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According to many of those it affects, confusion clouds the governance of working dogs in America today, more than ever. Not only are the laws scattered and myriad, they’re abused, and even the overall cogency of owning one has faded.

The existence of not only service dogs for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a condition of the like but the introduction of canines tagged as therapy or emotional support animals is one cause. The other is that there’s still no grand, sweeping federal law that simplifies how vets’ can expect the public to legally accept them and — hopefully — embrace them.

Right now, there are federal laws but also state laws — as well as mentions in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, the Fair Housing Amendment (FHAA), and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Which makes interpreting how to handle a service dog, whether for a veteran or not, extremely complex (to read more about all of these, in detail, click here).

That’s why the American Humane Society and the National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations (NAVSO) have banded together and created a petition (here) to get veterans’ committees from both the House and Senate to look at the situation and solve for it — via unifying legislation.

To see if such a service dog could help you a veteran you know, message a member of your the VA health care team by clicking here.