Letter: Show respect for disabled by keeping pets out of stores

Published 1:30 am Monday, August 1, 2016

I really thank the Herald for the July 11 editorial about service animals only in retail establishments. I for one am not smiling when I see pets in grocery stores, I go there to purchase food, not to visit a darn petting zoo! The guidelines for the ADA say that dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Grocery store chains seem unwilling to enforce the law as it it written. They can ask if the animal is a service animal and what service does it provide. I am appalled at all those whom just assume taking pets into food establishments is the norm, as far as the “handifakers,” (contempt), as I’m sure those that rely on service animals are as well, being handicapped is no picnic. My late wife had stage 4 metastatic cancer eating away at her spine, she was in constant pain, needing to rely on use of a walker, wheelchair or mobility scooter; simple things like no available handicap parking or courtesy scooters would leave her in tears. One service some animals provide is to warn its human of an oncoming seizure, which can be even more dangerous and difficult in public. Really people, do you really think being handicapped is so good? It’s past due for the existing laws to be rewritten to clarify and keep pets out!

Greg Reiber

Marysville