Just how do they expect some of us to survive? I am in a wheelchair and I HAVE to have my dogs and thank god where we are now I dont have to pay a fee for them. I only get $700 a month to live on so how can someone like me pay rent,take care of my dogs AND pay a pet fee?? This is outrageous!

Great job Susan! Keep up the writing! I agree apartment complexes and other rental agents should delete the fee for service animals!

Thank you Carolyn and Mary. It's outrageous. The thing is that I'm getting my cat signed for a therapy cat for me. My doctors are looking into this right now for me. My apt complex where I live is telling me that I still have to pay the pet fees for my cat, even after she is signed. That's when I flipped. Then I remembered the Commission for the Blind and Seeing Eye Dog Administrations keeping out of the political battle of paying the pet fees for the blind, after my complex yesterday told me the same holds true for all service animals for the disabled. That's when I thought that those with wheelchairs who have more expenses that I do, living on SSDI, would really be suffering here. It isn't right all the way around.

Now hang on here. You have to realize that "therapy animals" do not have the same rights under the ADA as "service dogs". Therapy dogs are basically someone's pet that has taken the Canine Good Citizen test AND the Therapy Dog test administered by the AKC (American Kennel Club). If they pass those tests, their owners sign up with a national Therapy dog organization (such as Therapy Dog International or Delta) to become registered therapy dogs. Those organizations provide insurance for their members. The therapy animals must then be invited to places such as hospitals and nursing homes. They have no rights to be in public places where dogs are usually not allowed. They are still considered pets, and would have to pay the fees you are talking about. Service dogs must be with a person with a disability, and according to the ADA, MUST be "specifically task trained" to help that person. Providing comfort is not enough. They must pick things up, or alert to sounds, or be trained in a specific way to assist their human. The most reputable organizations belong to Assistance Dogs International and follow strict guidelines for "public access testing", to ensure the dogs can handle all public situations. There is a lot of unfortunate confusion and a lot of "fake" service dogs, with people who simply buy vests online. They are going to ruin it for the serious assistance dogs, who are highly trained and professional, such as seeing eye dogs, hearing alert dogs and service dogs for people with limited mobility...I encourage all of you to do as much research as possible, Unfortunately, it is a fuzzy area, and people try to cheat the system all the time. There are very good organizations that provide service dogs free of charge.

voted :)

There is confusion on definitions.. The Department of Justice published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title II (State and local government services) and title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010, in the Federal Register. These requirements, or rules, clarify and refine issues that have arisen over the past 20 years and contain new, and updated, requirements, including the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards). SERVICE ANIMALS Beginning on March 15, 2011, only dogs are recognized as service animals under titles II and III of the ADA. Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, NOT PETS. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. This definition does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act. Generally, title II and title III entities must permit service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go. Some State and local laws also define service animal more broadly than the ADA does. Information about such laws can be obtained from the State attorney general’s office. Under the ADA, State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go. For example, in a hospital it would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment. Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls. Inquiries, Exclusions, Charges, and Other Specific Rules Related to Service Animals When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task. Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is allergic to dog dander and a person who uses a service animal must spend time in the same room or facility, for example, in a school classroom or at a homeless shelter, they both should be accommodated by assigning them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility. A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: (1) the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it or (2) the dog is not housebroken. When there is a legitimate reason to ask that a service animal be removed, staff must offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal’s presence. Establishments that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises. People with disabilities who use service animals cannot be isolated from other patrons, treated less favorably than other patrons, or cannot be charged fees that are not charged to other patrons without animals. In addition, if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by patrons with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals. If a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may also be charged for damage caused by himself or his service animal. Staff are not required to provide care or food for a service animal. EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS - ESAs An Emotional Support Animal is a dog or other common domestic animal that provides theraputic support to a disabled or elderly owner through companionship, non-judgmental positive regard, affection, and a focus in life. If a doctor determines that a patient with a disabling mental illness would benefit from the companionship of an emotional support animal, the doctor write letters supporting a request by the patient to keep the ESA in "no pets" housing or to travel with the ESA in the cabin of an aircraft. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. ESAs are not task trained like service dogs are. In fact little training at all is required so long as the animal is reasonably well behaved by pet standards. This means the animal is fully toilet trained and has no bad habits that would disturb neighbors such is frequent or lengthy episodes of barking. The animal should not pose a danger to other tenants or to workmen. But there is no requirement for fancy heeling or mitigating tasks since emotional support animals are not generally taken anywhere pets would not ordinarily go without permission (the exception being to fly in the cabin of an aircraft, even if the airline does not ordinarily accept pets). THERAPY ANIMALS A Therapy Dog is one that is trained to provide comfort and affection to people in long-term care, hospitals, retirement homes, schools, mental health institutions, and other stressful situations to include disaster areas. Therapy Dogs provide people with animal contact; people who may or may not have a form of disability. Therapy Dogs work in animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy. The dog is commonly owned by the person handling it, who considers the dog to be a personal pet. Therapy Dogs often work with their handler during sessions. The Therapy Dog and its handler make visits to others in a number of settings and are the most common source of Therapy Dogs. Handlers of these dogs might be health care professionals who are members of the staff of a particular facility, or volunteers.