Keeping a service dog after use?
It’s not “once a service dog always a service dog.” Sorry, but by legal definition a dog is only a service dog if it is performing tasks that mitigate the disability of its owner. That’s why you can’t just take an adopted retired guide dog everywhere like a working guide dog. Without the disabled owner they become lovely pets. If the owner is no longer disabled, then the dog is no longer legally a service dog. That’s because the legal rights offered by the Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act concerning the use of service animals are specifically for people with disabilities. Those who aren’t disabled don’t qualify for those protections because they don’t qualify under those laws. There are NO federal laws concerning rights of service dogs, because in our legal system, animals have no rights. (I don’t agree with this policy, but that’s the policy we have.) I do have another option for you, but am uncomfortable discussing it on an open forum like this one
