Meet Gigi, Debra's Service Dog

After Debra, who lives in San Francisco, read my posts about service dogs, she went to her doctor and got a prescription for a service animal.

She already had the dog, Gigi, a French bulldog who is about five months old.

After Debra talked to San Francisco Animal Care and Control, however, she sent me an e-mail asking for my help, because SFACC told her she had to have a special tag identifying her dog as a service animal before she could take it with her to various public places.

I’m not sure if there was a charge for the special tag, but Debra was caught in a Catch-22 because she was told she could not get the special service dog tag until her dog had a regular dog tag and rabies shots, and Gigi was (and still is) too young for these. Gigi needs to be six months old to have her rabies shot and get a dog license.

“I told them I needed to start training her,” Debra wrote, “and they said there was nothing they could do until then. … They made me feel that it was illegal to have my pet identified as a service dog until then.”

I e-mailed Debra back, and said:

Debra--I'm in Seattle, but the law about service dogs is a national one. Your dog needs a regular dog license and rabies shots, of course, just as she would if she were a pet, but nothing more. I suggest you print out the page from the ADA, link below, and carry it with you. If you have any problems or questions beyond that, I would contact the ADA directly for help.

Who told you that you have to have "special tags," by the way?

Let me know what happens.

Here's the link. The contact info for the ADA is at the bottom of the page:

http://www.ada.gov/svcanimb.htm

I also offered to make the phone call for Debra, since she sounded stressed out in her e-mails.

Debra sent me another e-mail explaining that she had just finished a series of cyberknife treatments and was burnt out from those treatments and also from fighting to get her health insurance to approve the treatments. "I did not sleep for two days, e-mailing anyone I could to help me ... I would so appreciate it if you would call," she wrote.

So today I got on the phone and called the ADA help line, at 800-514-0301.

An aside: the recording at this number is one of the longest I have ever heard. If you want to speak to a real person, just press "7" and skip all the directions for getting various guidelines faxed or mailed to you.

The person I spoke to said that ID tags are not required for service dogs under federal law. In addition, she said, “Under federal law, certification is not required.”

I asked if federal law trumps a local law, like San Francisco's, and she said yes.

So, as far as I can tell, Debra can take Gigi wherever she chooses in the city of San Francisco without a special city dog tag identifying her as a service animal. Debra probably will want to carry a copy of the Web page of ADA rules for service animals that clearly states that ID tags or certification are not required for service animals.

Just for fun, I plan to call S.F. Animal Care and Control and ask them why they are making things difficult for disabled people. I'll post the answer once I get one.

Read more:

Cancer Dog

A Dog By Prescription

Want a Service Dog of Your Very Own?

Animals at the Office

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

Comments

[Jill]

So glad to hear about another service pooch!

However, for the sake of the dog's (and others') health, I would recommend waiting until Gigi has had all her shots before going out in public.

I would do the same for any dog, I think a service dog is no different in this respect. What if something happened and Gig got loose without a tag and proper ID? I'm sure Debra would be upset.

I imagine a 5 month old puppy can wait a four weeks before training in public places. And at any rate, Gigi ought to be able to obey basic obedience commands very well BEFORE going into public places with her person.

I believe the very highly trained seeing eye and hearing dogs are all at least one year old before they start work with their disabled person, although they do train in public places from the time that they receive their licenses.

Good luck with the training!

[laurie]

I am so jealous of the US law on this. My dog, Jasper, would be the perfect service dog and I love having him by my side. However, in Canada only guide dogs are allowed in restaurants, libraries etc. The law does not extend to the kind of service dog you describe. Very disappointing.
On the other hand, we do have universal health care...

[jeanne]

Laurie--I'm surprised--Canada is usually so far ahead of the U.S. on things like this!

Well, bring your dog when you visit us down here and Jasper can be a service dog for the duration of the visit.

Jacuqueline is sewing clothes for me as I type this. She says, hi.

Jeanne

[PAMI]

I just want to let people that have a service dog the best place to buy vest, service dog scarfs and service dog patches go on-line to pup'parel they just cmae out in 2008 rainbow cloud service dog patches and first ever on any website Epilepsy Alert Dog patches. Let her know Pami sent you to the #1 service dog supplies place.

[Stacy Smith]

I just want to thank pami for telling me about pup'parel her service dog stop sign patch is the best type out their it a three in one patch all you need is one patch on back of vest. it make the vest look nice with out so many patches on. Great website for service dog go to Pup'parel online.
Go on line and get them you will have good luck with people not petting your service dog Like I have been have.