For people who utilize and rely on a service animal, dealing with imposters — people who try to pass off their pet as a service animal — are an unfortunate and all too common occurrence. Now, the city of Phoenix is taking steps to deal with bad actors who visit some of its parks.
It’s 7 a.m. at Camelback Mountain’s Echo Canyon trail and the place is busy with hikers climbing up and down the peak. Dogs are not allowed on this trail because of its degree of difficulty, but according to City of Phoenix Park Manager Scott Covey, that doesn’t always matter.
"And occasionally we have people that claim that their dog has service animal status to try and circumvent that rule so they can take their dog up the trail," said Covy.
From a legal perspective, park rangers weren’t sure what questions they could ask. So Covey reached out to Phoenix’s Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator Peter Fischer for help. His rangers learned they could ask two very telling questions.
"Well, we ask is this a service animal? That gives that opportunity to say 'yes' or 'no' and most folks will say 'yes,'" said Covey. "And then we can ask the second question of, what is the service your animal has been trained to provide?"
And it’s that second question that usually catches people off guard. Covey’s rangers also learned to look for certain indicators.
"Such as the animal won’t stop and defecate on trail," he explained. "Service animals are trained to release at a specific time by the person that they are serving."
Myra Markley owns All 4 Paws Animal Training and utilizes a service animal herself. She has gone out to Echo Canyon with the rangers to educate people who try to pose their pet as a service animal.
"After all the training and the supplies and the treats and the education you go through to train these dogs, the dogs are worth $20,000 to $40,000 a piece," she said. "So why would you take it up a hill where it could slip and fall and break a leg and never work a day in its life again?"
Covey said with the training, they’ve seen a reduction in the number of people bringing their pets to Echo Canyon, but he said as soon as it cools off, they’ll see more dogs.
