Woman With Dog Allergy Doesn’t Allow A Woman With A “Service Dog” To Sit In A Train Compartment She Paid For, Gets Criticized By Her Friends

“This was not her first time. This incident was her second warning.”

Damjan

• Published in Animal Stories
• September 19, 2022

Our everyday lives are not complete without our pets. They obey our orders, assist us in a variety of ways, and are devoted friends. Studies have demonstrated that dogs have positive effects on happiness, fitness, and stress levels.

Now, service dogs bring all these benefits, but they also have the training to carry out particular activities for people with impairments. These dogs are specially trained, have to pass certain exams and tests, and are pricey.

Service dogs are allowed even in rooms and buildings that don’t usually allow pets because they are integral to their owner’s mobility and social interaction.

But being able to enter different facilities doesn’t mean you can enter a hotel room someone else paid for. The same goes for train compartments. But some people don’t understand that. One Redditor had a meeting with a person like that.

“I am 18(f) who has allergies to dogs. I also live in an area in which there are overnight train rides. I had to take one so I could see my friends and celebrate my 18th. I booked a compartment for the train ride so I would be comfortable.”

Everything was set up for a nice and comfortable trip. Well, things changed.

“About an hour in a young lady like myself came with a service dog and opened the door to my compartment and came in. It wasn't locked because I had forgotten. I asked her what she was doing, and she replied with "There is more than enough space and I need the extra space for my dog."

Just like that. She saw the compartment and went in. She didn’t care that someone else paid extra to be alone.

OP asks:

She has a dog allergy and loves her privacy

However, a woman with a "service dog" entered her compartment and refused to leave

She started insulting OP

A railroad worker came and escorted the woman out. OP told the story to her friends, and some of them are judging for not sharing the compartment. Some even suggest that she should've moved to a different part of the train.

OP shared additional info:

This was not the woman's first time. And her friends don't understand her because none of them has allergies.

OP has a plan:

Some of her friends are not going to like it:

Redditors agree that OP is not the AH here

She paid for the compartment

"Ableist doesn't enter into that equation"

If she needed more space, she should have paid for it

This is probably very true

Every animal can be an emotional support animal

The bottom line is:

There are plenty of people out there trying to take advantage of the confusion about service, working, therapy, and emotional support dogs. The bottom line is – only service and working dogs have the legal right to enter spaces that are not usually allowed for pets.

"As defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service dogs are individually trained to perform specific tasks and to work with people with disabilities.

A working dog is a purpose-trained canine that learns and performs tasks to assist its human companions. Detection, herding, hunting, search and rescue, and police, and military dogs are all examples of working dogs.

Therapy dogs play a different helping role than service dogs and emotional support animals. They aren’t trained to live with a specific handler. Rather, these are dogs that — with their human teammate (often the dog’s owner) — volunteer in clinical settings, such as hospitals, mental health institutions, hospices, schools, and nursing homes, where they provide comfort, affection, and even love in the course of their work.

Although they are defined as comfort dogs and often used in therapeutic settings, therapy dogs are not considered service dogs under the ADA and don’t have the same legal right to access in public spaces."

Damjan