American With Disabilities Act-Good For Pet People Too!

[sheepdog 10]

The Americans with Disabilities act is a lot more than just providing wheelchair ramps and easy access to all public places. Some of you probably already know that the blind are allowed to bring in their seeing eye dogs into restaurants and other establishments that otherwise do not allow pets. It has long been established that owning pets is actually good for our health. Studies indicate that people with pets live longer, and have less problems with the host of diseases that plague their non pet owning counterparts. The reason pet owners are healthier are also quite varied. From the fact that they get more exercise from walking dogs, to the fact that being exposed to the bacteria off the animals leads to a stronger immune system. And there is the emotion and mental health benefits, as pets relieve loneliness and provide companionship. Also, let?s not forget the growing number of service dogs that actually and actively provided assistance to their owners, from the dogs that alert their owners to oncoming seizures to those who can pick up objects dropped or alert the person to someone knocking on the door or the telephone ringing. Unfortunately, there is a large part of our society that cannot benefit from the pleasures of pet ownership due to their housing situations. Many apartments and other rental properties have no pet rules prohibiting the people from having pets. To this end, a non-profit organization has been established. Pets in Condo?s is riding to the rescue of would be pet owners. They have a comprehensive web site with information about the health benefits of pets and a great deal of information of what you can do to make your home a place that will allow pets. You can find more information on their web site http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ law actually prohibits discrimination against those who have service animals to help them in their daily lives. In most cases, it does not even require excessive documentation to prove that your dog is a bona fide service animal. You can find sample letters and other information as to what is needed at the web site provided above.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Creating opportunities for the differently-abled is a responsibility of the society within which they live and allowing people dependent on their pets to use their pets to help them do what they have a positive right to do is a big step forward. A lot of places around the world are still inaccessible for the physically challenged because of a lack of wheelchair ramps and accessibility. An awareness needs to be created to provide for the differently abled world-wide. Cities such as Dubai have recently commissioned taxis that can transport wheelchair passengers and they airports across the world have always been known to be wheelchair-friendly, with free transport of wheelchairs and canes.

[mrdee 1]

It is definitely true that, all over the globe, quite a few places still lack proper access facilities for the disabled.While, in most of the places that I know of anyway, there are clear signs sayng "No dogs allowed (Except guide dogs)" or something similar, the other facilities are lagging behind terribly, or at least, the whole concept is overlooked.I used to teach a course for disabled people at a college, where most of the facilities had been put into place, however, they had overlooked access to certain rooms.For example, there was no way a wheelchair user could gain access to the computer room or the recordng studio, due to lack of proper access features, and due to the way the rooms were built, and the place in the building were they were built.So, it looks like there is a lot of work left to be done, and yes, I do understand it does take time before every shop, school, college and whatever else is ready to comply to the rules.On a funny note, however: in a place I have to visit now and then, you have to take the lift to get to your destination, and in the lift, there are instructions on the wall, telling you what to do in case of a breakdown.The good thing is, the same sign is also there, written in Braille, and, no matter how good the intentions, my question is: "how is a blind person going to know that sign is there?", even though it is written in a kind of writing they can read? I just thought that lead to some thinking.

[sheepdog 10]

The good thing is, the same sign is also there, written in Braille, and, no matter how good the intentions, my question is: "how is a blind person going to know that sign is there?", even though it is written in a kind of writing they can read?

LOL, that reminds me of a vanity licence plate I saw on a car one time that really had me laughing, after I figured out what it meant, the plate was CNI DOG
On a car licence plate. Get it?
Really, why would someone who needed a seeing eye dog be driving a car with vanity plates?