more articles like this

Service Dog Tags
updated: Oct 31, 2012, 10:44 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

The CA website says Service Dog Tags are available through local animal control. I called SB animal control, they said to call the police dept. Police dept says we don't do that only regular dog tags. The county animal control told me to call the city? I live in the county of Santa Barbara. I'm at a loss. Perhaps a reader may know. Please help if you can.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 337530	2012-10-31 11:05 AM
From past google searches, it appears that there really is no actual service animal licensing body that certifies service animals. Some animals (for the blind, etc.) are obviously trained and the best "graduate" from training, but any person can buy a vest and/or patch and/or tag that indicates that an animal is a service animal. Ebay is replete with options.
COMMENT 337548	2012-10-31 12:07 PM
A service dog by definition helps a disabled person with one or more activities of daily living. The DOJ manages rules and regs pertaining to service animals, but they don't "certify." No one does. If you think you have a service dog than you've got to have an ADA recognized disability for which the dog assists you. Usually people have them for low vision and help with safe navigation. It must be specially trained to help you. Then you can look online and buy a service dog tag or vestbut the sites make you swear that you have a legit service dog. There are fines for misrepresenting a do as a service dog when it's not. I am handicapped and have a legit service dog and if I see you misrepresenting your pet as a service dog I'll turn you into the DOJ.
COMMENT 337559P	2012-10-31 12:34 PM
I'm seeing all sorts of non-trained 'service dogs' (distracted, wander, sniff people, etc) with homemade looking patches and vests. I think people must be doing this so they can take their dog anywhere, even into grocery stores.
EMUWREN1	2012-10-31 12:49 PM
Makes it easier to ride the bus with your dog. Which I think is fine. Whatever helps people get from A to B without a gas-guzzler.
COMMENT 337565P	2012-10-31 12:50 PM
If you live in the county, county should be helping you. oh well.
COMMENT 337566P	2012-10-31 12:52 PM
If your dog is small enough to fit into that front part of your grocery cart, and you put down a blankie for Fido to sit/lie down on, I think dogs in grocery stores are not a problem. Better than leaving them in the car to swelter, or, worse yet, leaving them home to bark and bark due to separation anxiety.
COMMENT 337575	2012-10-31 01:08 PM
@ 566P Please only bring service dogs into a grocery store! I don't care if a blanket is used in the cart - the blanket probably has dog hair and other dog leftovers attached to it - including possible salmonella or parvovirus! Please leave your dog outside, in the car or at home - if a dog has that much separation anxiety that you can't leave them for a trip to the grocery store, then some time & training is needed! On the other hand, I would love to be able to take my dog on the bus - some distances are too long to walk/run with the dog, but I would like to commute a little more responsibly! Would love to see MTD have some sort of certification for a well-behaved dog to hitch a ride! (I'd even pay a separate fare for him!)
COMMENT 337583	2012-10-31 01:21 PM
The reason that dogs are limited in public places to people that really need them is that some people are deathly allergic to dogs and can have a severe reaction to their dander or fur. My niece is one of them and has to carry benadryl and zyrtec at all times in case she reacts. I know you dog owners love your dogs like children but in this case there is a good reason that you should limit how much you take them in stores and on public transit.
COMMENT 337601	2012-10-31 02:01 PM
Please, dogs are allowed all over the place in Europe and elsewhere no one ends up going into anaphylactic shock. The fact that animals are routinely brought into hospitals to comfort the sick should be a real eye opener to those who fear whatever disease they might catch from them; the calming/curative powers far exceed any risks, and honestly illnesses are transmitted by sneezing children many thousands of times more than fido. My dog goes everywhere with me, on planes, in restaurants, movie theatres, and the reality is if you have a pet, you yourself are carrying all of the dander and whatever else with you wherever you go like it or not. Let's stop the hysteria!
COMMENT 337645	2012-10-31 03:37 PM
583: I'm pretty sure you're making up stuff (MUS). The reason dogs are not allowed in places like restaurants is the perceived health-risk a "dirty animal" brings. It has NOTHING to do with allergies. Also? If your niece is "deathly allergic" to something, over the counter meds aren't going to do diddily for saving her life. She should be carrying an epi-pen.
COMMENT 337670	2012-10-31 04:25 PM
Oh gawd, 566.... first restaurants now allow you to bring Fido onto the patio and you want grocery stores to follow suit? I don't want your dog next to my food... thank you very much. Fido is quite capable of managing car guarding duties if you could be responsible enough to find a shady spot and leave the windows rolled down enough for adequate ventilation. And if you can't handle your own separation anxiety you have no business owning or taking care of a dog - they need you to be the alpha, the pack leader, not for you to cave to their alpha-ness.
COMMENT 337679	2012-10-31 04:43 PM
I am a dog lover and I don't think dogs belong in grocery stores. I have no problem with them on a patio with their owners, though. I do have a problem with grubby, unattended kids sticking their hands in open food bins at a grocery store and mothers putting their diaper clad babies on counters, but I guess we can't ban them anytime soon. Sadly.
BURNTTHISTLE	2012-10-31 07:06 PM
You can order these tags or collars on line. Even for a pit bull. No testing just money Don' t bother with the county
COMMENT 337734	2012-10-31 07:13 PM
"Even" for a pit bull? Please, pit bulls are a breed like any other dog. Pit bulls are even service dogs and hospital visitation dogs, believe it or not.
COMMENT 337830P	2012-11-01 09:12 AM
It is interesting to observe how off track this discussion got. The poster asked for information about service dog tags and the conversation degenerated into an argument about taking dogs into grocery stores. I guess it kind of relates, but just barely. For the record, it is my understanding that there is little or no regulation regarding designating a pet a "service dog." Anyone can say that their pet is a service dog and unfortunately people do take advantage of the lack of oversight. If you want a tag, there are places on line you can get them for a fee.
SEEDLADY	2012-11-01 10:20 AM
830P--it certainly does pertain, as a disabled person would be supplied a legitimate service dog badge through the organization that trains the service animal.
COMMENT 337896P	2012-11-01 11:08 AM
very good info here on where, what and why about service dog identification, and how to spot fakery and $cams: http://servicedogcentral.org/content/fake-service-dog-credentials Read it and you will better understand service animal legitimacy and legality issues. Right on, 548.
COMMENT 337954	2012-11-01 01:00 PM
There is a K9 Good Citizen certification that Therapy dogs must have, the most stringent one being for the dogs that will give therapy in hospitals. The dogs must be bathed within 24 hours of visiting patients. They are allowed everywhere in the hospital except the operating room and the cafeteria (because everyone in California knows that if you eat with a dog in the room, you will die). I have a retired therapy dog, and we once had a doctor at Cottage call us into the intensive care, where they don't even allow plants, to see if it could help a patient. This is a medical doctor, who certainly knows hygiene as it relates to disease. Dogs in restaurants and grocery stores are common in other countries, but the dogs will not be allowed in if they are dirty or badly behaved. That makes sense. Why don't we do that here?

44% of comments on this page were made by Edhat Community Members.

*** One comment was removed from this thread by the Edhat Board Nanny for violating Edhat Comments Board policy. Click Here to see it.