12/06/2025
I wrote this to our Governor here in Wisconsin hoping he would vetoe AB366. He did. I'm not sure if he read my letter, but I will always advocate for our service dog teams and ESA's. Psychiatric support is very limited for those struggling with mental health issues. This bill was not about fake service dogs. It was about giving landlords more power to be able to limit ESA's. This bill was passed through legislation and was on the Governor's desk to be signed last week:
Penalties for those who falsely claim a service animal AB 366, which would have allowed housing providers to require documentation for service animals and created penalties for misrepresentation of an animal. Evers said he objects to โthe creation of unnecessary barriers for individuals with legitimate disability-related needs.โ
Dear Govenor Evers:
I'm reaching out to you to highlight a significant issue. About 40% of our legitimate service dog teams in Wisconsin face daily discrimination. Approximately 20% of complaints, not substantiated from businesses, involve suspicions about fake service animals. These are substantial barriers for those who genuinely need these animals for daily support.
In addition, there's a shortage of service dogs trainers leading to an average wait time of two years and up to five years. This combined with the need for psychiatric support throughout the process places an extra burden on individuals seeking service dogs. Many people in need of a service dog are trying to train the dogs themselves in order to get the immediate support they need for basic daily tasks and life-saving alerts from their service animal.
This 30-day waiting period is a huge barrier for people who really need an ESA or service dog. It basically means that if someone adopts a new animal, they can't get the support animal officially recognized for a month and that just isn't practical. Also, we have personally faced a situation in which our request for a letter in support of my son's service animal is denied due to the provider's concerns over liability. This situation highlights a broader challenge where patients and families face hurdles due to providers' liability concerns complicating access to necessary support.
I urge you to consider policies that protect these teams from further discrimination and expand training resources, ensuring everyone who needs a service dog, not excluding emotional support animals, can access one without undue hardship. Instead of limiting ESAs and service dog teams, please consider supporting our community with more access to a welcoming space to live with their ESAs and service animals and funding to help train their animals so they can live cohesively in our community.
With heartfelt dedication,
Linda Stelter, Sit Happens Dog Training LLC
Emilie McGrane ๐ค๐ค๐ฉถ๐ค๐๐พ
