Service Dogs

 There's a lot of hoopla about this story. And maybe even some mis-communication. 

As a hard of hearing person, I feel compelled to give my opinion.

The young woman said she'd do it again (say the service dog isn't welcome). 

Are you BSing me? You'd do it again? 

At first, I thought it was arrogance. Then I thought it had something to do with culture barriers. Now I think it's a mix of both.

I think the restaurant didn't close because of the incident. The dog handler/owner had no intentions of shutting the place down. It probably closed because management panicked. 

 

Ok. About service dogs. 

They save lives. Period. 

Yes, they detect a seizure minutes before one actually happens. So the person can get into a safe place. I think people don't actually die from a seizure, but from the actions they do while having a seizure--since the body has convulsions etc. 

Yes, they detect a heart attack minutes before one actually happens. 

Yes, they can alert (and wake-up) a hard of hearing person when smoke alarms are going off and there's a fire in the building. Or the kitchen timer is going off or a knock at the door or thieves breaking and entering. Or...

Yup. They save lives. 

So. a service dog in a restaurant isn't going to kill anyone. Only save someone. 

It's unfortunate the restaurant closed. But most of the time people don't chose their "disability". And the laws the law.