So this morning the wife and I headed out early to get the day started with our traditional morning breakfast, but instead of our normal haunt, we headed to Jan's by the River. We had been there, with Dougal, several times before without incident.
Once we had sat down the Owner came and sat down with us, which is normal, but then asked to see Dougal's certification. As I said as gently as I could that there was no sort of "certification" my lovely, gentle wife with hit the roof. Pretty loudly stating that they should know us as we have been there with Dougal before and that there was no such thing as a "certificate" to prove a service animal's validity. The owner started talking about federal laws and state laws and how she had to ask because if she didn't they could close them down.
Once my better half allowed me to talk I tried to explain what the laws she was worried about actually said and answered the questions. " Yes, this is my service dog and he helps me with my PTSD by helping me to mitigate my panic attacks, keeping me at a safe distance from other people, and making sure no one approaches me without me knowing. I explained that these are the only questions that any business can ask about a service animal and that I could bring her some information if she was interested, but that these certificates people are throwing about are all trash and not approved by the ADA nor state law (Florida).
Everything calmed back down and we were able to eat in peace and had a good time. In hindsight, I think that my wife's action actually helped by showing the owner we were not going to back down and that we knew what we were talking about. But I am not sure we will be headed that way again.
Added: Thinking about this for a while I decided I did want to add something. I am very glad that I am seeing businesses asking, to make sure that the dog is a service animal, but they really need to know what they are allowed to ask and at what times they can ask for the dog to be removed. There is a huge problem with people taking their pets or emotional support animals in places here in Florida.
