Service dogs help a lot of people. But, there are some places that even the best-trained dogs can’t go into.
Especially when dealing with someone allergic to dogs.
Redditor picturethisbadly encountered this very issue with their friend. So they turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for moral judgment.
They asked:
“AITA for telling my friend he can’t bring his girlfriend if she brings her service dog?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I recently moved into my own apartment, and I’m hosting a house warming party of sorts with a few friends.”
“One of my friends asked if they could bring their girlfriend, which is where the title comes in. I’ve met his girlfriend before, and she seems really sweet, but the issue is I have an allergy to dogs and she has a service dog for some medical issues.”
“The allergy isn’t severe or anything, just uncomfortable.”
“When we’re outside in public it’s not much of an issue, but I’d rather not have a dog in my apartment. I also have some medical issues of my own that make it more difficult to clean etc., so dog hair getting places would be kind of a hassle.”
“I do understand that her dog is very important to her, I just don’t want him in my apartment.”
“My friend got quite upset and said if the dog can’t go, she can’t go, and if she can’t go, he won’t be going. He also used a few choice words to explain how I was being disrespectful.”
“AITA for not changing my mind and holding that I won’t have a dog in my apartment, even a service dog?”
Redditors gave their opinions on the situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors agreed there were no a**holes in this scenario.
“NAH. I’m a service dog handler and, while it does suck, it’s just a reality that there are some things you end up excluded from because your medical equipment is a living animal.”
“If you didn’t allow the dog because you just don’t like dogs or something like that, then you’d be the a**hole, but personally, even as a handler myself, I think it’s totally understandable if you have an allergy to dogs and therefore don’t want dogs in your actual home.”
“If I were in the girlfriend’s position I’d probably be a little bummed about not being able to attend the housewarming but I’d also absolutely respect the fact that you don’t want a dog in your actual living space given your allergies.”
“I do also understand the boyfriend getting defensive; my own partner has gotten defensive before about what he perceives as people trying to exclude or discriminate against me because of my medical equipment. The boyfriend definitely a bit of an asshole for talking rudely to you, but in the big picture I don’t think it really makes him an asshole to be unhappy about the situation or to decide he’s not attending.”
“It’s a situation that just kind of sucks for everyone involved. It sucks for you because you now have your friend upset with you but you can’t just turn your dog allergy off to make him happy, and it sucks for your friend because he probably feels like his girlfriend is being attacked for her disability when that’s not what you’re trying to do at all.”
“Service dogs and dog allergies have always been a bit of a difficult thing to balance, and it really just sucks when situations like this come up where there’s no real way for anyone to win.” ~ tiredvibess
It is OP’s apartment.
“Yeah wtf this isn’t some public building. You can not have anyone or anything in your house you don’t want to.” ~ Farmer_Susan
“Also, allergies are a medical condition. OP’s friend is pretty much just saying ‘I don’t care about your medical condition as much as my girlfriend’s medical condition.’”
“Also, fuck people who can’t go anywhere without your SO. I don’t know what the situation is, but I’m willing to bet there’s no good reason OP’s friend can’t just come to the housewarming party on his own and be apart from his precious gif for a couple hours. If not, the friend’s got some attachment issues.” ~ ProstHund
“At least he asked about inviting the SO prior. Got a friend who says ‘I’ll be there’ then turns out I means We.”
“In this case, I think the friend is more offended because he perceives that there is discrimination against his gf and her dog, so he won’t attend. Like a boycott. That’s what it sounds to me.” ~ ShadowcatMD
“Sometimes it’s not ‘I refuse to go somewhere without my SO’ and more ‘I’m not going to abandon my SO and go to a thing they are explicitly not allowed to go to despite wanting to.'”
“If you both have things going on then going separate is easy. If you are going out to have a great time while they sit at home dejected they are missing out, it’s a bit different.” ~ orfane
Others shared how bad allergies can be.
“Good friend of mine who’s driving for Uber had someone with a dog in his car. It was raining, he usually doesn’t take pets in, but, as he said, he felt bad leaving the client and the dog in these conditions.”
“He finishes the ride, gets a nice tip and good rating and goes to next ride.”
“Immediately picks up someone who’s severely allergic to dogs and that person is having the worst symptoms, like wheezing, swollen face etc. He takes the person to hospital and gets in contact with Uber to explain what happened.”
“The client pursued legal actions against him and Uber and they settled before court. He nearly got thrown in jail for attempted murder… nasty stuff…” ~ rAyNEi_xw
“How is it attempted murder if he took the person to the hospital right away? I’ve also never heard of someone being so severely allergic to a dog that it can kill them, and while I don’t doubt such people exist, I don’t think most people would think to use dog allergens to murder a stranger.” ~ ThePlumage
“Hi! I’m so severely allergic to cats and dogs that it can kill me. I also have asthma so my reactions go from 0-100 real quick.”
“I moved into an apartment that previously had no pets – that the owner knew of. After 3 days of severe reactions and a hospital stay (that I got to pay for out of pocket!) it turned out that the previous tenant snuck a dog in.”
“I had to pay to break the lease. Pet hair and dander gets everywhere and stays everywhere. I can’t stay in hotels that allow pets and I can’t stay in disabled rooms since service animals are allowed in them.”
“I’ve had to cancel Ubers/Lyfts if they show up and answer yes if they have had an animal in them.”
“Severe allergies f*cking blow.” ~ actuallivingdinosaur
Allergies are incredibly dangerous.