Sadly, some folks are asking whether "service animal" laws are increasingly being abused by those who want to scam the system.

There has been news stories, articles, opinion pieces and other editorials where people rant and complain about people they believe to be abusing the system. You hear some complain that they had to sit near your pet dog at a cafe that they don't believe is a "real" service dog, or others complain that their neighbors have a dog in a "no pet" building simply because they claimed the pet is a mental support animal.

A few of the commentary has an indignant tone, and some folks are downright angry.

How does this affect people who legitimately own and make use of a service animal to higher their lives? In many ways.

For one, it will it more challenging to navigate bureaucracy of the world when your claim of a handicap and your service or emotional support animal's status is questioned. If a landlord or business owner has heard negative stories claiming that some folks are abusing the machine, it can cause them to look suspiciously at all claimants emotional support animal registration .

Some landlord and business owners have begun requesting proof status, even though requesting written or other evidence is not at all times legal, and even though many owners of legitimate service animals and emotional support animals have not cheated registering them, and thus don't have any such documentation to produce.

It is the suspicious attitude and illegal demands of some landlords and business owners that produce registrations services like the Service Animal Registry of California so imperative to legitimate owners.

Although registration is optional, it will also help shortcut the housing rental and business access issues when the dog owner can produce a simple document that will often satisfy the dog owner or landlord. Also, when using public spaces, it's often easier handy over a report with a simple sentence stating, "This can be a service animal" and letting another party read the info, as opposed to having a long-winded protracted conversation (or even worse, argument) in public places, with onlookers listening in and gathering across the discussion.

So, do many people scam the machine, or game regulations? Sadly, the solution is "probably yes." In life, there is always room for abuse and people can attempt to take advantage of many systems that people as a community put in place to safeguard the rights of people who need such protection. As an example, many drivers falsely display disabled parking placards to take advantage of free and convenient parking. Not forgetting how many folks who lie on the tax returns, claim improper tax deductions, abuse shop return policies, or do other bad acts.

But that percentage of abuse, which in the area of service animal laws is hopefully small, is arguably a very small price to pay in comparison with the higher goal of promoting access and equality for all.

In the long run, you can't control any system to make it 100% abuse proof. So tolerating the few those who scam service animal laws is the purchase price we gladly pay to ensure that the disabled in the fantastic state of California have equal access under law.