There are tons of people who are taking advantage and bringing fake service dogs in public. There are also tons of people who are just ignorant and aren't really trying to be fraudulent, they just don't know the difference between a service dog and an emotional support animal and a therapy dog....they throw out whatever lingo comes to mind and these animals are usually just beloved pets or ESAs by legal definition.

Regardless, I feel strongly that you should have and should still report the bite. The dog is dangerous, it isn't being properly contained, it could have and could still get much worse. Document the injury, call the cops and call animal control. If the dog was actually a service dog it has no business ever working in public again.

 

Completely agree. What are you waiting for? Report this. Did you take your son to the hospital/doctor? I would have thought they would have reported it. This is nothing to play round with.

 

My opinion is that your child's and everyone else's child's safety is the priority and it is your obligation to report this dog's behavior.

If it warrants the dog being declared dangerous in your state/county they can impose regulations on this dog about how it is housed and kept and impose siezure and euthanasia if those standards aren't met, which is appropriate.

 

My opinion is that your child's and everyone else's child's safety is the priority and it is your obligation to report this dog's behavior.

If it warrants the dog being declared dangerous in your state/county they can impose regulations on this dog about how it is housed and kept and impose siezure and euthanasia if those standards aren't met, which is appropriate.

In this particular situation, if we report this incident and they seek revenge and report our illegal number of pets, I could potentially lose my job and my retirement pension. I'm 6 months away from retirement. This isn't something I can play around with. We did not take our son to the hospital. My wife treated his wounds and did not deem them bad enough to warrant a doctor visit.


My wife learned her lesson when one of our 100%-indoor house cats scratched her hand and it got infected while she was pregnant, so she went to the hospital for treatment and told them what happened. Well, the community management quarantined our cat and we had to pay all sorts of money to run lab tests and pay for unnecessary vet bills with the threat of them putting our cat down (for a simple cat scratch!). Needless to say we'll be glad to move in half a year!

 

Okay no offense but for your son's sake you need to at the very least make sure he has had his rabies vaccine. I don't like vaccines but the idea of anyone having to undergo a series of shots is really unthinkable.

Second I am trying to learn about training my dog to be a service dog but if she had ever shown aggression to other people I wouldn't let her become one. My understanding it takes a lot of time and training and I am still just working on the basics and figure if she was ever to be a service dog I would have to invest at least 2 years of training on top of what I am doing now. Maybe I am just ignorant but I would never want my dog to attack a person much less a child. Now if there are kids breaking into my home that is another matter all together.

So even if you do not report it which you probably should being that 1. your kid was not in the dog's yard 2. what happens if he attacks a smaller child or goes for the throat the next time? Gosh forbid it happens again before you leave and you lose a child yours or a neighbors. Then they are going to go at you for not reporting it in the first place. (of course I don't know the laws in your state or where you are but just because you are in the right doesn't mean you can't be sued. 3. YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE SINCE THE SKIN WAS BROKEN THAT HE HAS A CURRENT RABIES VACCINE! That is for your child's health much less an adult. Personally as long as a dog has had 2 vaccines in their lives of rabies a year apart I would be good even if it had been over 3 years because Texas A & M did a long study that the rabies vaccine last at least 10 years (they didn't do the study longer than 10 years)

At the very least I would really ask to see proof of vaccine for the particular dog that bit him for your son's sake.

 

How can you lose your job because you have too many animals?

I know you are in a bit of sticky situation BUT A DOG ATTACKED YOUR CHILD!! Seriously!

This needs to be reported. Now! Although with as much time as has passed I don't know what will happen now.

A dog attacked your child! These people kids don't have control or foresight and WILL let the dog out again. What if the next child it attacks dies. Are you going to be ok with that??

Have you even talked to neighbor yet?? Geez, I get your wife is an introvert, but for goodness sake A DOG ATTACKED YOUR CHILD ! Why the heck are you hemming and hawing.

Keep your extra cats inside and hidden, they cannot force their way into your home to check and REPORT THIS!

 

Yea take your extra animals somewhere else for a while.

 

Also if you do not report it do not let your kids have friends over until you move away from him as a homeowner you would probably be legally responsible even if it wasn't your dog!

 

OP, you spew all the stuff about service dogs not being service dogs, too many pets, your pension, etc. None of that is here nor there. There is only ONE point - Your child was bitten by a dog and you have chosen to do nothing.

 

WOW... A lot of really good points here. I am sitting on the fence of both sides to reasons why. Especially the over legal limit as to why you don't want to report.


1) Yes, you have to report it for reasons already noted
2) Rabies reason is easy enough fix. You are tight with them, they will respect you asking for UTD or even a titer (at their expense) if not utd...
3) They are moving in weeks. You report, by time it comes back to you (if), you will be moving too. Like GSDSAR said, they cannot walk in if you say no (in most situations, bite maybe different and depending on area/laws) and you would likely get an extension based on your move
4) You are tight with neighbour and don't want to rock the boat...yes, but you're BOTH moving, so you don't have to worry about the next 20 yrs.!
5) Talk to the neighbour before in your best we love you guys way, as you lay out the facts as to why you have to


Side note: I didn't report a pitbull attack on my dog for fear that in his senior yrs he would have to have a rabies shot. I didn't license him for that reason (new town, so proof may have been req'd). Public health got involved due to my injury (hospital reported). No one came after me for proof or rabies or license. They just determined the PB to quarantine at home. AC was to be called by ME to report them. I was too scared

 

Wow. I don't even know what to say. Your child was bitten by a pittbull that has been known to be poorly trained. You really should report it, make sure it was rabies vaccinated. If the wound is healed, it could conceivably be too late to prevent a deadly rabies infection in your child! If you have over the limit on pets, just keep them inside - the animal control people cannot just barge into your home. If pittbulls are banned in your housing development, the neighbors may find themselves in trouble, but that is not your fault.

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice.


My real question was more about understanding how these dogs become service dogs officially. This neighbor brings his dog to work and has the full blown service dog vest and everything. I'm 99.9% certain that service dogs are not supposed to attack children. I've read where service dogs are sometimes doctor prescribed. Are these dogs certified? Are there state tests they have to pass? Is it a federal program? Who regulates these dogs? I'm really starting to think that the place where he got this dog is not really distributing true service dogs. It's a dishonor to everyone who gets one of these poorly trained dogs (thinking they are true SDs), and it has now become a problem to anyone who lives around someone with one of these poorly trained dogs.


I'll see if you guys know, and I'll also google it.

 

I've taken your post down into Q&A style so as to answer you in an easy format.


"The neighbor brings his dog to work" ... anyone can take a pet dog on the job if the employer allows it. Some people must put in a formal request and undergo a process to seek permission to do so. We don't know the details on this situation of your neighbor so anything said here would only be opinions based on no real information.

"and has the full blown service dog vest and everything" ... vests are easy to purchase via the Internet. Patches are also easily purchased.
Registering a SD, buying gear and official looking ID are only as hard to buy as going through any of dozens fakers/scammers who sell these things online.

Q. 17 Does the ADA require that service animals be certified as service animals?
A: No. Covered entities may not require documentation, such as proof that the animal has
been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal, as a condition for entry.

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration
documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the
Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal.

Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section

" I'm 99.9% certain that service dogs are not supposed to attack children." ... A SD should never bite anyone without just cause and under no circumstances should ever attack anyone of any age. A bite to protect itself or their handler can be validated in some cases, but then the dog should be evaluated by a behaviorist to make sure the dog is okay to go back into service. In the case as cited above there is no justified reason for that dog to have attacked anyone much less a child. At that point it should be treated as any other aggressive dangerous animal. It should never be used as a SD in public or even taken out into public again without a muzzle and then only as needed such as a trip to a veterinarian.

"I've read where service dogs are sometimes doctor prescribed." ... No, a doctor or other mental health care professional can prescribe an Emotional Support Animal (ESA). An ESA is not a Service Dog. These are two separate legal classifications.

A doctor can in their professional opinion state that a SD would be of help for their patient.
This can be of importance for the patient to be aware of especially if the doctor makes a notation in the medical files as a point of consideration if there is ever a future need.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) the Federal Agency mandated by Congress to oversee Title II and Title III of the ADA does not require a doctor to sign off on any forms or letters that their patient needs or could be helped by using a SD.

"Are these dogs certified? Are there state tests they have to pass? Is it a federal program? Who regulates these dogs?" ... in short no. A Program SD is certified per the in-house policies of the program that trained it, but these are only for the program's internal record keeping. The DOJ has given a definition of what a SD is. There are various documents that have been published on the behavior of a SD. There are Federal and sometimes State Laws on Service Dogs. If a SD becomes a community problem or is dangerous they are treated as any other potentially dangerous dog. By virtue of being trained as a SD does not give the animal license to act in an aggressive manner.

"I'm really starting to think that the place where he got this dog is not really distributing true service dogs. It's a dishonor to everyone who gets one of these poorly trained dogs (thinking they are true SDs), and it has now become a problem to anyone who lives around someone with one of these poorly trained dogs." ... nothing more can be said to your statement here. You are 100% correct in this.

 

As has been mentioned there are many individuals who for one reason or another buy a SD vest and put it on their pet dog or just verbally tell others it is a SD.

Some reasons are:
Banned breed in their area
Don't want to pay a pet deposit
Don't want to pay to transport a pet via airline
Want to be able to take their "Fluffy" everywhere they go
Dog has Separation Anxiety (SA) and can not be left home alone
Owner is not legally disabled, but likes the attention

There are also people who "train & sell" Service Dogs for an extra income and have no knowledge of the laws or how to properly train a dog. Most of the time these people have no idea how to pick a proper prospect and just grab the cheapest or easiest dog around. There are a great many people who will form a non-profit so they can receive donations.

Scammers and unethical people are all around.

 

I've never been impressed by this particular neighbor's dogs, as I hear them growling, barking, whimpering, whining and basically misbehaving (if they are indeed service dogs) all of the time (or they're really just acting like normal untrained or barely trained pets/dogs). I even hear my neighbor in his yard hitting and beating and cursing at his dogs when they don't listen to him. I've researched the service dog company that donates these dogs, and it looks as if they are taking random dogs out of shelters, giving them some training to pass simple tests, and then giving them away for free as "supposed" service dogs.

This sounds to me like it pretty well sums up the quality of trainer, SD group and quality of SD prospects involved.

 

Legally a SD meets definition if the person has a disabling medical condition, the dog is trained to perform tasks to mitigate that disability. This can be 100 percent owner trained with no professional help but businesses and other public places do have the right to ask a dog to leave that is out of control or not potty trained.

Lots of them are professionally trained through reputable organizations. Plenty of individuals owner train well behaved, useful, safe dogs. Training consists of public access training, where the dog learns to behave in public without sniffing people, merchandise ect, be quiet. Then there is task training where the dog learns its tasks such as retrieving items for a person who is wheelchair bound or guiding a blind person. These tasks will then be proofed in public too. Many dogs through big programs will be "team certified" with their handler, I am with my first SD. But there is no state or national certification, only the legal definition as stated above per Americans with Disabilities Act

Then....there is the rest. If this dog/guy represent an organization other than himself personally, I would absolutely notify that organization that this dog is dangerous and should not be working

 

If the whole organization is shady then report THEM too... I am not sure to who, BBB, scam alert, idk

 

Debate over 'fake' service animals

 

Wulf - Glad your son is going to be okay.. sounds like there is a whole lot of gray area with SD reading this thread..

You're in the middle of things and sometimes emotions and other factors make decisions like reporting/not-reporting difficult. I know you have lots of concerns and the correct course of action is hard to see.. Those that have taken the time to read your post and comment can perhaps see things more clearly because they're not emotionally invested..

For the record I also believe you need to talk with your neighbor about rabies shots. From your original post, I'm not sure an adult owner of the dog even knows this happened. You can ask them to "self reported" the incident during the conversation without being confrontational about it. If they say they haven't or won't you can act surprised and remind them that it's their responsibility to do so.. Also that "it looks so much better to AC when you self report".. A little passive/aggressive but it will put them on notice that this isn't going to be swept under the rug. Let some time go by and follow up with AC to check the status of the report? Then file the report if they have not done so.. Just my opinion.. I wish you the best and hope things turn out..

 

Wulf, the simple answer to your question is no one regulates it. You got a lot of responses, but not what you really wanted. Read your initial post again and put yourself out of the equation. If you were reading this from someone else, what would you say to them?


I sincerely pray this dog doesn't kill the next child because odds are it will attack another child.

 

OP, have you considered that the more time you allow to go by with inaction, makes you less believable? The neighbor can deny this ever happened - it wasn't 'his' dog. The authorities would ask, "Why didn't you report this immediately? Why didn't you take your son for medical treatment?" You worry about how many pets you have and your pension. Have you worried about being considered an unfit parent and having your children taken away? I honestly don't think you have thought this through. Your response, or lack there of, does not seem normal to the rest of us.

My daughter was bitten by a dog, when she was 6. It was her fault. I admit that. We were at the horse farm. It was an old farm dog. I was yelling, "NO!" as I saw what she was about to do. She bent over and hugged the old dog who had been sleeping. He bit her in the face. It wasn't a bad bite. Hardly broke the skin. He wasn't a nasty dog. She surprised him and should not have. Even so, I immediately went to the owner and told him what happened. All I wanted to know was, "Is your dog up to date on his shots?" There was no yelling or accusations. I later called his vet to verify the shots. I called my pediatrician who felt since it wasn't a bad bite and both my daughter and the dog were UTD on shots, it was OK. I covered my bases.

You have not covered your bases. If this dog attacks another child you will, as others have stated, share in the blame. Can you live with that?

 

I totally agree that if another child is bitten or killed, the weight of that will be heavy on you!

 

Agree. This is your child. It sounds like there are a lot of small children around and this dog is let to run wild. It's a dog that has already shown it will bite a child, from a breed renowned for mauling kids. It makes no sense to not at least inform the owners. Dog had fun the first time, there is no reason it won't bite again.

 

I'm still stuck on how the heck can a person get fired and lose his retirement as punishment for violating an animal ordinance? I'm truly curious. It's outside of my realm of experience.

 

I wonder, too - just nosey I guess.

 

I am a little surprised reading back over this thread seeing commentors who normally would go into overkill at the slightest infraction of the law turn a blind eye to OP's neighbors owning a banned breed. These same people can't even find it to speak out about the dog being off leash and they surely would have had the breed been a non fighting breed puppy, or other normally innocuous breed, as has happened in the past.

It makes me wonder what is truly behind all the harassment members receive on other threads for such things as having well behaved dogs off leash or about other people not cleaning up dog poop when there are no receptacles and other minor, harmless infractions of the law.

Does one get to pick and choose what laws to follow? Is it a matter of convenience? Just what is it? Does it have something to do with the breed? Does owning specific breeds endow those owners with an automatic free pass to break the law without the usual outcry? Who makes that decision?

I have seen the finger pointed at OP, his introverted wife, his job and even the number of his pets, ... a lot of victim blaming, even blatantly stating his concerns over his job and pension seem crazy and improbable. Yet, nobody points the finger at the neighbor whose reckless and irresponsible actions has inflicted what has been deemed a dangerous animal by his community's law makers, with the support of his community, upon his family neighborhood resulting in a child being attacked.

OP's best option at this point, which also protects his family, pets, job and pension, would be to turn this law breaker in for owning a banned breed. He should let the authorities know that the Pit Bull is responsible for an unreported attack on a child. This can all be done anonymously and would be in OP's and the community's better interest.

OP, I am truly sorry what people have said to you on this thread and for the aspersions they have cast on your concerns. Your child has been attacked and bitten, you did not deserve to be treated so poorly.

 

I actually kind of get why he's not saying anything (assuming he's right about his job and pension being on the line), but I think what people are reacting to is the perceived failure by the OP to advocate for his child. I think that shocks people, to be honest.

We know the neighbors won't take precautions. They don't care. They should clean up after themselves (in a figurative sense), but they won't. Should OP have to? No, not in a perfect world. But will he have to if he wants to effectively protect his child? Likely. He has two bad choices to pick from. I can see why he chose the one he did. I still think it's a bad choice and I stand behind saying so. It just might be less bad than the alternative.

And on the number of pets thing: OP cited this as the reason why he was afraid to speak up. Okay. So maybe think about cutting back, or looking into a permit that would allow him to have extra animals. Something that helps him not have to fear relying on the system if he needs it. It's just logical. Again, I stand behind saying that.

 

Speaking for myself only....I did not realize pits were banned where OP lives, obviously I missed that part? So that did not even factor into anything I said.

I suggested that the OP report the bite to the appropriate authorities hoping that those authorities would force the owner of the pit to control it properly because the actions of the pits owner so far made me think they aren't going to do any better with this dog until someone forces them to.

And if OP is in the US and it is really a service dog, that usually trumps state legislation banning breeds. So I believe you can have a pit bull SD even in a place where pit bulls are banned. But I also don't know what country OP is in...

 

OP has stated the breed is banned in his community. A Pit Bull SD would trump a banning BUT there would be a lot more accountability and documentation required in such a case, in essence: prove it.

Even if it were a documentable SD, it won't be the first Pit Bull SD to bite or attack. It just opens up a whole new venue that needs to be addressed.

 

I have seen the finger pointed at OP, his introverted wife, his job and even the number of his pets, ... a lot of victim blaming, even blatantly stating his concerns over his job and pension seem crazy and improbable. Yet, nobody points the finger at the neighbor whose reckless and irresponsible actions has inflicted what has been deemed a dangerous animal by his community's law makers, with the support of his community, upon his family neighborhood resulting in a child being attacked.

To be honest MAWL, and I would say there's a certain amount of finger pointing from me, I have a very difficult time understanding not going directly to the neighbor and speaking to them about it. And if you live in a place where there are strict rules that can effect your employment and pension and then you choose to ignore them? You talk about reckless and irresponsible, your families security and well being put aside for a couple extra cats?

Even if the neighbor was a good friend or we hated each other, if you don't want to go to animal control this time you can't just explain to him that dog better not be on your property again and I want proof of his rabies vaccination right now? The neighbor may be the biggest goof in the world but you have a responsibility as a husband and father to your family.

 

Steve, OP was put in a predicament that predates this incident and had chose inaction. If we were to point fingers, the time to do so was before this child was attacked.

To be told: "In any case, maybe this is a warning to begin downsizing and/or not replacing animals when they pass, and remaining under the limit in the future. If you follow the rules, you have a lot less to fear." is victim blaming to the nth degree. What a terrible thing to say to somebody who has had their child attacked and by the same token is worried about their job and pension regardless of their role in the scenario. How can one point an accusatory finger at OP as a lawbreaker and in essence, reaping what they sow for their errant ways while deliberately ignoring the role and actions of the neighbor who chooses to break a law that endangers people and pets in the community?

On a more personal note, if you had some of my neighbors, you would not go to them either.

I think blaming strict rules where OP lives for his employment and pension predicament is really reaching. I speculate that OP's job hinges on him keeping a squeaky clean record as his job might entail him being upheld as a role model to children or other such consideration. Either way, it is none of our business and has nothing to do with his neighbor owning a banned breed that attacked his child. That is 100% on his neighbor.

People keep telling OP to keep his extra cats inside, did I miss something? Did OP even say he owns cats? Regardless, I agree that the health and welfare of one's family is a priority. But lets be honest, his community did not put dog breeds on pieces of paper and pull names out of a hat to ban a breed. There is a valid reason that his community banned Pit Bulls and if we are to fault OP on anything, it should have been his lack of action in turning the Pit Bull in to the proper authorities in the first place. He didn't. Nobody did. And now his child was bitten by a banned breed. It could have been worse, a child or pet could have been killed. It happens. If anything, OP's actions BEFORE the attack were reckless and irresponsible and led to this incident.

Let me take a moment to make it quite clear that the purpose of breed banning and BSL is to prevent the initial bite or attack, not to punish after the fact. To say he is reckless and irresponsible now, is like closing the barn door after the horse got out.

I agree that he should enquire into the rabies vax status, but to each their own. There is a reason that OP is reluctant to approach this neighbor, he is not obligated to tell us. After all, his question is about the making of a service dog, not what he should do about this bite.

IMO, I think the question now is what is OP going to do about this Pit Bull, and all the other Pit Bulls he states are illegally in this community? Does a child need to be mauled or killed? How about a German Shepherd puppy, would that be a viable sacrifice?

I understand your position as a father, and rightfully so. Most of us don't understand how the welfare of a child doesn't have top priority.

 

I'm with Watery Tart. Being neighborly is well and good, but you have a people-biting dog next door that children are in charge of, that bit your kid once already. Most of the pit bulls that have killed people have had previous incidents like what happened to your son. They have a lethal weapon over there with a mind of its own. It has targeted your son for some reason.

I guess you can build a secure kennel and make your kid play in there when he is outside, or you can call the police and present the hospital bills to them and explain the situation, and get something done about it.

There are service dogs and service dogs, and yes you can train your own. Heck, I have PTSD, lots of people do. If I say that my dog calms me down, I can probably get a doctor to say that a service dog is a good idea, and whoo hoo, I get to take my doggy everywhere. And, the thing is, no one can question it. Unless my dog acts up, and then they can ask me to leave. So yes, it is a system designed to be abused, but the alternative would be to demand proof of a medical need, and well, that too is kind of icky.

I don't do this for the same reason I don't take handicapped parking spots: I am grateful that I don't NEED a service dog, I don't want to ruin it for those who do. And, I have a twinge of, I don't know, negative feeling with the idea of taking something I am not entitled to.

As dog lovers, yes, we would love to take our pooch everywhere with us. But think of what that means, really. Do you really want to take your dog with your to work and everywhere else, where half the population also has their dog with them? Sure, why not? Why not? Because 75% of dog owners haven't a clue how to properly train or manage their dogs. At least in the US it is like that. You got the elite dog owners on this site, just because they know their breed or mix and are looking for information, and a goodly number of us have trouble with basic obedience and house training. Can you imagine all these dogs everywhere you go. Sure, YOU wouldn't take a dog reactive or people aggressive dog to work with you, but what about your work-mate? Do they even know that their little Putsie is uncomfortable in the situation and being driven to bite? We can't seem to go by a few days without people presenting a horror story from the dog park or the pet store. Imagine this every day, every where you go. And where would that leave the people who truly rely on their dogs to function normally, trying to navigate, whatever, and someone's untrained, uncomfortable dog comes charging their dog.

Ah well. Yes, the topic kind of burns me. Call the police, but not for pretending it is a service dog, but because it chewed on your kid.

 

But OP has a third option that would not jeopardize himself. The breed is illegal where he lives, turn it in along with its bite history.

 

He told the story. Gave all the information. He opened himself up to judgement of that story.

He would have gotten a different response if he had asked "SD should not be attacking people right?"

 

I would guess by the way the OP talked about pit bulls he doesn't know how much danger his kid could be in either.