Say yes to dogs in the grocery store | Letters

Published 10:21 am Thursday, April 19, 2012

(RE: “Fake service dogs: Pet owners exploit ADA loophole”): Personally, I believe that dogs really bring out the best in us. They are irrepressibly cheerful, even in the face of a life of deprivation and hardship. They are loyal, loving and forgiving, never holding a grudge.

I believe we can learn a lot from the way dogs live their lives if we can see past the notion that they are “beneath” us in the evolutionary scheme of things or that they are only here to “serve” us. For all they have done for us over the thousands of years we have lived and worked together, we owe them the best lives we can possibly provide. More than any other domesticated animal, we humans have spent the most time with dogs. Estimates are that we’ve been companions for at least 14,000 years.

Why shouldn’t they be allowed to accompany us when we go to the grocery store or to the post office? If they are polite, well groomed and quiet in public (like our children), they are an addition to our daily lives and can brighten the lives of the people we encounter along the way.

Deborah A. Dobson, Cottonwood, AZ