Can we have a rule against non-service animals at the con?

[lychee-twist]

Hey, I was browsing deviantART when something that really irked me last year came to mind.

There was a cosplayer who was carrying around a puppy at the last convention. While it did go with her cosplay very nicely, I found it rude and disrespectful to the hotel and other convention attendees who might be allergic to or have issues with dogs.

Can we please get a rule in the handbook saying that non-service animals are not allowed? I don't think it's right to use an animal as an accessory on a fundamental level with everything (Paris Hilton's chihuahua fad anyone?), but to bring an animal who is not used to large crowded areas and large amounts of noise is wrong to me.

And if you think about it, it's probably not fun for the animal as well. With dozens of screaming and squealing strangers bombarding the poor thing, that can't be fun. Not to mention being carried everywhere. What if it had gone to the bathroom on the hotel floor? Or what if there was another dog and they ended up getting in a fight? In addition, people have a hard enough time getting the overly enthused to not tackle-glomp them from behind. It'd be terrible if a dog was taken by surprise and bit someone out of sheer reaction rather than malice.
 
Excuse me for being a Debbie Downer on the matter, but I think this is something that has the <u>potential</u> to cause many problems.

If the animal is a service dog, can it be obvious as such like the dog wears a service vest or the owner carries proof? This is just in case there is some sort of conflict to prove that the animal is medically necessary. In addition, service dogs are trained to deal with high-stress environments where as the vast majority of pets are not.

And for the record, I do love dogs. A lot. The entire "Let's bring the animal indoors!" thing seems like a breach of common courtesy for me. If the pet is outside the hotel, I am %100 totally cool with that. Just bringing it indoors becomes an issue for all the negative possibilities.

I also recognize that the dog that brought this issue to my mind was mellow and very calm and the owner very polite as well. I have no negative feelings over any of the people. This doesn't change my opinion on a pet-ban. While this dog might be a very awesome pet, others might have more issues.

[Blue Leader]

This is an issue that exists in many places, not just conventions. The hard part about this is that people will almost always claim they're a service dog and, unfortunately, you can't prove that they're not. Yes, it's usually obvious whether or not an animal is a service animal, but you can't really prove otherwise.
I don't know if there's a law about that or not, trying to deny someone in with an animal who claims it's a service animal when it most likely isn't, but either way it's difficult to judge. It's something you really have to be careful with.

I see this a lot in grocery stores... People bring in these huge, dirty dogs without any type of service identification, and when they're asked to not bring in their pets they always claim it's a service animal. Still, the store can't prove that the animal isn't a service animal, so...

I believe that a service animal should always be required to have on some type of identification showing that they are indeed a service animal, but I don't believe that there's a law enforcing this (I don't think, anyway).

[DarkStar]

I'm not a lawyer, but the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal "individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability."

Thus, in my opinion, it is not unreasonable to request from an individual what their animal is "trained" to do. The ADA does not provide a provision for a "comfort" or "companion" animal, thus pets should not be allowed anywhere where animals are not normally allowed. You'll find most people (especially on MAX or on the bus) claim their animal is allowed because it is a "comfort" animal, and thus aren't allowed.

Unfortunately, Kumoricon really needs to contact their lawyer on this issue to find out what they recommend. It doesn't matter how we interpret the law, it's purely based on what our lawyer is willing to defend us for.

[superjaz]

I saw that puppy, and talked to both the owner said it was a service animal in training
 per
U.S. Department of Justice

"Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability."

This litteraly means if some one says its a service animal (training or otherwise) you can't be asked to prove it by law, which is what I was told at con.

this does make sense as anything too specific could lead to questions about peoples
health problems that are confidential

[veraca]

But that said, I sat in line at SakuraCon this past year next to a gal who had a service dog with one of those yellow vests on and everything and we got into a conversation about her dog. She explained to me she had to prove paperwork of several different kinds to the SakuraCon or convention staff, something like that, when getting her registration. It was a hassle for her, she said, because the dog did have all the correct paperwork yes and had been properly trained as a dog for people who suffer from stress in high-traffic areas.....

My point being that this issue I think applies differently to what location the convention is held at. It probably is a more law-issue at SakuraCon because it's an actual State Convention center where as the Hilton is a hotel and has policies involving pets in rooms, but aren't generally clear about their policies involving pets in the lobby, on the grounds or the property of the hotel. And the issue becomes even more askewed when dealing with sidewalks since it's city/public property....

So I'm assuming for pets you'd want to check with the hotel policy, but I don't remember ever reading anything about a service pet policy, or pet policy of any kind, in the Kumoricon book last year.

[DarkStar]

"Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability."

That's kinda important because it states that the animal must be trained to perform a task. Thus a comfort animal (for stress, etc) could be disallowed.

Either way, the decision should be left to the convention lawyer.

[lychee-twist]

Most certified service animals have a vest they can wear. Whether or not the owner chooses to have their animal wear the vest is by choice.

And as far as any animals in training I've met, the owners have always politely refused when I ask to pet their animal or they have a vest on that states "I'm in training. Please don't pet me" or the like.

[legoman60]

"Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability."

This litteraly means if some one says its a service animal (training or otherwise) you can't be asked to prove it by law, which is what I was told at con.

If the individual with the animal does not provide a response that falls under the criteria of specially trained animals for specific tasks (as defined by the ADA) then you can ask them to leave the animal outside. Also, if they are obviously lying (i.e. someone clamming their chihuahua is a seeing eye dog, and they've been walking perfectly with it under their arm) then you can also ask them to leave the animal outside.

[shikyo]

I believe the hotel itself allows dogs to stay there as I saw a lot of non-con people waiting to go up in the elevators. One was a cute pitbull, too cute I had to say hi.

But if it's a con goer who is just walking around with there dog, I don't think that should be allowed as space is already taken by us. But I don't see why a con goer can't bring there dog if they take it to there room after they take it potty or for exercise, etc.

Also, you don't have to have a service dog to have a well trained dog. I have three GSDs, my oldest two have mulitple titles in obedience, rally, herding, etc and they are well trained. All three of my dogs are calm in public, they have to be to go to dog shows.

[RemSaverem]

Because I might have to commute to Eugene for cat care, one of my friends/ panelists looked it up, & yes, the Executive Towers would allow a cat, for a $75 fee. They actually have cute gift baskets for pets of registered guests.
What the hotel permits is not the same as what is permissible in convention space. However, since the hotel chain overtly solicits guests to bring their pets to stay in their hotel rooms, if the convention is going to suddenly say that such pets can't use the elevators, unless they are proven service animals, this could pose a problem for any attendee who registered as a guest under the hotel's policy, which permits bringing pets who are not service animals, before KC revealed the policy. (I don't know whether anyone has done so. I briefly considered it--but my beloved kitty gets car sick.)

[Rai180990648]

I agree with what everyone has said so far. I have no problems if the animals that are brought in are strictly servivce animals.

[pyronine]

We need to follow city and state regulations and hotel policies concerning this. Disabilities should be looking into it. due to ADA regulations, we can not forbid service animals, however, it does state in the law what type of service animals are allowed and how they are to be labeled.

Pyro