Understanding Therapy Dogs and Psychiatric Service Dogs

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Not every term that has been assigned to a dog who performs some sort of work is confusing. For example, if a dog is a seeing eye dog most people know that the dog is used to guide the blind. In more recent years the term psychiatric service dog has become a way of identifying a dog how helps an owner with a psychiatric disorder such as PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or autism. The term therapy is by definition “treatment of a disease or disorder” people argue that any event that causes a positive reaction should be therapy by the by the scientific definition. In addition, it is argued that dog therapy cannot “ethically claim” to be modifying the progression of the disease in any way. Organization responsible for training therapy dogs say that in …show more content…

Under HUD access is granted to “animals that assist, support, or provide assistance to those with disabilities.” To add to the confusion each state has laws that conflict with these acts. In 10 of the 50 states only dogs who assist with physical disabilities are recognized as service dogs, with no provisions for individuals with dog who assist with a psychiatric disorder. Some states also ban certain breed from becoming service dogs. Other states say that minimal protection counts as a task, which conflicts with the ADA. These conflicts in laws also cause legal disputes. One of the most common cases the court system faces are complaints opposing public compliance of service dogs when an individual id refused access due to their service dog. For example, an appeals court found a chain of grocery stores that did not allow a person to shop while with her service dog was discriminating against her. As the term assistance animals stretches to cover disabilities that are not always seen the numbers of these cases could increase (Parenti,

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