Category: Dogs

Every year, around 2 million dogs are stolen in the US, and according to the American Kennel Club (AKC), cases of dognapping (dogs thefts) are on the rise.

You might think that your service dog isn’t at risk because he rarely leaves your side, but that does not mean he/she is safe. Dog thieves are typically quite adept, and there have been many cases of dogs being stolen quickly and efficiently while the owner was distracted – even if only for a few seconds.

This article discusses the issues around dognapping. We will outline the most effective ways to prevent your service dog or emotional support animal (ESA) from being stolen and provide information about what to do if the unthinkable happens and your dog disappears.

Why do people steal dogs?

Purebreds are often stolen so they can be sold, sometimes to order, sometimes opportunistically. Designer dogs (carefully mixed breeds) have gained great popularity, as well, and are increasingly becoming targets.

• Small breeds such as Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, Maltese and Chihuahuas are most at risk.
• Dogs who haven’t been spayed or neutered are at risk from being stolen in order to be sold to puppy mills for breeding.
• As horrific as it sounds, some breeds are stolen for use in fighting rings. Pit Bulls, Boston Terriers, German Shepherds, and Boxers are most commonly stolen for this purpose.
• It isn’t only purebreds that are at risk, though. Sometimes pets are stolen by family members or neighbors for personal reasons.
• Yet other dogs are stolen by scammers hoping to collect a reward when they are returned. Disabled people with service animals might be particularly at risk from this, as a thief might target someone with a special bond and dependence on their pet and are most likely to pay a reward.

Where is my service dog most at risk?

You might think your dog isn’t at risk because you are always with him/her, but dog thieves are clever. Some are opportunistic and are more likely to take dogs that are easy targets, but some steal when a client asks for a specific breed. If you have a dog they want, they might keep you under surveillance or distract you in order to take your dog. They might also have identified you as someone who is likely to pay a reward for your dog’s return.

Your dog could be at risk anywhere. Dogs are stolen from parking lots, dog shelters, pet shops, beaches, and even backyards. Remember, it only takes a minute to steal a dog. So, think before you leave them unattended.

How can I protect my Service Dog from theft?

While it is good practice to make sure your service animal wears a service dog ID tag to make it easy for him to be reunited with you if he gets lost, service dog ID tags can get lost or damaged, and if he is stolen a collar ID is easily removed. Microchipping is the best way to ensure your dog can be returned to you if stolen.

All about the microchip

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), 52.2 % of lost dogs with microchips were returned to their owners, whereas only 21.9 % of dogs without microchips were reunited. 38.5 % of cats with chips were taken back to their owners, whereas only 1.8 % of cats without.

How is the microchip implanted?

Microchipping a simple procedure in which your dog or cat has a tiny computer chip encased in a glass cylinder implanted between his shoulder blades. The cylinder is tiny – the size of a grain of rice.

The procedure is carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian. The chip is inserted using a hypodermic needle, just like a vaccination. No anesthetic is required.

Microchipping is a very common procedure, and your service animal or ESA will hardly feel it. The chance that he will suffer from side effects is nearly non-existent. In a UK study, less than 400 (0.0001%) of the 4 million animals studied suffered from any adverse effects, and this was generally because the chip migrated from the place it was originally inserted.

If you have any concerns about the procedure or any specific questions about how it will affect your service dog or ESA, check with your veterinarian; he or she will be able to answer all your questions.

What information does the chip contain?

The chip contains a unique ID number that links to details of ownership held on an international database. The chip will only contain the contact information you provide; it will not contain information about the dog’s health or any other personal details.

How does the microchip work?

A microchip is not a tracking device, the information can only be accessed when it is scanned by a Veterinarian or at a shelter.

If your ESA or service dog goes missing, the chip will be scanned and the staff at the animal hospital or shelter will retrieve the ID number. Each ID is linked to a contact information database which can be used to find you and reunite you with your service dog or emotional support animal.

The AAHA has a Universal Microchip Lookup Tool which contains a listing of every registry service that a Unique ID is registered with. Veterinary or shelter staff can use the tool to contact the correct registry to find out the owner’s information. As there are many different microchip companies and registries, this has simplified the process by which owners can be contacted.

Do I need to maintain the microchip?

There is no need to maintain or replace the microchip as it does not contain a battery or any moving parts. Once it is inserted you and your service dog or emotional support animal will not be aware it’s there. Your veterinarian will check the microchip is working correctly every year at your dog’s annual check-up.

How much does microchipping cost?

Like all veterinary procedures, the cost will vary depending on your animal hospital and region, but it is generally around $25-40. There is often also a one-off fee (approximately $20) to register the ID number with the Contact Information Database. Ask your vet if there are likely to be any future costs, such as, if you need to change your contact information.

Keep your contact information up-to-date

This chip is only as good as the information you provide, so if you move or change your phone number, make sure you update the microchip company with your new contact details. In the AVMA study, the main reason why animals with microchips couldn’t be reunited with their owners was because the contact information was not up-to-date.

Register as many contact methods as possible, so if the unthinkable happens and your service dog or ESA is lost or stolen, you can be contacted easily.

Other ways to prevent your Service Animal or ESA from being stolen

Don’t leave your dog unattended in a backyard for too long. Dogs left outside are often targeted.

Don’t leave your service dog alone in a car. Animals left in parked cars are often the target of dognapping. Even if you are running into a shop for a moment, take your service dog with you. Don’t think it’s not easy for someone to quickly break into your car.

Don’t leave your service dog or ESA tied up outside a store. Dog thieves are clever and always on the look-out for easy targets. If you aren’t planning to take your dog inside the store or cafe, leave him at home.

Only use reputable dog-sitters. If you must leave your service dog in the care of a dog-sitter or kennel, seek recommendations, choose reputable companies, and check references. It’s a good idea to plan ahead and find someone you trust to look after your ESA pet or service animal before you need to use their services. Don’t wait to address it until you have an emergency and need to find someone in a hurry.

Be wary of strangers asking questions about your dog. By all means, have a conversation; they might just be friendly, after all, but be suspicious about giving away information about the cost of your dog, your address or information about whether they have been spayed/neutered.

What to do if your Service Dog gets stolen

f the worst happens and your dog is stolen, this is what you need to do.

• Contact the police immediately and file a police report. This information can be invaluable for identification and may be used in court if the case ever goes to trial.
• Report the theft to your local animal control department
• If your dog is microchipped, contact the company, make sure your contact details are always up-to-date and remain available.
• Talk to people in the area from which your pet was stolen, in case someone saw something suspicious.
• Find an up-to-date photo of your dog and distribute it in the area from which he/she disappeared. Post it on local pet owner and lost and found Facebook groups. Ask your vet if they know of any local groups that might help.
• Make fliers and post at local animal hospitals and shelters. Include a description of your dog but try to leave out a detail that will help you distinguish him if someone calls to collect a reward. Visit local shelters as often as possible to see if he turns up. Contact local newspapers, TV and radio.
• Search and post on craigslist.com. If an opportunistic thief has stolen your dog this is a common place where they may try to sell him on. Search other local classifieds.
• Check the Pet FBI website and file a report. This a free resource that maintains a database of lost and found pet reports.
• Download the free ASPCA Pet Safety App which will provide further information about searching for a lost pet. The App also contains a facility to make a lost-animal flyer quickly and easily

Creating fliers

If your dog is lost or stolen, posting fliers in the area he was last seen is a very good idea. Remember, if he was stolen he might have got away from his captors or they might have released him.

Unfortunately, many people make fliers in haste that are not very effective. The best way to make a flier that contains all the relevant information is to use the template on the Pet FBI website, or the ASPCA Pet Safety App.

When posting fliers, bear these tips in mind:

• Print on colored paper, or tape to a colored poster board – yellow is thought to be the most visible
• Protect the flier by laminating, or placing in a plastic envelope
• If you’re using a marker, make sure it’s indelible ink
• Attach the flier to utility poles in the area where your Service Dog went missing using duct tape and nails
• Distribute also to Animal Hospitals, Pet Supply Stores, anywhere in the area with a bulletin board

Let’s wrap things up

Protect yourself against scammers

If you receive any calls asking for money in return for getting your pet back, however plausible they sound, be on your guard. For example, someone might say they have found your pet in another state and need money to return him to you. This is a common scam. If you are suspicious, contact the police.

If someone asks to meet with you to return your dog, ask to meet in a public place and never go alone. If you have offered a reward, only hand the money over when you have the dog back.

Beware of dog theft

One in three dogs goes missing in their lifetime. It is not only dogs that are left alone for long periods that are at risk. Dog thieves are clever and sometimes steal to order so even if your service dog rarely leaves your side, you need to be on your guard.

If the unthinkable happens and your service animal gets lost or is stolen, you stand a good chance of getting him back if he is microchipped. Once your service dog has been microchipped, remember to keep the contact details updated if ever you move or change your phone number or email address.

Prevention is always better than cure, so think before you leave your dog unattended. Never leave them in a parked car or tied up outside a shop or cafe. Avoid leaving your Service Animal unattended in the backyard, especially if it is in view from the street.

If you take sensible precautions, register your service dog or ESA, should be safe and enjoy and long and happy partnership with you.

While both serve humans, emotional support animals — commonly referred to as ESAs — and service dogs are often confused. These two types of service animals are similar in that they can provide emotional support for those that need it, but there are many differences between them. Understanding these differences will allow you to properly select and certify an animal for your needs. Here are some of the key differences between these two types of service animal certifications.

Function

Many think that emotional support animals and service dogs are interchangeable, but these two types of service animals are meant for separate tasks. A service dog is specially trained to perform a function or job for an owner that has a physical, intellectual, or emotional disability. An emotional support animal serves as more of a companion for the owner. A service dog may still be able to provide the comfort of an emotional support animal, but it has been trained to complete tasks that a support dog will not.

Protection

Service dogs are usually needed more frequently as they help the owner with physical tasks. Thus, they are offered legal protections through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that emotional support animals do not get. You can take a service dog almost anywhere that you go and they legally cannot be denied access. An emotional support dog, on the other hand, doesn’t share the same legal protections. It’s important to understand that if you have an emotional support dog, they may not be allowed into areas that a service dog will. Legal protection of an emotional support animal is limited to housing and air travel. However, there may be businesses that will allow you to bring your emotional support animal inside, so you’ll have to check with them beforehand.

Certification

As these types of support animals provide different services, the certifications also differ. A service dog agency will help to find a specially trained dog to assist with a person’s disability. While only a specifically-trained dog can be a service dog, any pet can be considered an emotional support animal. The person looking to acquire certification needs to have a disability diagnosed by a doctor or mental health professional and receive a letter stating how the animal will be of benefit.

Differentiating Your Support Dog

If your support dog doesn’t have anything that differentiates it from any other dogs, people may not recognize that it’s providing assistance for you. If you have a service dog, you might want to consider having it wear a colored vest. While this is not a requirement, it will tell those working in places you go that the dog is a service dog, and they are less likely to try to stop you from entering with it. If you have an emotional support dog, you should carry your medical letter with you, as this will provide evidence that the dog is officially a support animal.

If you suffer from a disability, be it physical or emotional, you may benefit from an animal’s support. Understanding the differences between a service dog and an emotional support animal will allow you to receive the correct service animal certification. For more information, contact the National Service Animal Registry today!

Although some are quick to assume that service dogs and emotional support animals (ESAs) provide the same kinds of help for their handlers, their responsibilities, training, and access to public spaces differ greatly. There is often much confusion regarding what service dogs versus ESA’s do for their owners and the rights and laws that protect each animal type. Here are details of what these categories mean.

What Is a Service Dog?

A service dog is trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. In the service dog world, it is known as task-training. These tasks are important functions that handlers are unable to perform on their own because of their impairment. A Service dog’s responsibilities depend on the requirements of the handler. Some of the skills may involve retrieving dropped items, pushing drawers, pulling doors open, turning lights on, and cabinets closed, bracing to offer balance for an owner, interrupting panic attacks or informing an owner to about insulin levels. But the scope of service animal’s abilities go beyond the day to day support they provide their handlers. The harder work is in creating a dog that can flourish under all kinds of situations because a service dog must be quiet, attentive to the handler, accepting of a multitude of environments, and unfazed by all imaginable situations.

What Do Service Dogs Do?

As defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service animals are individually trained to perform exact tasks and to work with people with disabilities. According to the ADA, disabilities can be physical, sensory, mental disability, psychiatric, and other intellectuals. The work of the service dog must be directly related to the disability of its handler. Here are examples of tasks that a service dog might perform:

• Guide dogs help blind people navigate in the globe.
• Hearing Alert dogs alert hearing-deficient people to sounds, such as a knock on the door or a person entering the room.
• Psychiatric services dogs (PSD) are trained to detect and lessen the impacts of a psychiatric episode.
• Service animals can help those in wheelchairs or who are otherwise physically limited. They can open doors or cabinets, fetch things their handler cannot carry, and reach items for their handler.
• Autism assistance dogs are trained to aid those on the autism spectrum to distinguish essential sensory signals like a smoke alarm, from other sensory input. They can also alert their handler to repetitive behaviors or overstimulation.
• Service dogs have been trained to identify seizures and will stand guard over their handler or bring attention to the disabled handler during a seizure or when help is needed.

What Rights Do Service Dogs Have?

The ADA mandates that service animals have complete public access rights, which means they’re allowed to go anywhere a person is allowed to go — even when pets are not allowed. They may be brought into libraries, restaurants, stores, and other public spaces. Busses, taxis, trains, must allow a disabled person to be accompanied by his/her service animal. A disabled handler may also live in no-pet housing with their service dog and not be charged a fee. A service dog must be permitted to accompany its disabled handler in the cabin of an aircraft and not be charged a pet fee. Each airline has its own rules for service animals. Most airlines require the dog to either sit on the lap of the traveler or at their feet. Dogs can’t block the aisle or sit in the emergency exit row.

Training Service Dogs

There are organizations who help pair a service dog with a disabled handler, and the training process takes time, substantial financial investment, and patience. The training begins with basic manners and continues to involve thorough socialization, impulse control and the specialized skills required to support their handler. The formal training procedure typically culminates with passing the Public Access test and Canine Good Citizen Test, which assesses the capability of the dog to be a proper, unobtrusive helpmate in public. Then, the handler and dog are matched and train together to be a working team. The scope of work that goes into preparing a service dog for the responsibility of assisting their handler and acting properly in public goes well beyond what usually occurs in pet dog training. People with disabilities have the legal right to take their service animal to any area where the general public is allowed, from movie theaters to hospitals, even when pets aren’t allowed.

Some handlers train their own pets, but typically begin with public behaviors (good dog manners), obedience, and finally task-specific training. This is a cost-effective method of attaining a service dog.

How to React to Service Dogs in Public?

Although it is tempting to talk to or pet a service animal, you should resist the urge. Remember, service dogs in public are “on the job”. It is pleasing that various people are excited to see such dogs in public, and it is most appropriate to direct your interest to the human on the other end of the leash, rather than assuming it’s okay to pet or speak to the dog.

What Are Emotional Support Animals?

Emotional support animals also offer a valuable service to their disabled handlers, but not in the same way as a service animal. They provide comfort through their presence but aren’t required to perform a physical task. To qualify for emotional support animal status, handlers must have a letter from a licensed mental health professional that prescribes an emotional support animal. The animal must always be under the control of the handler and should never cause a disturbance. People confuse emotional support animals with psychiatric service dogs trained to aid a person with a mental illness. Service animals help people with a mental illness perform precise behaviors such as reminding a person to take medication, alerting a caregiver if assistance is required, interrupting a panic attack, or awakening someone having a nightmare. An emotional support animal is not task-trained to perform those kinds of important function behaviors.

What Do Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) Do?

Emotional support animals (ESA) are typically Dogs and cats; the most common species of ESA – and most people just make their pet an emotional support animal. Dogs can be behavior and obedience trained, but it isn’t necessary for an emotional support animal to be able to perform a task for its disabled handler. The very presence of the animal is what ameliorates the negative symptoms of the person’s disorder. This is the primary difference between a service animal and emotional support animal. This does not minimize the important role the ESA plays in the lives of people with a psychological disorder. They are considered companion animals and ease loneliness, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and phobias. To be considered an emotional support animal, a person must be determined to be emotionally or psychologically disabled by a licensed mental health professional (therapist) or a medical doctor.

What Rights Do Emotional Support Animals Have?

Unlike service dogs, emotional support animals have only limited legal rights and usually need a letter of prescription from a licensed therapist or medical doctor (ESA letter). While they do not have unlimited access to public spaces, the Fair Housing Act protects a person with an emotional support animal and allows them to live in homes, apartments, condos, etc. where pets are not allowed. A person cannot be legally charged a deposit or other fee for their ESA. Even if a property has a cats-only policy, the landlord must accept your emotional support animal if it is a dog.

If the property has a policy that only allows dogs that weigh no more than 30 pounds and the emotional support animal weighs 75 pounds, the property manager must accommodate you and your pet. If the property accepts all dogs except pit bulls and your ESA is a pit bull, the property manager must allow your pit bull to live with you.

The Air Carrier Access Act is a federal law that requires airline companies to allow emotionally impaired persons to be accompanied in the cabin of the aircraft with an emotional support animal and not be charged a fee.

It’s a breeze for you to fly the friendly skies with your Emotional Support Animal (ESA)! You’ll just need a few things to enjoy smooth sailing, based on the Air Carrier Access Act and recommendations of USA-based airline companies.

Here’s What You Need to Know

• All airline companies will require you to produce a letter from a licensed therapist or medical physician that prescribes an ESA for an emotional disability. Most airlines will also require your therapist or physician to complete a short form that verifies your emotional disability.
• Although it’s not required by law, airlines now ask that you have identifying patches, a vest on your animal (or its cage, if it’s kept in one), and a service-type leash.
• The same applies to an attached photo ID card identifying your animal as an emotional support animal (from a credible agency like National Service Animal Registry).
• Airlines strongly recommend that you have an ID card, a service vest and/or ESA patches. When you have an official and documented ESA, the airlines are NOT allowed to charge you additional fees when your animal accompanies you in the cabin of the aircraft.

If you have the above items and your answers ready, it will be smooth sailing!