by Marc Phillippe Babineau

Created on: December 17, 2011   Last Updated: December 20, 2011

There is a major need for service dogs in society. From seeing-eye dogs, police, customs and border security dogs, companion dogs for the elderly and frail, guard dogs and home assistance dogs, the overall connecting factor is that these dogs all provide a necessary service to their owners. There are, unfortunately, those that take advantage of the social acceptance of service dogs being given more platitudes in where they are accepted and social programs that offer bursaries for their care, feeding, expenses and veterinarian bills. Frequently service dogs are provided with reduced or subsidized pet insurance, and those who fake their dogs` service certifications are taking advantage of this.

Of course, there are different kinds of fake service dogs; those that the owner fakes the service certifications for, and those that have been supplied to the people, services and organizations that require the services of the real deal. Imagine a blind person being given a seeing-eye dog that only has rudimentary training from an everyday dog training facility. Knowing the basic hand and voice gestures for heel, sit, stay, come, get and play, a well-behaving dog can be confused with a qualified service dog by the providers and the provided alike, at least until the first time that the seeing-eye dog needs to save its owner`s life at an intersection.

Due to the extreme differences in the cost of service dogs over normal, puppy mill dogs being so astronomical, it is well worth the culprit`s time and investment in training a dog to be passed off as a service dog. Even a pedigree, champion-class pure bred dog like Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds, that average about $1,200 per puppy, being able to pass one off as a service dog would net the seller more than five times what the dog would have normally fetched. But not only is the legal aspect of providing fake service dogs a plague on the programs, but the moral aspect is even more damaging.

Every time an organization provides a fake service dog to their intended owner, they are damaging their own reputation and losing the faith that their customers had in them. Civil litigation could be instigated by the duped owner(s) of fake service dogs once the provider has been identified and arrested. A border services agent could be allowing tonnes and tonnes of illicit materials, from bombs, guns and ammunition to drugs, people and imitation goods into the country with a fake service dog at his side. A police officer could be chasing a squirrel instead of the squirrelly culprit that he was supposed to catch.

The growing problem of fake service dogs is mainly driven by the high cost of purchasing one. A certified service dog can cost upwards of $10,000 and more, depending upon the services provided, the pedigree and breed of the dog, and the levels of training provided. When a pedigreed pure-bred dog that would normally sell for about $1,200 fetching almost ten times that amount when they sold as a fake service dog, the profits attract criminal organizations like dead animals attract flies.

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