[doortego]

Originally Posted by psvidesigner

When my son was almost killed in an automobile accident, he asked to see his beloved yorkie, Mickey. It certinaly improved his overall recovery. We also took Mickey to sit on Santa's lap and had his picture taken, framed it and gave it to my son to keep on his table next to his hospital bed. He was so uplifted from it all. We did have permission from the hospital to take him there. We followed the rules from the hospital and it really paid off. What wonderful therapy it was for my son.

I think that if there is a real need to have a dog in an area that is not really dog-friendly, most institutions will try to accommodate the need. I just wanted to mention something that I haven't seen brought up, Some people are highly allergic to dogs, even our beloved Yorkies, and exposure to an animal to an unsuspecting asthmatic child or a sensitive older person with congestive heart failure could even be deadly.

I feel like allergic or asthmatic Persons also have a right to have some idea of what to expect in their environment. They can choose to avoid pet stores or zoos or even our pet-filled homes, but they do expect to be able to safely enter malls, restaurants and of course, hospitals.

I do wish more places were pet friendly but I did find on a recent vacation that the dog friendly hotel rooms were often a little worse for the wear of our babies.

I guess it all comes back to the "do unto others...."