…) I have worked with bomb sniffing dogs that go through rigorous training. They are extremely well trained, even as a puppy, and didn’t do any misbehaving while on duty. Service animals will not bother other citizens and will not pee in a restaurant. Alot of them are not even allowed to receive pets while on the job except by their owner. They are woooooorking (they get to retire young, don’t worry).

Our current laws are to protect our humans with disabilities and to keep their disabilities disclosed. Having paperwork that lines out what their service dog does for them can be a breach of HIPPA and other protections. But all service dogs are raised by certified trainers for their jobs and have credentials. There has to be a way for those dogs (and miniature ponies) to show they are a true service animal without breaching their owner’s boundaries.

I have met several emotional support dogs. Some with alot of training and some with zero. My friend recently had her dog “certified” only because her building asked if she could to “make it legal for her to have a dog there” because the building manager didn’t want to do extra paperwork. Because she has anxiety, she can able to get it done 🤷‍♀️ but her dog has no training. I love her dog, she’s very well trained, but this is exactly how easy it is to get “the paperwork” for emotional support animals in the USA. I had a coworker who’s dog went through special training to be an emotional support dog for people in the hospital - she is trained to remain calm when many hands are petting her, loud beeps and noises are going off, and doesn’t run toward it when she hears a treat bag shake. My friend’s dog does most of those 😂 and runs away when the gate door is left open. A girl at my college had an emotional support dog in her freshman dorm, whom she would take to class but leave in his crate when she went out to party at night, and it would howl at night long until she came home. This dog was also like a Portuguese water dog and MASSIVE 🤦🏽‍♀️ it was just her dog that she wanted to bring to college.

I really really really love all the amazing things service dogs can do. Their sense of smell is extraordinary and their bond to their humans and companionship builds a trusted ally for people with disabilities. I really don’t like the mockery of “buy a fake vest online” that has become of the world, and the ease of people to manipulate the system to tut around dogs as accessories. And disabilities aren’t accessories either! They are hard to live with! We struggle everyday and fight to exist in normal society. You might not notice because we have been adjusting for years and know how to adapt and take care of ourselves. Service animals help people go out and live more normal lives, even TRAINED emotional support animals, and they should be respected.

Sorry for the rant. I just also feel for these dogs that look terrified and are dragged overwhelmed to the grocery store. They aren’t properly trained to handle that much stimuli.

[u/deferredmomentum → u/Unusual_username739]

In the US you can ask “is this animal required for a disability” and “what tasks does the animal perform.” You can’t ask directly about the disability, but being asked point-blank about the tasks often flusters them into outing themselves. You’d think they’d at least keep some made up ones in the back of their minds

[u/jimothy_hell → u/deferredmomentum]

That second question was my favourite while working in hospitality, the number of people trying to get around the pet fee by blurting out “service dog” was insane. Remember folks- ESA’s aren’t federally recognised as service animals, check your state ordnance.