This is an article relating to British Columbia (Canada) but I would hazard a guess that it won't be long before it catches on here - assuming it hasn't already!

Guide Dog and Service Dog Act changes target fraudulent pooches:

"Service dog trainers and owners hope new legislation will put an end to fraud.

B.C.'s newly revised Guide Dog and Service Dog Act, set to take effect later this year, will be among the first in Canada to tackle the subject of service animal impersonation, an issue experts say has escalated sharply in recent years.

While there are no available numbers documenting the problem, service dog trainers and owners alike say their circles are increasingly abuzz with anecdotes of people putting official-looking paraphernalia on pet dogs in the hopes that they could then enjoy the same broad access rights as certified service animals.

They say they've heard motives ranging from a reluctance to be separated from their four-legged friends during air travel to a desire to cash in on discounts most veterinarians offer clients with working dogs."

Yep there are people here who pretend their dogs are service dogs allready like the journalist who was in the news a while ago for claiming her dogs who she taught to make a fuss if her fire alarm goes off are hearing dogs when they were not from the hearing dogs people so she can take them places.
Or people have them signed up with a company who is not part of the official organizations as an assistance dog who give out their own jackets. So the dogs are not legally classed as an assistance dog but with the jackets on they look the part. There was an article about it in dogs today mag not long ago, it sad some of these unrecognised ones only ask the dog can preform 2 tasks for you to qualify for one of there jackets.

I wonder how long it will be untill we hear of an 'assistance dog' attacking someone/something. I know people in USA have said its a problem overs their apparently anyone can train a dog to be one or claim there dog is one and some have bitten.

I am seeing lots of people (UK) posting on FB with pictures of their "service dogs" - aka pets that they have bought harnesses and sew on patches from ebay for.
Some take them into supermarkets and big food stores, another regularly posts about going into her son's school to talk about service dogs - worryingly the ones I know particularly well are not even trained appropriately in basic pet obedience and one does not have a safe temperament to be put in the stressful situations that he is regularly placed in :(

And the problem is those people like that are giving real assistance dogs a bad name and make it harder to people who realy need them to get access to places.

Part of the problem is that it is a privacy concern for the owner of a true service dog to have the aid the dog provides identified for all to see.  Even if ID consists only of card to be carried in a wallet in many cases it is not legal for other people to ask to see it.  It discloses a health concern to people who have no business knowing it.   The boarding attendant, the guy who owns a restaurant, it's none of their business if you have PTSD or your child has Autism and so on and they are not supposed to ask.  I don't know why they would believe a card anyway, those can be faked too.  What a sad world we live in sometimes.  :(

It is indeed a very sad world. From another perspective however, I call my dog my unofficial medic alert dog as he is exactly that, yet has never been officially trained to do it, he does it on his own accord. He has saved me many an emergency hospital admission through alerting me or the family when I need my meds before I or any of the family have realised I am heading for trouble and with my condition, the sooner they are given the better and faster the recovery. Last time he knew and raised the alarm no one was home but me and I became too ill to help myself. He stayed beside me until my partner came home and then I was blue lighted to hospital where I stayed four days. I would love some sort of official identification for him which I consider is well deserved and needed. I usually explain to whoever I need to why I need him with me if I am going somewhere where he can help and so far I have had favourable response. I would however prefer not to have to give my medical details to strangers in order to have his help and support when out or away.
I don't know how that could be accomplished but I just wanted to explain this from someone's point of view who has a genuine 'untrained' assistance dog who is our much adored pet first and foremost but valued and needed as an essential help too.

>I would however prefer not to have to give my medical details to strangers in order to have his help and support when out or away. I don't know how that could be accomplished

Have a word with these people Elly: Medical Detection Dogs. Hopefully, they can help you qualify your dog If they do help you, please keep us posted of the outcome.