How to handle fake emotional support animals in restaurants
Restaurant staff face legal threats and lawsuits when they try to stop guests from bringing untrained animals into dining areas. These confrontations make it difficult to maintain sanitary conditions and protect the business from predatory legal settlements.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Asking guests the legally allowed ADA screening questions about whether the animal is required for a disability and what specific task it is trained to performDid this help you?
- 2Denying entry based on the animal disrupting business or misbehaving (such as pooping or jumping on tables)Did this help you?
- 3Printing and distributing laminated half sheets of ADA codes to inform customers of rules against non-service animalsDid this help you?
- 4Standing ground against complaints and threats of lawsuitsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“We've been getting a lot of emotional support animals lately. The latest was a bichon frise wearing a dress, jumping on the table and pooping in our booth.”source ↗
“Amen, I've been going round and round with guests about their emotional support animals.”source ↗
“Been threatened a couple dozen times so far.”source ↗
“I've been sued twice for this. Usually they are looking for a quick settlement and have a lawyer ready”source ↗
Where this came up
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