Viral video reveals huge service dog controversy
By Jennifer Stoeckl, MAT - Dire Wolf Project CEO, Nov. 26, 2024
Well… the online world has gone CrAzY over a HUGE recent service dog controversy!
Literally, as of this writing, the “I Meme Therefore I Am” viral post on X has been viewed 22.7 MILLION TIMES!
If you haven’t seen it, here’s the link:
https://x.com/ImMeme0/status/1860117619883540710
Briefly, a concerned citizen was walking on a nature trail in Fort Collins, Colorado and happened upon a group of college kids on a field trip from the local community college.
One of the college students had a black German Shepherd Dog in a harness by her side.
This particular nature trail clearly states “NO DOGS ALLOWED!” due to wildlife requirements in the area.
The woman told the group of students, “There are no dogs allowed on this trail.” and “I’m going to report you.”
A number of people from the group pointed out that service dogs are allowed in any public place per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The woman tried to argue that the City of Fort Collins does not allow dogs on their nature trails.
And the students rebutted that federal law trumps city ordinances.
Then yesterday, this video was highlighted by political commentator, Matt Walsh from the Daily Wire.
I was appalled by Matt Walsh’s complete lack of understanding of ADA law.
Unfortunately, he is not even close to the only person to hold these utterly false beliefs about service dogs.
The comments section on this video is evidence that the service dog community needs to do a heck of a lot more work to help the public correctly understand service dog law.
So, today, I am going to set the record straight.
The law is actually pretty clear.
And… as you’ll see… the city of Fort Collins is pretty clear, too.
First, a little review of the ADA law:
- Service dogs MUST be specifically trained to aid a person with a disability. (It’s a crime to impersonate a service dog.)
- All private and public facilities that allow entry by the public must make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, including the allowance of service dogs.
- At this time, there is NO federal certification requirement for a service dog. (Some facilities do formally certify, such as our own DireWolf Guardians, but it is not a requirement according to the law.)
- Businesses can ask a person with a service dog two questions:
- Is that a service dog?
- What tasks does it perform?
- If a service dog’s behavior causes a disturbance, (defecating in the building, aggressively barking or lunging at others, destroying property, etc.), the service dog may be asked to leave.
- “Service dogs in training” are governed by each state (not ADA) with many different legal provisions.
In this video, though, the entire controversy stems from a part of the ADA service dog law that states:
“Service animals can be restricted from areas where the animals on display are the natural prey or natural predators of dogs, where the presence of a dog would be disruptive, causing the displayed animals to behave aggressively or become agitated.” - ADA Frequently Asked Questions
The complaining woman on the nature trail may have been citing this when she said, “Did you see the disturbance of the animals around you as you walked?”
(And if you view the video, you can clearly see ZERO animals anywhere around on the nature trail.)
HAHA!!!
I actually laughed out loud when she waved her hand all around the desolate landscape for emphasis.
The terrain on this nature trail is literally low grassland for miles in all directions.
What animals is she talking about?
No animals are agitated or “disturbed” because there weren’t any around worth noting!
And when the camera pans around, you can clearly see the black German Shepherd Dog patiently walking in a loose-leash heel completely focused and calm.
Zero agitation or concern from the service dog.
What’s more…
The City of Fort Collins states on their website:
“SERVICE ANIMAL POLICY: Service animals are always allowed at any natural area, even those that do not allow dogs.”
Hmmm…
Always allowed at any natural area.
Even those that do not allow dogs.
Huh.
That seems pretty clear to me!
Furthermore, the specific ADA provision about restricting service animals in areas where their presence might disrupt animals on display (e.g., natural predators or prey) typically applies to controlled environments like zoos or aquariums rather than open spaces like nature preserves or trails.
Legal precedent shows that exclusion decisions must be based on specific, objective evidence of risk or disruption rather than broad assumptions.
But Matt Walsh revealed a clear bias against even the general idea of service dogs when he said,
“The concept of a service dog has been, like so many other concepts in modern times, expanded to the point of total meaninglessness. So if a person says that they have a service dog it might mean that they’re visually impaired and need it in order to get around, but it might also mean, and these days more likely means, that the dog is something like an emotional support animal or whatever. Which is to say that the dog is just a pet. And in so many cases ‘Service Dog’ has become just another word for pet.
“Now, the law unfortunately does allow people to call a dog a service animal for any number of ridiculous and wholly fraudulent reasons. Although the law, again, still does not permit the dog to be brought to all public locations, especially not areas where there are other animals that also need to be protected, but even so, it is true that the law gives much more leeway than it should. Because in reality, the title of service dog should almost exclusively, almost exclusively, apply to Seeing Eye® dogs. Almost everything else, with maybe a few other legitimate medical exceptions, should not quality. If you need an emotional support animal, you don’t actually need an emotional support animal. What you need to do is grow the hell up.”
There are so many things here, so I won’t go in depth on them, but let me just give you a brief list of what’s actually true:
- Service dogs are NOT emotional support animals.
- Service dogs are NOT simply pets. They are specifically and highly trained to perform as medical equipment.
- Service dogs are generally allowed in all public areas, with rare exceptions that have been specifically documented and posted (namely controlled environments).
- Service dogs are NOT barred from entering the entire facility when these rare exceptions apply, only from entering the specific designated areas within the facility that are clearly documented and posted.
- Seeing Eye® is the registered brand name for a specific breeding/training facility for guide dogs. Not all guide dogs are Seeing Eye® dogs.
- Formally, there are three types of assistance dogs:
- guide dogs
- hearing dogs
- service dogs (mobility, PTSD, psychiatric, medical alert, medical response, & autism support)
(We often use the term service dog interchangeably for all three types of assistance dogs, even in official government documents, but technically the term “assistance dog” is the catch all term for all three types.)
Now, it is true that unscrupulous people do lie about their dog being a legitimate service dog.
Liars and cheaters are out there willing to take advantage of any system.
But that doesn’t mean the system is wrong or somehow fraudulent.
It means those people who take advantage of the system are wrong and fraudulent.
They need to be caught and held accountable.
It is very dangerous for people to claim their dog as a service dog when it is not.
Fake service dogs often behave unpredictably in public.
There have been incidents of untrained dogs attacking legitimate service animals putting the person with a disability and/or their service dog at risk of illness or death and increasing scrutiny and skepticism toward all service dog handlers.
This growing issue also undermines trust and compliance with the ADA.
A federal service dog compliance or licensure program, such as the standards proposed by Assistance Dog International, would go a long way toward being able to end fake service dogs from confusing the public and endangering others.
It takes a great deal of time, energy, money, and experience to train a highly effective service dog in all areas of support.
So, can American Dirus dogs be good service dogs?
Read my answer at the link below:
Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.