The service dog title is being way overdone.

On airlines at least, the policy has been tightened -- to get on, we have to prove that Lisa's guide dog is properly trained by a recognised organisation, in our case the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association here in Britain, which rules out most of the "emotional support animals" that we used to see (who tended to distract Star from doing her job). 

US airlines are cracking down, as well, but there are way too many people abusing the system on pubic transit, in restaurants, in museums, etc. I believe such people do have needs, but not the kind an animal can solve.

Agree 100%. We're in a rental in a subdivision that has both a separate security deposit and a 20-lb weight restriction for dogs. There are several very large, very vocal, very poorly-behaved dogs that seem like they'd be good candidates for some emotional support themselves.

I asked the landlord about them, and apparently the legal environment is such that - practically-speaking - anybody can have any animal they want by claiming it's an "emotional support animal." I've even had a couple other residents ask why we paid the security deposit and jumped through the hoops when we could have gotten out of all of it by getting a doctor note. It just boggles my mind.