What constitutes a service animal is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Even though some states may have certification programs in place for service animals, they are unenforceable because the ADA takes precedence. The US Justice Department has already rejected the notion for any additional certification,
training, licensing, vest requirements, ID’s and other such
nonsense.
http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm :wave:
And yet the document that you provided the link to correctly defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal
individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. Thus, this is a required factor, but when proof of this factor may not be required, then the purpose of this factor is completely frustrated. Most of us are used to getting some kind of certification upon completion of training, whether it's a driver's license, SCUBA license, CPR, or even clown college. Heck, the last time I was in one of the cars in the Indy Speedway at the Magic Kingdom, a CM gave me a "driver's license." It's not a completely alien notion to receive some form of documentation when one completes training. Things change, and the US DOJ isn't exactly in favorable light in today's political climate.
Moreover, I wouldn't consider some form of
service animal identification to be "nonsense." Is the signage on cars that designate "Student Driver" nonsense? Or how about the Make A Wish Foundation or Give Kids the World shirts/hats/buttons that families wear to the theme parks, are those nonsense too? :brick:
The nature of a person's disability may be "private," but the status of "disabled" is not, so long as the person makes it known by virtue of the fact that applicable parking tags are required for respective parking areas, the status of an animal as a service dog and not a pet must be disclosed, etc. People can be more helpful of disabled persons (e.g. by not interfering with the service animal) if they
know that the animal is a service animal. In a theme park, an adult would likely assume that the dog is a service dog, but it's not always easy to tell elsewhere. Some disabled persons understand this, and voluntarily identify their dog as a service dog.
Edit:
Most blind/vision impaired individuals use a "blind cane" that is distinguished by it's red and white configuration. In fact, if you google images search "blind cane," almost all of the results return the same color configuration. Why not use any other colors?
This is to alert others as to the nature of the cane, and in turn the individual's disability. Obviously, a blind person would have no preference for the esthetics of red and white. But it helps for others to
know.
