Weird situation this week. We have a patient in with a seizures. She and her spouse insisted that her dog was a service dog and needed to stay with her. Apparently it barks when she is about to have a seizure.
She got a private room and her husband stays with her almost always. He does leave some to get food, I'm assuming to go home and take care of some things. Not sure if he works.
Well, when he leaves, he usually takes the dog with him..????? Now he does take the dog out to potty on occassion, but both days I had this patient, he left for several hours with dog. Plus, whenever I'm in the room, the dog is with husband, not with patient????
It has barked a few times, but when we go in there, it is at people who it didn't know...dietary, housekeeping, etc.
It's a small dog - chihuahua/dauchstand mix and very well behaved. I just think the family is getting away something here. I've been told it has all of its papers, etc.
I know that pet therapy is common and that they use service dogs for more than just blindness now, but has anyone heard of this?
This is a med surg/telemetry floor. The patient is on telemetry, so if she started to have a seizure, the monitors should alert us.
I had a patient once who had a daily visitor with a service dog. She was in a wheelchair and the dog would help pull the chair, open doors, etc. They treated this dog like a service dog...as in we shouldn't pet him when he's on duty etc. This couple from this week just doesn't behave like this.
The dog isn't really doing any harm and it is cute and well behaved, but something just seems....I don't know....fishy about this.
I saw a woman at the airport once, who was sobbing about her parrot (a very expensive one, it looked to me), being taken permanently away from her, or she could take another flight for $2,000 additional payment, with her pet.
That was no service animal, but to me it seemed that her mental health depended on being able to fly on her original ticket, with it.
She eventually phoned someone she said was a psychologist, who faxed a letter of necessity based on her dependence on the bird, to the airline! That arrived just as the passenger access door was closing; and she got on triumphantly, with her parrott. Everyone who saw that, including me, seemed to feel embarrassed for the roles and positions that had been enacted.
I felt exasperation due to the fact that other, more humanitarian measures weren't suggested. In this day of medical profiteering, it seems everyone else gives the almighty dollar priority over human decency, laws not withstanding.
Hate to say it, but....oh.....my......God.....
There's a line out there, and I think this one crossed it.
I get love of pets and all that, but a parrot? On a plane? Huge liability for the airline and it sounds as though the airline wasn't aware of the animal until it showed up.
While I agree with what you said about liking pets visiting and being uplifting......you sitll need to go to the ADA.gov website as sharpeimom placed all over this thread......the nurse cannot decide whether a dog is a therapy/service animal she cannot make the determination if the dog/animal is trained or not and once again.....THERE ARE NO PAPERS REQUIRED TO SHOW FOR A SERVICE ANIMAL...THAT IS A FALLICY......IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO ASK FOR PAPERS OR REFUSE ADMITTANCE OF SUCH ANIMAL IF INDICATED AS A SERVICE ANIMAL. Please educate and empower yourself to save you from accidentally making a mistake that can get you sued!
With the growing phenomenon of "fake service animals", whose owners are not disabled, yet want to take their dog (and it's always a dog) everywhere, I have a feeling that law could change.
carolinapooh, BSN, RN
3,577 Posts
Hate to say it, but....oh.....my......God.....
There's a line out there, and I think this one crossed it.
I get love of pets and all that, but a parrot? On a plane? Huge liability for the airline and it sounds as though the airline wasn't aware of the animal until it showed up.
This takes the cake for me.