From Ed and Toni Eames, Fresno, CA:
Thank you for including information about emergency preparedness and disaster relief in the June issue. There are, however, limitations with the material prepared by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) for dealing with pets and service animals.
For example, after providing the Department of Justice definition of service animals as those individually trained, NOD states that service animals do not have to be certified, licensed or trained! This is an obvious contradiction. In order for a disabled person to have the right to be accompanied by a service animal into places of public accommodation, the animal must be trained to mitigate the effects of the disability. Animals who simply provide a sense of comfort and security, but are not trained to mitigate the disability, do not qualify as service animals under Title Three of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to two guide dogs, our family members include four cats. The pamphlet suggests placing unbreakable collars on all pets. Within cat circles, emphasis is placed on having breakaway collars since cats are much more likely to be injured if their collars are caught on something and they cannot escape.
The pamphlet suggests considering having pets microchipped. We think this recommendation should be stated in stronger terms. Not only are our guide dogs microchipped for identification purposes, but so are the cats. One never knows when a medical emergency or disaster may occur, separating people from their pets or service animals.
Safety precautions are certainly necessary, but some of the advice contained in the pamphlet is impracticable. For instance, corralling the cats to put them in one room each time we leave the house seems like an unnecessary burden. Storing all of the recommended items in case of an emergency would require buying a house with an extra storage room.
As we see it, the recommendation to keep copies of important documents in an emergency backpack would be a perfect invitation for a burglar to steal one's identity.
It is difficult to recognize when being prepared for disasters goes beyond reasonableness!
For example, after providing the Department of Justice definition of service animals as those individually trained, NOD states that service animals do not have to be certified, licensed or trained! This is an obvious contradiction. In order for a disabled person to have the right to be accompanied by a service animal into places of public accommodation, the animal must be trained to mitigate the effects of the disability. Animals who simply provide a sense of comfort and security, but are not trained to mitigate the disability, do not qualify as service animals under Title Three of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In addition to two guide dogs, our family members include four cats. The pamphlet suggests placing unbreakable collars on all pets. Within cat circles, emphasis is placed on having breakaway collars since cats are much more likely to be injured if their collars are caught on something and they cannot escape.
The pamphlet suggests considering having pets microchipped. We think this recommendation should be stated in stronger terms. Not only are our guide dogs microchipped for identification purposes, but so are the cats. One never knows when a medical emergency or disaster may occur, separating people from their pets or service animals.
Safety precautions are certainly necessary, but some of the advice contained in the pamphlet is impracticable. For instance, corralling the cats to put them in one room each time we leave the house seems like an unnecessary burden. Storing all of the recommended items in case of an emergency would require buying a house with an extra storage room.
As we see it, the recommendation to keep copies of important documents in an emergency backpack would be a perfect invitation for a burglar to steal one's identity.
It is difficult to recognize when being prepared for disasters goes beyond reasonableness!
posted by Matilda Ziegler at
10:59 AM
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