With social distancing, give service animals their space

Re Social distancing for pets will draw a beastly response from humans, April 29

I am a physically disabled graduate of the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides Training School, and am extremely fortunate to have my service dog Gavin.

Gavin comes with me wherever I go. He opens and closes doors, fetches dropped items, as well as a myriad of other daily living tasks he can assist me with. He can even take my credit card from me, give it to a cashier, and take it back from a cashier when the counter is too high for me to reach.

Although many of us with service animals are not going out unless absolutely necessary, I just want to remind people that while service animals are trained to stay beside their handlers, they don’t understand social distancing.

If you see a person approaching you with a service dog, please give them the space necessary to respect social distancing guidelines. Please remember that some handlers could be blind or visually impaired or deaf or hard of hearing, so they may not see/hear you coming. Lilian Hulme-Smith, Richmond Hill