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While we recognize guide dogs for the blind, plenty of other kind beasts are helping out humans in need - causing some to cry fowl. Monkeys for quadriplegia, goats for muscular dystrophy and parrots for psychosis? And cats, ferrets, pigs and ducks? For anxiety. Don't forget the guide miniature horses. Thanks to the dogged efforts of reporter Rebecca Skloot, we’ve learned that all non-canine service animals are threatened to become 'declassified' as service animals by the Department of Justice.
Under the Bush administration, the U.S. government was considering a proposal that would alter the use of non-canine service animals. Apparently, a growing number of people believe the world of service animals has gotten out of hand. The Americans With Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) requires that service animals be allowed wherever their owners go but challenges from business owners and communities have challenged what constitutes a service animal to begin with and what species should be excluded.
Evidently, while some humanoids enjoy the sight of a miniature horse on a city street or a monkey doing some light shopping, it freaks out others. There also exists a growing suspicion that some abuse the law to get special pet privileges. Increasingly, business owners, landlords and city officials are challenging the legitimacy of non-canine service animals and are refusing to accommodate them. In turn, animal owners are responding with lawsuits and complaints to the Department of Justice.
As Skloot recently reported on her blog, Culture Dish:
"It turns out that the DOJ changes to the Americans With Disabilities Act were the only regulations under review by the Office of Management and Budget that weren't approved before Obama was inaugurated as president ... What this means for the Americans With Disabilities Act and the proposed species ban isn't clear. With the Obama administration will come a new head of the DOJ and everything else. Whether the new administration will reject these Bush administration regulations and come up with ADA changes of its own is an open question at this point. But as it stands, the species ban was not given final approval before today, and therefore isn't in effect yet ... so for the time being, monkeys, miniature horses, parrots, ducks and everything else can legally qualify as service animals."
Though temporarily put on the back burner (Does Obama have his hands full or what?), the issue won't be going away any time soon.
In the United States, service animals don't need to provide ID or other paperwork denoting that status, though in Canada, service dogs must be certified. Many disability advocates prefer the U.S. system, because it allows people who use service animals to integrate more fully into society. Meanwhile, other activists prefer a national ID and testing system for service animals, citing the many reports of ill-behaved 'service animals' which creates a poor impression of all service animals.
It's become a contentious issue in the disabled community. This past summer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department ordered a woman to get rid of her chimpanzee, claiming that she brought it into the state illegally. She disputed this and sued for discrimination, arguing that it was a diabetes-assistance chimp trained to fetch sugar during hypoglycemic episodes.
Then there's the ferret that was banned from Ottawa buses after the owner insisted the animal was needed to help her avoid panic attacks. Of course, there's Richard and Rose - the monkey-human duo that go everywhere together ... except Wal-Mart. The examples are endless.
Otherwise, many of these non-canine types have a large community of support. Take The Guide Horse Foundation, which has been around nearly a decade. They extol the benefits of miniature horses as "mild-mannered, trainable and less threatening than large dogs. They’re naturally cautious and have exceptional vision, with eyes set far apart for nearly 360-degree range. Plus, they’re herd animals, so they instinctively synchronize their movements with others."
The biggest advantage they point to is life span. Miniature horses can live and work for more than 30 years. In that time, a blind person typically goes through five to seven guide dogs. That can be draining both emotionally and economically, because each one can cost up to $60,000 to breed, train and place in a home.
Obviously, there are also limitations. The small horses eat far more than dogs and go to the bathroom about every
