Are there standards for support animal training?

Very interesting, I would not relish questioning anyone re: their need nor enforcing any of those standards or criteria.

CSM Charles Hayden - I have a few rental houses, and service animals for housing don't actually even have to be a dog. As long as the animal can be trained to do a task the provides service to the person, it is good to go for housing. However, in the rest of the world, only service dogs can take that privilege.

"In situations where it is not obvious that the dog is a service animal, staff may ask only two specific questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person's disability."
https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html

Let me make this clear. I am an animal lover. I fully support those who truly need these animals. My dog helps calm me at the end of almost every long work day. However, I would not take him into a crowded area because I know he would want to be everybody's friend...even those who may not want him to.
Bringing an untrained animal into a situation where they may get spooked and defensive is an action that could put people and the animal in a dangerous situation.
So then the question is "where is the line between accommodating a service animal and an emotional support animal in public places?" What can we, the veteran community, do to help?

GySgt Kenneth Pepper - I agree 100%. My opinion, there needs to be a certification for ESA's. In the small township (pop. 2000+/-) I live in, we have half a dozen people claiming their dogs are ESA's Not one of those half a dozen dogs is suitable for an uncontrolled public environment. Each one of them is a snappy, snarly, purse dog. At a restaurant one lady's ESA pissed on some other lady's purse and ran around unsupervised snarling at people. The restaurant owner said "ENOUGH." and put the people's food in carry out containers and sent them packing.

1st step - We (the local fire and rescue council) are trying to get a state law passed that requires people to carry an ID to verify that they have a bona fide mental health condition that the animal is necessary. None of the people who claim it in my area can prove it.

2nd Step - We want to have a state requirement that the dogs meet some standard of training for service in the public.