By Ashley S. Jenkins and Kristina M. Launey
Seyfarth Synopsis: A Puerto Rico federal court holding reminds us that an animal that performs work or tasks for a person with a psychiatric disability – such as identifying the onset of a panic attack and taking action to mitigate its effect – is a service animal.
It is a common misconception
Continue Reading Court Holds “Bully Breed” Dog That Identifies Onset of Panic Attack is a Service Animal
Seyfarth Synopsis: California enacts new law, effective January 1, 2022, to crack down on fraudulent emotional support dogs.
Yesterday, September 16, having just defeated a recall effort, California Governor Newsom signed into law a bill, AB 468, that will impose various requirements, effective January 1, 2022, designed to curb emotional support animal fraud.
To be clear,
Continue Reading California Governor Takes Action to Combat Emotional Support Animal Fraud
Seyfarth Synopsis: Emotional support animals will no longer be categorized as “service animals” under the Air Carrier Access Act under new Department of Transportation regulations.
Questionable verifications for certain assistance animals have frustrated the airline industry for years. From peacocks to pigs, all sorts of furry and feathered companions have accompanied individuals on domestic and
Continue Reading No More Friendly Skies for Emotional Support Animals
By John W. Egan
Seyfarth Synopsis: A new law in Florida takes aim at fraudulent requests for emotional support animals in housing by requiring that residents do more than provide online animal “registrations” or certificates, mandates that health care providers have personal knowledge of their patients’ disabilities and related needs before supporting these requests under threat of professional discipline, and
Continue Reading Florida Enacts Law To Combat Emotional Support Animal Fraud in Housing
By Minh Vu
Seyfarth Synopsis: Miniature horses trained to perform work or tasks for a person with a disability must be allowed in public accommodations in most instances.
The news is not particularly uplifting these days, so we thought our readers would enjoy seeing clips of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s miniature horse, Whisky (the clips also features Lulu, his
Continue Reading Mini Horses Can Be “De Facto” Service Animals Too (Plus They Are Really Cute)
Seyfarth Shaw Synopsis: Effective December 18, 2017, New York became the latest state to enact a law cracking down on fake service animals.
New York recently joined an increasing number of states that have passed laws aimed at curbing abuse of laws and regulations designed to ensure that individuals with disabilities can be accompanied by their service animals in places
Continue Reading New York Passes Law Against Service Animal Fraud, Joining Other States
By Kevin Fritz
We recently came across a news story that inspired us to draft this post: A Wisconsin woman and a kangaroo enter a restaurant. (If that isn’t a great joke intro, we don’t know what is.) Another customer calls the police to report the animal, but the woman claims that her kangaroo is a service animal and produces
Continue Reading Is a Kangaroo a Service Animal? It Depends on Where you Are and What the Animal Does