Allow emotional support dogs the same rights and protections as service dogs
The Issue
As of September 2021 there still is a difference in between the rights and legal protections of a registered service dog and a professionally certified emotional support dog.
Emotional support dogs don't need training, like service dogs, or a temperament check, like therapy dogs. The low qualifications of emotional support animals, though, doesn't mean these creatures don't play a genuine role in their owner's well-being. Having a pet has been shown to improve cognitive function in seniors with dementia and to hasten recovery from serious mental illness.
Under our provincial legislation service dogs have the legal right to go anywhere their handler can go, from grocery stores to hospitals, restaurants to taxis. They're the equivalent of any other accessibility aid, like a wheelchair or a white cane, and they shouldn't be separated from their handler. Emotional support animals in Canada have the right to travel with their owners for free but don't have any of the other access rights to public spaces that service dogs do. Because of this emotional support animals in Nova Scotia are subject to discrimination from businesses such as grocery stores, retail stores, taxi cabs and other private businesses despite being deemed medically necessary by a mental health professional.
This law needs to change….people who are diagnosed with severe mental illnesses such as PTSD, Agoraphobia, Anxiety, Depression, etc. are just as entitled to have a support animal with them at all times to help them in social situations and environments in their time of need if psychologically acknowledged by a mental health professional to do so.
I invite you to please sign this petition to get this law changed and to protect the mental well being of those diagnosed with mental illnesses in public settings. Contact your local MLA make your voice to make your voice heard. You can also contact the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia through the following information:
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Government House
1451 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 1Z2
T: (902) 424-7001
F: (902) 424-1790
lgoffice@novascotia.ca
493
The Issue
As of September 2021 there still is a difference in between the rights and legal protections of a registered service dog and a professionally certified emotional support dog.
Emotional support dogs don't need training, like service dogs, or a temperament check, like therapy dogs. The low qualifications of emotional support animals, though, doesn't mean these creatures don't play a genuine role in their owner's well-being. Having a pet has been shown to improve cognitive function in seniors with dementia and to hasten recovery from serious mental illness.
Under our provincial legislation service dogs have the legal right to go anywhere their handler can go, from grocery stores to hospitals, restaurants to taxis. They're the equivalent of any other accessibility aid, like a wheelchair or a white cane, and they shouldn't be separated from their handler. Emotional support animals in Canada have the right to travel with their owners for free but don't have any of the other access rights to public spaces that service dogs do. Because of this emotional support animals in Nova Scotia are subject to discrimination from businesses such as grocery stores, retail stores, taxi cabs and other private businesses despite being deemed medically necessary by a mental health professional.
This law needs to change….people who are diagnosed with severe mental illnesses such as PTSD, Agoraphobia, Anxiety, Depression, etc. are just as entitled to have a support animal with them at all times to help them in social situations and environments in their time of need if psychologically acknowledged by a mental health professional to do so.
I invite you to please sign this petition to get this law changed and to protect the mental well being of those diagnosed with mental illnesses in public settings. Contact your local MLA make your voice to make your voice heard. You can also contact the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia through the following information:
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
Government House
1451 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 1Z2
T: (902) 424-7001
F: (902) 424-1790
lgoffice@novascotia.ca
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Petition created on September 17, 2021