Controversy Of Service Animals Essay

Sarah Harrington

Mrs. Rechan

English 4

15 February 2022

The Controversy of Service Animals. Many people believe that service animals are the angels of this earth. Yet some people debate, what should and shouldn’t be able to take this angel title? We all know that dogs are the main symbols of supporting animals, yet many people argue, why can't we have other animals as well? Like birds or cats? What happens if we cannot get access to certain animals? Are there any other certifications we can get besides a service animal? Individuals think that these special jobs should not be limited to a certain species, and personally it is understandable. These people may have allergies or just not like the animal they can have. But there are also very

One of the main arguments against the certification of service animals is why can’t every creature be up for this job? The website ADATA.ORG actually has some reasons why there should not be a limit. The authors of these information have officially worked with the ADA care on these problems, yet they still have not been fixed. “Even though some states have laws defining therapy animals, these animals are not limited to working with people with disabilities and therefore are not covered by federal laws protecting the use of service animals. Therapy animals provide people with therapeutic contact, usually in a clinical setting, to improve their physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning.” This information is aimed towards therapy animals, and how they will not get the same right as a service animal. All animals cannot be service animals, but they can be used for therapy. People find this infuriating, and feel as though if they can have any animal for therapy, why can’t they have it as a service animal as well? The real reason why not every animal can be a service animal, is provided by the ADA themselves. The ADA, who is the official company and government authority that deals with support creatures, states this against our argument. “Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.” This information above does not disinclude any animal, yet states that a service animal is “defined” as a dog. The ADA argues that dogs are the easiest animal to train to do the job of helping their handler, yet nowhere in their rules does it say that a service animal is restricted to only that. As long as the task can be performed and the certification is received, you may qualify to have another creature, like a horse, to be your service