Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: competing special needs

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> Now we have a potential new owner who needs a service dog, to be with
> her most of the time. She would be shut out of Commons House  
> activities
> if we continued to prioritize the people with allergies. While the new
> person's dog is one of the "allergy-free" breeds, one of our members  
> has
> broken out in hives when being around that breed.

Has the person been around this particular dog? We have both people  
with severe allergies and a service dog and have had no problems.

Service dogs are very different from other dogs. They are bathed  
regularly and are incredibly well behaved -- never jumping on  
furniture, for example, which can contaminate the furniture.

I would encourage some reality testing.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org