wilkeliza
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2013
I know that a lot of people who have service dogs don't appreciate those who take advantage of it. It makes it more difficult for them to use their service dog because of the skepticim people nowadays have.
One night at Cracker Barrel we had a nice chat with a blind gentleman who had his service dog with him. The service dog had on a vest and the handle he was using and a platisic attachment to the dog's vest said something to the effect of "on the job please don't touch". He said he gets push back a lot of times from people when he tells them not to interact with his dog as it distracts her from doing her job. To him she is not a pet but there are enough people out there that use what they call their service dogs but treat them like pets. Now it isn't to say that people still wouldn't want to touch the dog..I guess for most of us we see a dog and want to pet it.
I don't really judge people based on what they consider an emotional support animal (remember the turkey on that one flight?) but I think in general people who truly use them for that emotional assistance understand the rules surrounding their ability to have them with them and understand when they may be barred from bring them in with them.
Oh totally don't judge ESA either but people need to know the difference between a SA and an ESA and therapy dogs. It is just frustrating when people think they are the same and expect to be treated the same it creates issues.