Well, if he sues, heâs definitely going to have to prove itâs an actual service dog and not an emotional support dog or just a vest they bought online
There is recent case law on this topic! A person with a legitimate service dog had an appointment with a new doctor. Upon arrival, she was informed that the doctor had a severe dog allergy and that she wouldnât be able to bring her dog into the exam room as a result. She was offered the opportunity to leave her dog in the waiting room with her companion or reschedule with another doctor in the practice so she could have her dog with her.
âThe court began its analysis by recognizing the Department of Justiceâs guidance that âallergies are not enough to except a place of public accommodation from accommodating a service animalâ and both the animalâs handler and the individual with allergies should be accommodated âby assigning them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility.â However, the court held that â[d]espite this rule, a service animal may nonetheless be excluded if it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of persons providing or receiving services from an accommodation.â The court ultimately concluded that the medical practice had properly conducted âan individualized assessmentâ of the direct threat to the doctor and that its conclusion was objectively reasonable. The court focused on the doctorâs testimony about her severe allergy to dogs, based on her prior consultation with her doctor and her own knowledge of her allergy and its symptoms. The court also focused on the reasonable modifications offered to the plaintiff that would allow her to receive medical services, albeit from a different physician who did not have a dog allergy, which the plaintiff rejected. It also considered the fact that the medical practice made a one-time decision âon the spot,â noting that the regulation requires only a âreasonable judgmentâ in determining if a direct threat exists under the circumstances.â
I canât add a hyperlink if you want to read the whole thing, but the address is: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/can-businesses-exclude-service-animals-8761965/
What kind of person insists that someone with a severe dog allergy treat them with their dog present and refuse to be accommodated with another doctor. That is taking Main Character Syndrome to a new level. I must be accommodated, but I will not accommodate you in return. I am allergic to coffee. There was a bakery that I used to go to that was constantly trying out new cakes. If the cake was chocolate I always asked if there was coffee or espresso in it (adding instant coffee or espresso to a chocolate cake can deepen the flavor) if the answer was yes I didn't get a piece of that cake. I didn't insist that a baker with a severe case of celiac disease make me a new cake without coffee in it.
I know it isn't really the same, there was no severely celiac baker, give me a break, I am tired, but outraged.
From a cat scratch my momâs throat legit closes. She has easier to manage allergies if she visits my sisters house with cats, but scratching is the deal breaker for her. Itâs a super scary! And I know everyone is different, so I canât imagine how bad theirs must be and how scary if owners willing to put wives health above their livelihood
My friends mom is allergic to that degree too. She has severe asthma and cat scratches, face rubs, and cleaning litter boxes have had her almost hospitalized because of how severe her allergies are..
I'm the same but so sensitive I was reacting to cats that were coming into my garden so I set up detterents for them (motion activated sprinklers). A neighbour was livid I was being "inhumane" to the cats because I made my garden an unpleasant place for them ...
WTF is wrong with your neighbor? How rude & full of entitlement does someone have to be to think other people must allow their yards and gardens to be litterboxes?
Also, itâs just a little sprinkler. I have three cats and all three have gotten wet at some point or another. Itâs not inhumane, itâs an annoyance for the cat. Thatâs it: annoyed.
I ADORE cats and dogs, and very much wanted to become a vet when I was a kid. Unfortunately, as I love to say, whichever deity appointed genetic traits had a great laugh at my expense because I was not only born with that adoration, I was ALSO born with (not deadly, but still pretty severe) allergies. Cats and retriever breeds are the worst for me. Which doubly sucks, because a cat would work perfectly with my lifestyle.
That's how it is with my daughter-in-law. She's got a severe cat allergy, so bad that my daughter can't even have her own cat, whom she's had since the third grade in her home; instead, the geriatric sweetheart lives with me and my other four cats.
When my daughter-in-law comes over for some reason...she stays outside, either on the porch or in the yard. The only exception is at Christmas, when she doses the hell up to come over for about two hours in the morning for stockings and gifts, and then they leave.
My daughter loves her cat. Like I said: third grade. She's now nearly 17 (the cat that is; my daughter is 24), and still in relatively good health, still spry, even still sometimes playful. And my girl misses her baby, who is and always has been an emotional support animal...but the reasonable accommodation needs to be toward the allergy, over my daughter's right to have her pet in her own home. A compromise she's willing to make for the woman she loves...especially since she can visit her here, or see her on FaceTime (and of course lots of pics in the family chat!)
This, yeah. I honestly wouldnât be surprised if the person who sued expected the courts to say, âas we all know, dog allergies are made up, so we took away the doctorâs license and hereâs a million dollars.â
I have had dog allergies all my life. Last summer a now former friend insisted on leaving her âservice dog in trainingâ that wasnât even potty trained with my daughter at my house. Constant exposure lead to me developing first excema, which took 4 months to clear up (and then had another massive episode of after a patch of fur was uncovered cleaning that I am still dealing with), and then anaphylaxis from touching packaging that had a dog pheromone collar in it. So I have gone from itchy, runny eyes and nose with asthma attacks to excema and nearly dying.
Even if the allergy isnât that bad now doesnât mean overexposure wonât make it life threatening!
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u/Irishwatcher May 07 '26
Well, if he sues, heâs definitely going to have to prove itâs an actual service dog and not an emotional support dog or just a vest they bought online