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In reply to the discussion: Michigan Woman Brings Miniature Horse on Plane as Her Service Animal: 'He Is So Bonded with Me' [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,074 posts)Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2020, 03:14 AM - Edit history (1)
I'm pointing out that it's none of your business.
People do not lose their right to privacy merely because they use a servcice animal. She clearly says the horse is a service animal - and here, and in other articles, clearly distinguishes it from an emotional support animal.
Had she described the horse as an emotional support animal (or it was unclear that she understood the distinction) this would be a different converation. But she didn't. She clearly and repeatedly described the horse as her service animal - AND - went so far as to point out that she is not mentally ill - and to identify a class of largely disabling conditions as the reason she needs the horse (almost certainly to further distinguish her service horse from emotional support animals).
But just as you don't get to pry into the details of someone's blindness, or deafness, or the tools (animal or mechanical) a person with a visible disability uses accommodate their disabilities, you don't get to inquire into the details of this woman's disability or the specific ways the horse helps her cope with it. She is entitled to her privacy, and the fact that her service animal is less usual than a dog doesn't deprive her of her right not to disclose more than she chooses about how the animal assists her - or the specific tasks it is trained to perform in order to provide that assistance.
Under the ADA, she is entitled to have her service animal with her. Period.
But - since apparently everyone believes they have a right to know because she dared to travel with her servcie animal, she's been shamed into providing personal details that are - frankly - no one's business:
So last night my disease was questioned and my need for a service animal by I person I thought was a good friend. What's it like to have an IBD right here are words to describe it.
When you can barely bend over to pick something up because it feels like Freddy Kruger is taking his nails and ripping them through your bowels a service horse helps in that. Fred being directive retrieval trained can pick things up I drop and fetch things I need.
When your bowels feel like this walking across the room becomes a chore. A service horse can help with that. My co workers at work can tell you they know when I'm not well by how I'm walking. I depend on Charlie a lot outside when I'm super sick and he is always by my side to help me during feed time and such. I lean on him, he helps me walk, and he makes sure I don't loose my balance. He retrieves the grain buckets and hay pillows gladly because he knows what his job is. These are all things to some degree Fred is learning but can't fully learn until he is done growing and his joints are mature. He won't be able to do mobility to the extent that Charlie does because of his small size but that's why me having 2 different sizes mini service horses is a fit.
https://www.facebook.com/rfroese23/posts/10219160781542771