"Service Animals" where Do We Draw the Line?

When we see the visually impaired with their seeing eye dog, we think nothing of it. The dog does not make us uncomfortable because they are the most common pet. Dogs are man's best friend ? so to speak. Seeing eye dogs can go everywhere: the bus, restaurants, the mall, and even the restroom. Those that are visually disabled need these four legged creatures as service animals, as animals they can depend on.

So let's look at another animal: the monkey. We can and do pay to watch monkeys be exploited at a circus without a problem. We can go to the zoo and see them caged up, tis also seems to cause no problems. We enjoy monkeys as a from of entertainment. But we would appear as a general public we cannot deal with a monkey being in the same space as a domestic animal.

Debby Rose of Springfield, Missouri, suffers from an anxiety disorder (an emotional disability) that makes it really difficult for her to go to public places like the mall, restaurants, the grocery store, and places like that. She has had her macaque monkey, named Richard, join her in all of her outings. Rose feels that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act should allow Richard as her service animal.

There's not a lot of people are on the same page as Rose. Her family says that she truly cannot perform simple functions like being in public without her monkey. So here is the problem, the blind population (those that are physically impaired) have the right to have a service animal. But Rose who has to deal with emotional or mental impairments does not get afforded the same rights.

Health Department officials met with a local service agency, the Southwest Center for Independent Living, which is acting as an agent for Rose. The Health Department told the agency that Rose must produce some kind of federal ruling or certification that the monkey is a service animal under the ADA before it will consider allowing her to take the money into public places, said Kevin Gipson, Director of Health.

Science has shown on that a monkey can be domesticated. In fact, monkeys have the ability to actually communicate where as mans best friend (the dog) does not. Anatomically, monkeys are the most physically like humans and perform similar functions which could help anyone with an anxiety problem. Meaning, those with anxiety issues can interact with an animal that is very much like themselves.

Cynthia Magnuson, a spokesperson from the Justice Department in Washington, told the Springfield News-Leader that while the law is somewhat vague about emotional support animals, there is still a law that covers the subject. "We have actually prosecuted cases where people have had emotional support animals," she said. "It's kind of a fine line, but the law errs on the side of protecting individuals that are disabled." An emotional disability is a disability nonetheless.

Is the real problem here, the monkey?

What kind of health perspective can or should we take on this situation?

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