(11-11-2016 08:58 AM)shere khan Wrote: Im not gonna get a lawyer or make an issue out of it. I'll medicate and leave if I have to. Maybe by reading this some people might at least be sympathetic and not necessarily think a person is a big ahole when they avoid one's precious pet. In my case it's like radiation.
Just thought y'all would find it interesting.
Oh I know you didn't mean that and neither did I. I just suggested it as reading so that you'd know YOUR rights (your medical condition IS a disability) AND you'd then perhaps be more comfortable asserting YOUR rights/asking for reasonable accommodations. You don't need to (and shouldn't) suffer in silence... especially when others asserting their rights (or abusing them) impacts you in a significant way.
CameramanJ says it well.
A comfort animal has no place in most public places. NOT protected by the law. NO 'requirements' for behavior or often a focus on any training. A service dog (which includes PTSD, Autism and medical alert dogs) do(es). Many people may describe their 'medical alert' dog as a therapy or comfort animal, but that is perhaps because they are hesitant to reveal their medical condition to strangers or to make a scene/draw attention by having them wear a vest 24/7.
FO, I understand your frustration and with regard to 'comfort' animals you are 100% correct... but I caution you from jumping to conclusions. Someone may not want to advertise that they occasionally have seizures... and that the presence of an animal trained to notify me of an episode allows me to pull over my car if I'm driving or put down the fireworks or baby or iron or knives or step away from the subway platform or get off of the pool float can save my life and sometimes the lives of others. Dogs like that are 'working' 24/7, but they really only provide 'service' for perhaps a few minutes every few days, weeks or months. But I hope you can see how someone with that sort of a disability with that sort of a dog might need them with them 24/7, even perhaps in the grocery store (depending on the lead time you get). Dogs like that have special senses that we really don't understand... you can't teach it... you can simply teach them to ACT some way when they sense it. These animals can be of any shape or size, but they tend to be at least socially trained. They are pets most of the time, but they are not just 'wants' for many people.
You can usually tell the difference between this sort of dog and a 'comfort' dog by the behavior of the dog. A 'need' dog may not be perfectly trained socially, but it will often have an almost weird attachment to it's owner. It will be most comfortable where it can see or perhaps touch its owner. They often stare/look back at their owner if they are not right by them, or if they are right by them, they prefer to be in physical contact with them (so they can rest, but still do their job)
Just an example.
