Fran and her service dog Cholee-Lee, named Professional of the Year 2009

When I ran across an article titled, “Not All Service Dogs are for the Blind” it made me stop and think. I did not realize that service animals are not required by law to wear any type of identifying vests or tags saying they are a service animal.  Nor does the owner need to carry any proof.  Though at times you will see them wearing an identifying vest, and then “assume” the owner is blind.

So I think being compassionate and conscious of the fact that someone may have a dog with them in a place of business, instead of assuming someone is just bringing their dog with them.  The dog may be there to alert the owner to an oncoming epilepsy attack, or need them for hearing assistance, or may need them for mobility reasons.  If a business does not comply they can be fined up to $60,000.

Chloee-Lee is a service dog Frankie and I had the honor of meeting in 2009.  She was named Professional of the Year the same time Frankie was named Companion of the Year.  Chloee-Lee performs many different tasks for her owner who has multiple challenges.  Chloee-Lee also has a challenge of her own in which she suffers from Addison Disease, but that does not stop her and as Fran her owner describes her, “the best thing in yellow fur and four legs ever.”