Comments on: “Seeing Eye Horse” – Good Morning America Segment on Non-Canine Service Animals Misses Key Issues

By: tabitha

tabitha — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:08:32 +0000

P S I invite anyone who wants to talk or learn more to email me at steel silver 2000 at yahoo dot com. Thank.

By: tabitha

tabitha — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:06:36 +0000

Trixie is not a full sized horse. The media got that and many other things wrong. SHe is a small pony at 4 feet tall. I am a dwarf. I have two legal disabilities which are epilepsy and blindness. I also have a bone condition that makes it very hard and very painful to walk or stand. SHort of living off pain pills. Which I have done and even been stuck to wheelchairs with constant human support and extremely limited mobility.
The reason I ride trixie is this. The act of sitting on her eliminates my physical pain, she was trained to assist with seizures and guide as a seeing eye dog. I have much more mobility on her and am safer with her help then I ever will be. Oh and yes she was trained to tell me when she has to go number one or two. For traffic, indoor training etc. Pretty much everything we ever will encounter.
I have had her for over 8 years now and she is awesome. I agreed to do the media thing to emphasize the DOJ issue going on but go figure they shoot for the “weird” person on the horse thing which drives me nuts. The thing is even if I was less disabled and had a traditional service animal I’d still be fighting the change of law. The fact is the DOJ is trying to undermine all our rights. Thats about it. I’m angry and wont go down without a fight.
That pony gives me independence period.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:50:05 +0000

Well a full-sized horse could only be used in big Wal-Mart stores or Target or Costco or Home Depot.

By: Joshua Zelinsky

Joshua Zelinsky — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:35:37 +0000

Most of the media discussion of this have failed to emphasize just how common non-canine service animals are. This segment seemed no different in that regard. And by focusing on the most extreme case they left the impression that there are only a few people who need these animals.

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:23:47 +0000

I thought that the segment was, despite the title, fairly sympathetic. The scene in the store was presented as just an ordinary thing around there, no one excited about it.
While waiting to be seated at a local resturant, I noticed the fellow in front of me, paying his bill, had a rat on his shoulder. One wonders exactly what services a service rat provides.