By Jim Kennedy, Executive Director, Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs

Our state legislature passed a law making it illegal to pose a pet as a service dog when it is not. It
goes into effect January 1, 2019. The fines can range from $100 to more than $500 IF a person is proven
guilty beyond a doubt.
Some have said, what’s the big deal with people doing this? No harm, right? The honest answer is that when people falsely pose their pets as service dogs, there are at least three problems: 1. Businesses grow even more confused about who to believe; 2. This, in turn, causes some legitimate service dog teams to become suspect when they otherwise would not be; and 3. Though well-trained, a service dog is still a dog, and their “work focus” can be unnecessarily interrupted.

For years, we’ve all seen many dogs in stores and businesses sporting internet-purchased vests and IDs proclaiming they are service dogs, when, to the casual observer, they certainly do not appear to be.
Still, we must be careful not to prejudge.

Understandably, enforceability is a huge concern. If you can’t require IDs, then how can you tell
if the dog is a “fake” or real service dog? In our testimony we said we understood that concern, but really believed a law was a badly needed starting point to begin educating those who abuse the law. We feel most people are law abiding and when they learn it is against the law, many will start to rethink the practice. We are not naïve. There will continue to be some abuse. Just like those who speed on highways.

Complicating matters is that under ADA, emotional support animals do NOT have the access rights that legitimate service dogs have. This situation will need to be dealt with sensitively as the education process begins.