A woman recently blew up on Twitter after telling a story about a very shocking incident that occurred while she was in public with her service dog. While trying to do grocery shopping with her service dog in tow, somebody approached her and asked to pet her service dog. She said no, as petting a service dog on the job can distract them, and the man grew visibly upset. In fact, he then refused to leave.
Service dogs do so much for our communities, and so even though service dogs are absolutely awwdorable, we make sure not to interfere with them doing their job by playing with them, petting them, or distracting them. Unfortunately, not everyone has taken the time to learn more about service dogs (although it's never too late to start). Read on to learn more about how to be a positive ally to people who use service dogs, and also to hear the end of this woman's story.
Wow, that's so rude of him! No one should feel unsafe while pursuing the grocery store, let this be a reminder to all of us that respecting people with disabilities as well as their service dogs is so important. This is a great opportunity for us to learn even more about the subject.
Wow, it's so sad that people touch this woman's service dog without her consent. Like we said before, while service dogs are working with their vests on, they need to stay focussed, and trying to pet them or play with them can be dangerous or harmful to the person that these dogs serve. What an important lesson.
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