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Emotional Support Dog at the Gym

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Replies

  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    They do have a legal obligation to back up their claim. That said, the gym also has a strong incentive not to force them to back up the claim because that can easily be viewed as discrimination and a litigious person can get an almost guaranteed win under ADA law in most places.

    The people who abuse the service animal programs really ruin it for those that actually have need of a support animal.

    The ADA doesn't cover emotional support animals. It requires reasonable accommodation for specific conditions (which this situation doesn't appear to cover), no one would think creating a hazard is reasonable.

    How do you figure this is an almost guaranteed win?

    I suspect it's only really a win if someone says the dog is a service dog (as opposed to a support animal), can prove that it's been trained by someone (themselves included) to do a task related to the disability at hand, and can make a case that the dog was safe to the public. Being off leash is fine if a leash (or other tethering device) would inhibit the dog's work and/or the user's disability prevents them from using a leash or harness and the dog is controllable " through voice, signal, or other effective controls."
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »
    I actually don't believe in service dogs from an ethical standpoint. I just don't think any sentient being should be conscripted to a lifetime of 24/7 servitude.

    @33gail33

    Are the lives of all other mammals equal in value to those of humans as well ??
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    alohajls wrote: »
    My encounter with an emotional support dog at the empty gym in my apartment building:

    I'm on the treadmill, almost done. A young woman walks in and I hear her walk behind me (the treadmills face the window) to the other side of the gym. Then I smell it--that wet dog smell. I look over to her and she has a yellow lab with her, perfectly well behaved. Dogs are great, but I'm allergic and just not used to being around that dog smell.

    I said, 'Hi, is the dog staying?'--not mean or hostile, just a little skeptical as I'd never seen a dog in a gym.
    She said, 'Oh, he's an emotional support dog. Is it okay if he stays?"
    I said, 'No, that's okay, I'm about done. I'll go.' We were the only two in the gym.

    The look on her face as I left was a little heartbreaking, she looked so crushed. Was I the jerk? I didn't pitch a fit, I didn't complain, I just didn't want to work out with that smell. Leaving seemed like the best solution.

    Worth noting--I leave the gym for just about any minor annoyance, I don't want to be there enough to power through the annoying guy grunting loudly, or the annoying girl singing along with the music on her headphones, the guy who brings his toddler, etc.

    What would your strategy be if you *were* somewhere that you really wanted to be and things like this occurred? Just curious.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    LyndaBSS wrote: »
    33gail33 wrote: »
    I actually don't believe in service dogs from an ethical standpoint. I just don't think any sentient being should be conscripted to a lifetime of 24/7 servitude.

    What about cadaver dogs, search and rescue dogs and those that visit cancer ridden children in the hospital while they're going through terrifying chemo treatments?

    Drug dogs, bomb sniffing dogs too. And therapy dogs, I know a children's psychologist who uses one.

    As an aside, our airport (O'Hare) security lines are way better whenever they are using the dogs (which they seem to be doing more lately). When they first got them and people were less used to them, I was surprised at how many tried to pet them even though they have vests that say clearly "working dog, don't pet" or something like that, and were being handled by an official person.