I have an emotional support dog story.
An institution I teach at has an early college program: Qualified high school students can earn college credit (and high school credit). In this case, I would conduct class on the high school campus in the early morning of the Fall semester.
This high school's administration was thoroughly dysfunctional, but after the first few weeks, I thought the worst was behind me. After handing in the mid-term exam, a student asked if she could bring her emotional support dog to class. I said two things: 1) I don't think I have the authority to say "no" if it's a disability issue, so thanks for asking; 2) You've made it this far, and you're doing fine, so why upset the apple cart? She insisted that she was barely keeping things together. "Well... that settles it. Bring the dog." Another student testified, and I quote, "The dog is cool."
So at our next meeting, Clayton the dog comes in. Despite being pretty big, he looked like a total pussy. I mean... he seemed nervous as hell. So I'm up there, lecturing my cast-iron heart out, and Clayton whimpers. Students chuckled. I acknowledge it and move on, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone's a critic."
After the third or fourth interruption, I said to the student we'll call Allie: "Allie: Never. Again." Some chuckles because it was light-hearted (but also serious, since I have a black, metallic heart).
At the end of that class, I saw students scratching Clayton, and asked if I could pet him. She said "sure." In my head, I made a note: "I don't think strangers are allowed to pet service dogs... This is a FAKE support animal!"
Anyway, she ignored my request and kept bringing the ******* dog, and he kept wimpering. Whenever he squealed, she'd pet him and feed him treats. If she wanted to turn something in at the front, the dog would follow her (even if she told him to stay put).
A month or so later, the students were taking a quiz, and Clayton was having an especially bad day, which distracted my quiz-takers. This... pissed me off. He can interrupt my lectures, fine, but not a quiz. After class I told her that her dog was an "emotional mess" (he seemed more dependent on her than vice-versa). I questioned whether he was a real service dog since anyone can buy a vest. She acted offended. Clayton apparently studied his nutz off to pass some kind of certification. Of course, she kept bringing him.
Fast forward a week or two later and I get an e-mail from the dean, explaining that a student lodged a formal complaint: I made her feel "uncomfortable." The dean cited the two comments I mentioned ("Never. Again." and "emotional mess."). She wanted to hear my side of the story, so I called her up and explained my suspicions that it was a fake service dog.
The dean said that if the animal was a distraction, then I might have some authority to remove it. Technically, the classroom needs to comply with college's standards (initially, I stupidly assumed that since she was bringing this dog to all of her classes for the day, it would have been vetted by the high school. Unfortunately, the high school's administration sucks balls). My dean quickly dug up a vague PDF stating students are allowed to have either a dog OR -- get this -- a small horse. Like a ******* pony?! I dunno.
I said that my mind would be put at ease if the dog was vetted by DSPS. At this point we didn't have many more classes, so I said I didn't really care if she kept bringing him as long as he stayed away during the final exam.
Ten minutes before the final, the student brings documentation from DSPS and a smug smile on her face. I was humbled. Without reading it, I asked, "what does it say?"
"Well, since you said Clayton was bothering people, I'm supposed to get a quiet, isolated environment," and she indicated taking the test in an empty anteroom connected to the classroom. This was an absolute no-go; I can't monitor her in there. I just let her sit in her usual seat and moved everyone else away. During the exam, I read the documents. First, they were dated 10 days prior, so I should have seen them much sooner. Also, there's NO mention of a goddamn dog. NONE. She gets extra time and an extra quiet area. Of course, the only one making noise is her fake service animal.
After her final exam was figured in, she had an overall grade of 89.7%. I ALWAYS round scores this high to an A... and so, that's what I did. But if I see her on the street, I'm going to call her out.