Service dogs also help people with mental problems

If you read, you learn something every day.

Several weeks ago, we printed a letter from a Newbury Park resident who was sick and tired of certain people bringing their pampered pooches into restaurants and grocery stores. A couple of weeks later, a woman stopped by the office. She was sure that she was the target of the earlier letter and she gave us a rebuttal letter, which we printed. It informed the earlier writer—and anyone who cared to listen—that there are service dogs for people with other disabilities, not just seeing-eye dogs for the blind.

After we printed her rebuttal, we considered the topic as a possible story. The result is an article and sidebar by staff writer Stephanie Bertholdo on pages 5 and 11.

Roni Higgins suffers from several psychiatric problems. She says Pebbles, her service dog, helps her get by with less medication, enables her to go out in public and warns her when she’s about to have a seizure.

People like Higgins are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We always knew the act was about handicapped accessibility, but we didn’t know that it also protects people whose service dogs help them cope with psychological problems.

The problem, of course, is that some people will abuse the law as an excuse to take their dogs everywhere.

While many of us eat dinner with the family dog in our kitchen, dining room or living room, we’re not sure if the world is ready for service dogs in every restaurant, supermarket or movie theater.

Maybe the bureaucrats and politicians need to revisit the law. Specifically, it seems weak on legally defining who is and who isn’t disabled.

On second thought, forget it.

They’ll only make it worse.

And you don’t have to read to know that.