This property owner violated all service dog laws and caused my vacation to be cut short because of the treatment we received. I have attached documentation regarding our stay.
On arrival the owner demanded to know what my service dog was for. My husband said that I have PTSD. Karen (the owner) came at me in a very combative way demanding in a loud voice that she needs to know what tasks my service dog does for me. Having read the service dog requirements on the VRBO website and know the Americas with Disabilities Act, I know Karen is not allowed to ask me this question which is a violation on my privacy. When I said this, she came back at me saying that PTSD is not a disability and that I don't require a service dog. I showed her my Dr's note, which is legally the only document I am required to show by Ontario legal standards, she said again "what tasks does he do for you" Again I informed her she was not allowed to ask me that. Karen kept telling me that my $25 000 service dog was just an emotional support dog and that I don't have access. She was very unpleasant to deal with. After a very heated argument she went into the main house to decide whether we were allowed to stay. At this point I even offered to receive a full refund and go home. Karen came out after about 20min of us just sitting in the van. She had in hand the VRBO service animal rules where it clearly states what questions she was allowed to ask me, to which I answered willingly. Is this a service animal: "Yes" Are you disabled? "Yes" but then again she asked "what tasks does this dog do for you" Again I stated that she is not allowed to ask me that. Samson, who is my service animal for PTSD, anxiety disorder, depressive mood disorder, has been trained for 2 years which is a total of $25 000. He is trained in behavior interruption, deep pressure therapy, nightmare interruption, dissociation interruption, finding exits, detecting rises in cortisol and many more. Karen eventually let us stay once again saying that Samson was only an emotional support animal and that she was only letting us stay because of her kind heartedness. We were booked to stay 3 nights but only stay 2 because the mental torment Karen caused I did not feel well enough or safe enough to stay the 3 nights. Karen also had 5 of her own dogs that barked non stop at Samson and myself. I feel violated and robbed of my anniversary celebration