A Californian based non-profit organisation has claimed that more dog owners are pretending their dogs are assistance dogs making it more difficult for genuine dog owners with service dogs.

Speaking to the BBC on behalf of Canine Companions for Independence, who provide highly trained assistance dogs, Jeanine Konopelski said they have: “Seen an increase in encounters with pet dogs, out in public, wearing service dog vests, who have obviously not been trained.”

The spokesperson continued, “In some cases the fake service dogs are observed behaving badly and there have been reports of people being bitten by these untrained animals.”

The organisation are compiling a petition to submit to the US Department of Justice asking them to crack down on the sale of fake service dog products, which are widely available on the internet.

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