"Service Dog" Bites Customer in Pet Store

A couple weeks ago, this woman complained that she was asked to leave a store because she had a service dog with her.  The store manager says she was asked to leave because, when questioned about her dog, she became confrontational.  Apparently at one point, she said she wanted to be allowed to shop after the store had closed with her dog so that the dog would not bother other customers.  She got angry when she was told she would not be allowed to shop outside of the store's regular business hours.

Now, her "service dog" has bitten another customer in a pet store.  The bite was severe enough that the other customer required stitches.  I know a lot of details are missing from this brief article, but it does not sound as if the dog was provoked in any way.  The owner of the dog is trying to minimize the problem, saying it was more of a "nip" than a bite.  Um, yeah... a nip would not require stitches.  That's a bite.

She says she'll be getting some additional obedience training for her dog.  I really hope she doesn't mean that she intends to continue taking this dog out in public and calling it a "service dog."  But that's what it sounds like.  And she seems to think she is entitled to all kinds of special treatment, like stores should allow her to shop whenever she wants, even when they are closed, and she should be allowed to take her dog that bites into stores with her.

I'm putting "service dog" in quotes because I am very skeptical that her dog is actually a trained service dog.  Properly trained service dogs do not bite people in stores.  They just don't.  For that matter, properly socialized puppies don't bite people, not without some sort of provocation.  But trained service dogs?  They don't bite people in stores.  They don't bite people that startle them, that grab them from behind, that hug them too hard, that pull their tails or ears, that stick their fingers in their noses or mouths. 

Seriously.  They don't.  You can stick your hand in Isaac's mouth and he will not bite you.  Now, I do not recommend going up to service dogs you happen to meet and sticking your hands in their mouths.  But if you did that, they should not bite you.  Because kids do that.  Toddlers will come up to service dogs, and for some reason I do not understand their parents will let them, and stick their little fingers in their noses and mouths.  And pull their tails and ears, and try to climb on them and ride them like horses, and all sorts of other things.  And Isaac does not bite them.  He does not snap at them or growl at them.  If they are really bothering him, he will turn his head away.  That's it.

So this woman's dog is not a properly trained service dog.  And it should not be taken in public around other people again.  Never.  And I am offended that she is calling the dog a service dog because some people will then think that service dogs might bite.  The manager of the pet store said that the pet store had to pay for the customer's medical bills.  Business owners are not going to want service dogs in their stores if they think service dogs might bite their customers and they will have to pay for their medical bills.

By the way, the owner of the dog should have paid for the medical bills.  I hope the pet store sues her to recover those costs.  If the dog was a real service dog, the owner should have had insurance that would cover a bite.  My renter's insurance covers it, if Isaac bites someone.  And yes, the insurance covers it even if the bite occurs outside of my home.  I know I just got done saying Isaac would never bite anyone, but I have insurance anyway, just in case, because that is what responsible pet owners and service dog owners are supposed to do.  But insurance is not going to cover it if your poorly socialized pet bites someone when you take it to a store pretending it is a service dog.