Personally, I can not say I agree with Dr, Gwizdala on his article. Unfortunately, there is no case law I can find to say one way or another that I have found what is allowed when it comes to a service dogs shot records.
Here is Florida, more precisely Disney Word, which has had a long-standing policy that all service dog handlers have their shot records on them when entering the park. It makes sense to me to have that available. Yes, I have been asked several times to produce the records.
It is common law that as long as a law is set for all human-owned dogs it applies to service dogs as well, so there is no contradicting that a service dog must be vaccinated to the standard of the law (normally state law covers this). Most of the time this is shown through a dog tag around the neck of the dog which is easy enough to show.
As we all know, here in the US, there is no sanctified certification for service dogs so nothing has to be produced to prove status.
A doctor's note can not be asked for for public access due to either releasing information on our disabilities or being looked down on by the gatekeeper though it is required to have dealing with Title 1, FHA, and several other agencies.
Dr. Gwizdala makes good arguments on why shot records should not be asked for based on the ADA guidelines, but again I can not fully agree with his assessment. Here is why I question it:
The verification has nothing to do with the gatekeeper classifying the dog as a service dog. The access due to the team is there it is simply the gatekeeper making sure the dog has conformed to the laws of the state (vaccinations). If that business allowed any dog could the gatekeeper ask for the shot records (or check the dog tag)? My answer would be yes. Now we have to turn that into a non-dog friendly area, and this is where the rub comes in. Now, only service dogs can enter and can only be asked our two golden questions. Does that nullify the prior question? I do not think so as they are (potentially) acting outside the ADA guidelines and directly to state law.
I do have a call into the ADA about the subject.
