[Publib] Pets in Libraries

[GraceAnne Andreassi DeCandido]

I am dangerously allergic to cats, and less so but quite allergic to 
dogs. I would be extremely unhappy to find animals in my local 
library. When they have programs with Reading Dogs, they are well 
publicized and the dogs are confined to the program area, so I know 
ahead of time.
This is a personal hot button for me, but I am sure I am not alone.
GraceAnne


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The honorable Rawles-Heiser, Carolyn noted on 1 Apr 2009 thusly:

We do not allow animals except for service animals. HOWEVER, in recent 
years we have experienced a mini-explosion of people who carry dogs (mostly) 
around with them, claiming they are service animals that help reduce stress. 
We have been told by our attorney that we need to take the person's word for it 
that it is actually a service animal and not *just* a pet-- we can't ask for proof. 
The best one, and I think I may have shared this with the list in the past, was the 
woman who-I Swear-brought a loose monkey into the library and let it run wild. 
She claimed she was planning on having it trained to become a service animal 
but that it had not yet begun its training (obvious by its behavior). Thank 
goodness she did not say it was already a service animal because we would 
have had to allow it, although our attorney did say we could insist it be 
restrained. One of those days when I thought I had seen everything!! 

Carolyn 

Carolyn Rawles-Heiser
Library Director
Corvallis--Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave.
Corvallis, OR97330

GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Reader Writer Reviewer ~ New York City
Part-time lecturer in children's and YA literature Rutgers SCILS/PDS
Favorite titles 2008

Words are all we have  --Samuel Beckett