Indeed.
Linda-The-Dog is my best buddy, my home-security system, my constant companion, my comfort in my lonely widowhood, and my morning exercise pal, but I wouldn’t dream of scamming the system. It is not in my nature.
Also, if i am having a medical procedure, I would prefer her to be somewhere ELSE! She MIGHT think the doctor is HURTING me, and would NOT be amused. LOL!
Odin is a legal support dog.
The doctor gave me permission for him when hubby was about to undergo triple bypass and we didn’t know what would happen.
He has the patches, a mobility harness and the whole deal *but* I’ve never taken him into any place that doesn’t allow dogs anyway.
So far, I haven’t had to.
For ‘normal places’, thankfully, I still have hubby.
In my case, he is a tool I have the luxury of using but have not had the necessity.
Just knowing that I can if I need to gives me a lot comfort and actually makes it less likely that I need to use him in that capacity.
I err *very* much on the side of caution.
I would never dream of abusing his status by dragging him every place I go because in my heart, I would know that he was there because I *wanted* but not *needed* him to be.
However, there are those poor souls with crippling anxiety and social phobias who simply can’t go out in the world without their support animals.
*They* are the people who are being harmed by those who just want to take Fifi on the airplane with them.
So far the ADA has been extremely benevolent to those who need support animals but like everything else the ‘takers’ do, it’s going to eventually cause problems for the truly needful.
Having said all that, *please* support this noble and worthy cause:
http://soldiersbestfriend.org/