Kizzy's Mom --- I just couldn't agree with you more. Saying your dog is a Service Dog or a Therapy Dog - or having your dog become a Therapy Dog so that you can take it everyplace with you is about as low as a person can get.
Service Dogs and Therapy Dogs are such wonderful animals - doing so much for people - to abuse their status for our own self-centered, selfish needs is beyond comprehenson to me.
Yes - I'd love to take my dog a lot of places. But I don't even begin to consider it - if dogs aren't allows. I consider this a rule that responsible dog owners and responsible people should just follow - without trying to find loop holes or resorting to dishonest means to get around.
If people resort to doing this - what else do they do? I am a firm believer in that people are basically honest and responsible or they're not.
When I first started reading about people "sneaking" their dogs into places, I really thought that only the kids would be doing this, but I soon learned that age has nothing to do with acting grownup and being responsible. I realized that people of all ages are behaving this way -- with no regard for rules and often no regard for other people's feelings.
And skirting the issue with --- "I think it's stupid, It's really okay, I don't agree with it, I don't care what people think, I'm going to do it anyway," and coming across with reasoning and other excuses that are totally wrong(like "Therapy dogs are allowed to go anyplace.....") doesn't change anything. "Rationalization is a poor tool - when it comes to reason."
If people really want to know about Therapy Dogs and their privileges - there are hundreds of sites on the Internet --- but be sure to consider the sources when you read them....and not find just one or two that support your way of thinking.
These types of issues are never resolved because ......................
Carol Jean |