It’s hard to leave your pet at home when you go out to eat or go see a movie, but that doesn’t make it okay to pass your pet off as a service animal so you can take them everywhere you go. Since the law prohibits establishments from requiring proof that an animal is a legitimate service animal, anyone can buy a vest for their dog and play the part. Except some people can spot the difference, especially those who have real service dogs.

If your dog is well trained, you may not cause harm to the business, but you’re contributing to the growing distrust from businesses that a service dog is legitimate. This distrust is causing real service dogs and their owners to be booted illegally from restaurants, department stores, and even evicted from their homes.

Passing your pet off as a service animal makes it harder for people who have genuine service animals to shop at the grocery store, eat breakfast at the local diner, and catch an afternoon movie. Cities like San Francisco are cracking down on irresponsible dog owners, and everyone’s paying the price.

Many employees know when someone is faking a service dog, but can’t do anything about it. For instance, when they ask what task(s) the dog is trained to perform, some owners say something like, “I just look at her and I feel good.” That’s not a specific task, but the law comes down hard on business owners for discrimination, so most employees are trained to let those situations slide.

There’s a difference between service animals and emotional support animals

As of 2011, only dogs and miniature horses are recognized as service animals. Service animals and emotional support animals provide support to people with disabilities, but service animals are trained from birth to perform a specific task.

Not every disability can be supported by a specific task. For example, a person with diabetes might have a service dog trained to smell and alert them to a dangerous drop in blood sugar. A person with agoraphobia doesn’t need a specific task, so they might have an emotional support animal that makes them feel safe enough to leave their home. An emotional support animal that makes a person feel safe enough to leave the house isn’t any less important than a dog trained to smell low blood sugar. The only difference is the emotional support animal doesn’t need special training to support their owner’s needs.

It’s legal to require paperwork for an emotional support animal

Service animals don’t need paperwork. Emotional support animals usually do. For instance, the Fair Housing Act requires landlords to accommodate emotional support animals, but there are three exceptions where emotional support animals can be denied. A landlord can also require documentation from a physician prior to allowing a tenant to keep an emotional support animal.

Both types of animals have some legal protection, but service animals have full protection from the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and are considered a medical device. A person cannot legally be denied entry into any public establishment like a restaurant or department store because they have a service animal. They also can’t be denied housing for having a service animal. Emotional support animals, though, are considered pets and restaurants and other businesses don’t have to let them in.

Understand what service dogs do for people with disabilities

Service dogs aren’t pets, which is something comedian Drew Lynch aims to get across in his Dog Vlog. His service dog, Stella, is trained to alert him when he’s about to have a seizure. Still, he’s been kicked out of restaurants and denied lodging from hotels by employees who don’t understand the law.

His videos are hilarious and on point. He shares a variety of experiences that just shouldn’t happen. Like the time a woman was making kissy faces at Stella and insisted on sitting at his table to admire her, completely unaware that a service dog should never be distracted.

Business owners are fed up with fake service dogs

When enough business owners become fed up with unruly pets being passed off as service animals, we may see new legislation emerge. A law requiring owners to prove the legitimacy of their service dog will be accompanied by outrage due to a violation of privacy, but that might become reality if people don’t stop passing pets off as service animals.