Thanks for the article regarding legislation proposed by Rep. James Dunnigan concerning service and support animals.
My adult son is blind, physically disabled and requires a wheelchair. I completely support the use of service and legitimate support animals.
My husband and I are also landlords — a small mom-and-pop business with a duplex and three single-family homes. We are members of the Good Landlord Program for our city. I can tell you from experience that the justification process for such animals is not sufficient.It would be a giant improvement to pass some legislation requiring an applicant to provide documentation of disability from a local physician and to educate physicians on what they are actually signing.
The letter from the physician should require terminology to include a statement of need that meets the ADA and Fair Housing Act definition of a qualifying disability requiring a support animal. It is not sufficient to say “would benefit from” or “makes them feel better” as justification.
There are legitimate cases for service and support animals. Our experience, unfortunately, has been that the majority of applicants simply want to keep their pet in a no-pets-allowed rental unit.
Joreen Hall, South Salt Lake
