I used to work at a pharmacy and a woman had her diabetic alert service dog sitting calmly in the waiting room. A woman comes in to pick up her prescription and threw a fit about a dog being allowed in a pharmacy. Her exact words were "that is unhealthy because dogs have germs". I could see it was upsetting the owner of the service dog so I left my work station and politly told the woman throwing a fit that "the dog is not a pet, but her service animal." I also told her that "service animals can go anywhere the public can such as restaurants, movie theaters, pharmacies and stores. Service animals are not allowed in non-public areas like behind our pharmacy counter or in a kitchen." She proceeded to tell me that she felt unsafe around large dogs and that we should put the animal outside. I told her that is against the law and that if she would like I could bring her medications out to her vehicle when they were ready. I told her that there is nothing to fear from a service dog and gave her the option of waiting inside or if she wanted to she could wait in her car. Later that day my boss called me into her office and commended me for intervening into the situation early and handling it with such composure. Apparently the the service dog owner also suffered from extreme anxiety, so when I talked to the woman throwing a fit about the dog, she was so thankful for helping her avoid any confrontation that she called my boss and also sent a thank you card. The point of my long story is to show compassion to people with disabilities even when you can't see the disability.
I feel bad for this lady... I wouldn't describe her as outraged but as being "hurt" as her human dignity was trampled on... Sometimes "Healthy" people like to stereotype people with disabilities as being cranky or demanding. She was very calm for what she experienced.
I've seen all sizes of service dogs. And to be honest, if the dog is well trained enough to behave like one, I don't care if it's a service dog or not. What I hate are the idiots that try and pass off their obnoxious, misbehaving pet as a service dog. That just makes it more difficult for legitimate service dogs.
The dogs themselves aren't obnoxious, the people trying to pass them off as service animals and making it harder for actual service animal handlers are. Insulting the animals over what the "owners" did is pretty harsh.
I've had eople threaten to call the police. "Yes, please do. We'll wait right here." Well when the police came he smiled at me, gave large Hi! and told the store they were wrong, not I. No, I've not been back to the store anyway.
In our (adopted) state, it's a crime to deny access to a Service Animal, impede a Service Animal's work, or injure a Service Animal. My girl had to threaten to call the police on a manager one day because we ran into the location without my vest on (vest is not required under the law of course) and they tried to ask her to take me out. She has trained SDs for years, so she has been a disability and SD advocate a long time. She now requires her own SD (ME! 😁🐾) and wrote a manual compiling the federal laws for Service Animals in all areas (hopefully all areas, but she can always update it if/when laws change or if she missed something somehow). She is hoping to get that published with the DOJ, as it is REALLY needed! It's got not just the laws, but explanations, context and stuffs. She has had people that are not lawyers or in law school read it and said it was extremely informative and easy to understand, so here's hoping on publishing SOON! She'd also like to do update "pamphlets" or something like that for the individual states, but she's in her next to last law school semester and planning to take the July bar next year, so any state-specific updates are almost guaranteed to wait until after that.
That handle is way too big..the dog's also pushed down with a lot more weight that he should have to handle for his size and age. On another note..I feel bad they denied her and it's sad to see people being rude to service dog handlers..or anyone for that matter
Domino-the-service dog. even more than that this dog is way overloaded with things that he is carrying on his back and most of it on the one side pulling down. this is not only going to cause balance and center-of-gravity issues for the dog but it's also going to if not already causing pain cause pain for the dog in the future because of caring all the extra weight on one side only. let me be clear I absolutely believe what this woman said happened I also have a service dog who alerts to my high and low blood sugar levels but this dog is loaded down with way to much for his size. 😢😢😢
There is seemingly no reason for the height either, as she is short enough to have a 6" or shorter handle and still be able to easily grab it with a bent elbow
I agree with this woman. This obviously IS a service dog. But I would like some burden of proof on how an 8 lb. Yorkie with a bow in its hair and a little pink bedazzled vest, riding in a grocery cart, is a service dog. I understand not all service dogs have to be labs, but the type of dog I am talking about could not even pick up keys and give them to the women as seen here.
Casey Vee " No, he does not ride in the card. And no he does not try to bite people. No legit service animal should do either of those things. And no, he does not lift up keys. Not all service animals are for that. He is a phsyciatric service dog.
Some service dogs are used to detect blood sugar drops, on coming seizures, PTSD, etc. Some of them are kept at a certain level to their handler in order to detect these problems. However, too many people are trying to pass off emotional support animals as service animals, and sadly, their pets as service animals. While I too would be suspicious of an animal all dressed up and being told it's a service animal, I do have to keep in mind of invisible disabilities and medical alert dogs.
It is not a pet. It is a task trained piece of medical adaptive equipment. She stated clearly all the tasks her dog is trained to perform to mitigate her various disabilities. Just because a person can sit on the ground doesn't mean they have no disabilities. I work with adults with disabilities, and most of my clients have few mobility issues. They can lower themselves to the floor and get back up with little to no difficulty. Their disabilities affect other areas of their lives. And you're a bigot if you think they should be denied basic human and civil rights just because they don't "look disabled" to ignoramuses such as yourself.
AtarahDerek relax it was just a comment, you're right I know nothing about people with disabilities I was just stating my own little opinion it doesn't matter
Your opinion that a person who doesn't look disabled to you personally shouldn't be granted rights under the ADA is harmful and bigoted and has no place here. It is NOT protected speech. It is calling upon others to assist you in harassing people with disabilities.
a Unu service dogs are like walkers and wheel chairs. They basically are empathetic medical tools....real true service dogs, like this one. Canes and walkers can't adjust for you if you an actual balance disorder. And what about the diabetes and seizure dogs? The dogs that warn people when they are about to pass out. There are many things dogs can do that equipment can't.
