Bill Would Crack Down on Fake Service Dogs

Service dog in training rests after a long day of work. Photo by Jami430, (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

A Wisconsin bill aimed at cracking down on people who misrepresent their pets as service animals would fine people up to $500 if they provide a fake prescription for an emotional support animal at their home.

The Republican-authored bill seeks to prohibit people in public places from “intentionally misrepresenting that he or she is in possession of a service animal,” according to an analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau. Individuals could be fined $200 for a first violation and $500 for subsequent violations under the proposal.

The bill had a public hearing before the state Assembly Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Tuesday.

“The bill addresses a rising trend of emotional support and service animal misrepresentations — or fraud — in Wisconsin,” State Rep. Paul Tittl, R-Manitowoc, the bill’s author, said during the hearing.

The bill also seeks to strengthen requirements for renters or home buyers who have an emotional support animal, or animals that provide “emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship to an individual,” according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. Current state law allows landlords and housing representatives to ask for “reliable documentation” from people who have an emotional support animal.

“The bill allows the housing representative to require that this documentation include a prescription from a licensed health professional for the emotional support animal,” an analysis from the Reference Bureau states.

People who provide a false prescription and health care providers who write a prescription granting an emotional support animal without having at least a 30 day relationship with the patient would be fined up to $500 under the bill.

During Tuesday’s public hearing, some members of  the Committee on Housing and Real Estate said that was a concern. State Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, said there are many people in the state without health insurance or access to mental health care.

“I’m concerned that this would be squeezing out folks who don’t have somebody who can write them a prescription or even a counselor who can write them a note, who have found some comfort in an emotional support animal, and would be unable to get the documentation here that’s needed,” Clancy said.

State Rep. Jodi Emerson, D-Eau Claire, another member of the committee, also said she’s worried about the prescription language.

“I really struggle with this piece about needing a relationship with a provider for 30 days, and also requiring that that provider have prescribing powers,” Emerson told WPR.

“A lot of times when we’re looking at emotional support animals, the person who comes up with that idea or suggestion is maybe a counselor who’s not able to prescribe medicine,” she added.

The bill could be amended to include the word “prescription or letter,” according to the Wisconsin Legislative Council.

Regarding the 30-day relationship with a medical provider, Tittl said he’s worried some people could go online and get documentation for an emotional service animal for a small fee.

“We’re looking at legitimate people that really need the emotional support and the service dogs. That’s what we’re looking at. We’re protecting them and protecting their thousands of dollars in investment that they have them,” Tittl said during the hearing. “You don’t pick (service dogs) up at the kennel, you know, or if you do, there’s a lot of training and a lot of money involved before that”

The Senate version of the bill will have a public hearing Thursday in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry. The proposal has the support of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.

Listen to the WPR report

Wisconsin bill to crack down on fake service dogs, require prescriptions for emotional support animals was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.