You laughed at my service Donkey...

[ktulu]

I just thought the service horse was too big...

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/w ... d8299.html

[mechurchlady]

Very touchy subject matter. Pigs are used to hunt for truffles so why not have a service pig trained to scent out peanuts or other allergens. I need to go ever to disboards and post that, boy that will ruffle feathers. Some people believe service animals should only be dogs.

[Whazzup]

She could at least put a tail bag on that horse, just in case. Horses are a lot harder to "potty train" than dogs or cats.
She must have a special coating on her horse's shoes or she would be sliding all over the pavement when she canters down the street.

I'm sorry, as much as I love horses, I think she is taking advantage of the situation by riding her horse into the store. If a person has enough vision to find what she needs in the display cases, and to cross a busy highway, than she doesn't NEED the horse as a guide animal. That horse is obviously gentle and well trained, but horses have a strong flight instinct when presented with something new and scary (such as an 18-wheeler blasting its horn without warning) and I don't think she should be training a horse to be a guide or service animal. Just my two cents worth.

Any other horse experts (Syndrome, etc.) want to chime in??

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Its abuses like this (of the ADA laws, that is) that will result in people calling BS and start amending the laws!

[smart1hermione]

riding a horse seems a tad excessive.

but i've seen pygmy horses used as service animals, just the same as service dogs. heck why not? any animal deemed competant should be able to work.

[drcorey]

I have a hearing ear ferret. so I should get him in free.

[felinefan]

I once saw a segment on a miniature horse being used as a seeing eye animal. The main reason was the person needing him was allergic to dogs, plus horses have far better vision than dogs do--wider angle, etc.. But the way that one woman was riding her horse, I mean a horse can carry more on its back than a dog, plus there's the fact when she rides, she doesn't have to worry about missing a change in the sidewalk and tripping, etc., or missing a curb.

Yeah, some animals, like snakes, well, I have a hard time seeing them as therapy animals, but to each their own. If the animal can do its job, what's the problem? Yes, it's easier to recognize a therapy or assistance animal if it's a dog, but as has been pointed out, those don't work for everyone.

There are organizations that train animals for use as therapy or assistance animals, and an assistance animal should wear some kind of identifier. Obviously that won't work with a snake, but a photo I.D. worn by the owner and kept available would work. I've seen those.

[smart1hermione]

I once saw a segment on a miniature horse being used as a seeing eye animal. The main reason was the person needing him was allergic to dogs, plus horses have far better vision than dogs do--wider angle, etc.. But the way that one woman was riding her horse, I mean a horse can carry more on its back than a dog, plus there's the fact when she rides, she doesn't have to worry about missing a change in the sidewalk and tripping, etc., or missing a curb.

Yeah, some animals, like snakes, well, I have a hard time seeing them as therapy animals, but to each their own. If the animal can do its job, what's the problem? Yes, it's easier to recognize a therapy or assistance animal if it's a dog, but as has been pointed out, those don't work for everyone.

There are organizations that train animals for use as therapy or assistance animals, and an assistance animal should wear some kind of identifier. Obviously that won't work with a snake, but a photo I.D. worn by the owner and kept available would work. I've seen those.

i'm okay with the seeing eye horse until the woman starts complaining that ceilings aren't tall enough for her and her horse to enter or that some stores are wary about allowing a animal of such size into their store.

how exactly does a seeing eye snake work? i haven't had much experience with snakes, but i was always of the opinion that they weren't as "in-tune" with humans as much as dogs, etc. are.

[felinefan]

Seeing eye snake? I don't think so. Therapy snake, like if a person suffers from anxiety or otherwise needs an animal to help them cope with being away from home--okay, that might work, if they are allergic to anything with fur. They have trained capuchin monkeys to help people who are quadripeligic with getting food, picking up dropped mouthsticks, playing music, movies or videos in a stereo system, etc.. The only bad thing is monkeys can get very excited, and could bite their owner. So they pull the monkey's teeth out so when it bites, it won't injure the person they're helping.

Whether a particular animal is suitable as an assistance animal depends on trainability, as well as being able to manipulate and carry common items, among other things. So an assistance animal has to have a fair amount of intelligence. Therapy animals, on the other hand, pretty much just need to be there for their person.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I once saw a segment on a miniature horse being used as a seeing eye animal. The main reason was the person needing him was allergic to dogs, plus horses have far better vision than dogs do--wider angle, etc.. But the way that one woman was riding her horse, I mean a horse can carry more on its back than a dog, plus there's the fact when she rides, she doesn't have to worry about missing a change in the sidewalk and tripping, etc., or missing a curb.

Yeah, some animals, like snakes, well, I have a hard time seeing them as therapy animals, but to each their own. If the animal can do its job, what's the problem? Yes, it's easier to recognize a therapy or assistance animal if it's a dog, but as has been pointed out, those don't work for everyone.

There are organizations that train animals for use as therapy or assistance animals, and an assistance animal should wear some kind of identifier. Obviously that won't work with a snake, but a photo I.D. worn by the owner and kept available would work. I've seen those.

Except I have read posts by people that get VERY offended that they would have to have ANY proof that they need a thearpy animal, and of course, point out that the ADA prohibits asking about it. ALSO, several other posters on another board, who seem to know what they are talking about, claim that there is no standard for certifing any kind of assistance animal, but rely on private organizations to "train" the animals.

I know that several people have stated that they would love it if there was some way to determine if the animal was needed, or just a pet that the person didn't want to board.