Oh lord...let's spread a whole bunch of misinformation...

Here are the U.S. definitions:

Service dog: a dog that is trained to perform specific tasks to mitigate a person's disability (could be physical or psychiatric). But must be a TRAINED task. There is no legal registry or certification in the U.S. If you are paying for one on the internet, you are being scammed. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) allows persons with disabilities to have public access with their service dog anywhere the general public can go. And businesses are allowed to ask two questions and two questions only: Is that a service dog for a disability? And what tasks is the dog trained to perform. I repeat: THERE IS NO FEDERAL OR STATE RECOGNITION OF ANY ONLINE REGISTRY OR OTHER REGISTRY OF SERVICE DOGS IN THE U.S. AND only DOGS and MINIATURE HORSES are allowed to be service animals. Your cat or monkey or lizard cannot be a service animal. The ADA ruled against that some time ago, although some individual states have different rules. However, remember that those rules only apply in your state. If you're traveling, your lizard won't be a service animal when you get to a different state because it's not recognized as one there.

The only time you need any documentation for your service dog is if you need to ask for reasonable accommodation from an employer under the ADA or for housing under the Fair Housing Act or to fly under the Federal Air Carrier Act. In that instance you would need a letter from your doctor for the service dog. Letters from therapists work too or psychiatrists if it is a psychiatric service dog.

Emotional Support Animal (ESA): An emotional support animal can be any kind of PET, and it is a pet, that provides comfort just by existing. They are not trained. They do not have public access rights. You must have a disability to have an ESA. ESAs are only granted rights by the Federal Air Carrier Access Act and the Fair Housing Act. You will need a letter from your doctor for both air travel and housing (unless you own your own house, of course). ESAs, I repeat, are NOT allowed in public.

Therapy Dog: A Therapy Dog is the only dog that is certified, and they are certified by a few specific programs in the U.S. to visit hospitals, rehab facilities, and schools, etc. to provide emotional support through cuddling and being petted. They are certified because they have to be vetted as being acceptable dogs to visit patients or children, etc., and not be aggressive or reactive. A Therapy Dog has no rights under any law. They are a pet that you, as an owner, do volunteer time with.

Please PM if you would like to know how to get a service dog. It does not have to cost $10,000. Many people "owner-train" their dogs with the assistance of a professional trainer and it is quite manageable. I'm not going to go into the whole process here, but if you want a service dog, please message me and I can steer you in the right direction.

Ruftin, if your dog is a service dog and you were denied access at this facility your mother was at, please contact me and I will contact them and do some education as a disability advocate. However, if you simply have an ESA, you're out of luck, because you do not have public access rights with your ESA.

I hope this clears things up.

Seesaw