Kyle Walpole of Evergreen uses his service dog, Matilda, as a second pair of ears.
Matilda went through two years of extensive training that taught her how to handle herself in public settings. She also learned specific behaviors to help Walpole with his hearing impairment, like nudging him when the phone rings, letting him know when his name was called and alerting him to the sound of a crying baby.
It has taken decades, Walpole said, for service animals to be respected and understood by society. He fears any trust that has developed is in the process of crumbling due to posers who slap a vest and phony credential on their animal to sneak it into restaurants, shops and other public places.
A bill that just passed the Colorado House seeks to make it a crime for folks intentionally to misrepresent a pet as a service animal for their benefit.
Walpole’s fear of counterfeit canines spurred him to testify last week in support of the bill.
“Recently, I have encountered hundreds of the fakes in public,” Walpole said.
Angela Eaton, executive director of Canine Partners for the Rockies, said her clients who are paired with thoroughly trained service dogs find fake service dogs to be “a huge problem.”
“We’ve had calls from people who just want a vest so they can fly with their dog in the passenger section of an airplane,” Eaton said. “There are well-meaning people out there who feel the dog does provide a service, but they haven’t done the proper training. I hope this bill passes so it encourages people to seek that out.”
Rep. Daniel Kagan, an Arapahoe County Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, explained that it would make the offense punishable in the same way that taking a disabled parking space is punishable — a $33 surcharge plus a fine of:
• $350 to $1,000 for a first offense;
• $600 to $1,000 for a second offense;
• $1,000 to $5,000 and up to 10 hours of community service for a third or subsequent offense.
“When people go about with a pet which they are passing off as a service animal falsely, they bring the entire program into disrepute,” Kagan told the House Judiciary Committee on March 22. “The persons that derive the worst effect of that are those with a legitimate need for a service animal.”
The bill passed out of the House committee unanimously. It has not been assigned to a Senate committee .
Walpole describes the problem in three parts. First, he said faux service dogs are giving legitimate service dogs a bad reputation.
“It’s causing discrimination against legitimate guide hearing and service dogs,” he said.
Secondly, he said it poses a threat to the public who has come to expect service dogs to act a certain way and could be attacked or otherwise harmed by a fake service dog.
Lastly, it’s fraud.
He added: “People are defrauding things like hotels and businesses when they avoid pet fees that service dogs are afforded.”
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or @ehernandez
