Pregnant Woman Points Out Fake Service Dog After His Owner Accused Her Of Distracting Him

"With the way he's behaving I'm inclined to think otherwise, I don't think that's a real service dog."

Ayoub

• Published in Animal Stories
• July 28, 2022

Service animals are animals that have been trained to perform specific tasks that their owner is unable to perform by themselves. For instance, a service animal can guide a blind person navigating through a busy street or even offer physical help if their owner falls out of a wheelchair.

There is no law that requires these animals to wear vests, and under the ADA, businesses can only ask two questions: (1) If the dog is a service animal due to a disability, and (2) the nature of the work or task the dog been trained to conduct.

Faking a service dog puts the work of real service dogs in jeopardy every time it happens. Trained service dogs are an essential part of everyday life for people with disabilities and who need them in general. The impact of faking a service dog is long-lasting and causes people to see service dogs as over-glorified pets.

A Redditor who goes by the username u/HopeIncarnate made a post on the r/AmItheA**hole subReddit where she explained how she pointed out a fake service dog after being accused by his owner that she was "distracting him." Scroll down, and check out the full Reddit post!

Here's the original Reddit post by u/HopeIncarnate:

The "service dog" didn't behave like one at all and was all over the place.

The woman with fake service dog even dare to accuse OP of "distracting him"

The Reddit community had a lot of different reactions to u/HopeIncarnate's situation:

Some people don't care about hygiene apparently.

If it's not a service animal, it should not be anywhere near any of the displayed products.

Employees are trained on how to spot a fake service dog.

The dog was obviously disrupting customers with his behavior.

They had enough reasons to ask the woman to leave the store.

She did not have to say anything. She brought it upon herself.

The vest is not necessary for service dogs in the United States.

Some disabled people don't have official records because of medical discrimination.

It's important to call out people who try to pull this.

OP replied to the previous user's comment:

Handlers are fine with compliments as long as it doesn't distract the dog.

The owner had no right to blame OP for her dog's behavior.

You can never be too sure.

Fake service dogs are apparently pretty common.

OP has every right to point out the dog's unusual behavior.

The dog's behavior suggested he was not a real service animal.

Fake service dogs hurt real service dogs.

It's good that OP pointed out the fake service dog and exposed that woman who could have gotten away with it if it weren't for that interaction. Fake service dogs give a bad name to the real ones, and people should not think they could get away with something like this.

I think it's safe to say that OP is NTA in this one. If you enjoyed this, make sure to check out similar content on our platform.

Ayoub