Peacock no comfort

I read the recent Spokesman Review article about a person trying to sneak their peacock on board an airplane, claiming the bird was a “comfort animal” (“United joins Delta in tightening rules for comfort animals,” Feb. 2).

I do volunteer work for disabled people and service dogs. This “peacock” fiasco made me nauseated!! These “comfort dog” people are cons. They need to be frightened away, before they do real damage to the reputations of good people like a disabled vet I know who lost over 1/4 of his brain in the military and with PTSD, and has been greatly helped by his service dog.

I have partially controlled seizures, and it would be a terrible challenge for me to even go to the grocery store without my service dog . If I went into status elipticus — several seizures in a row — it could be very dangerous and my service dog prevents it.

So, please, before you condemn service dogs (which just naturally exclude the “bird-brained episode”) please think about some of the truly poignant situations out there of disabled people (mostly disabled U.S. veterans) whose lives would be greatly negatively impacted without the help of their service dogs.

Catherine Ann Humberg

Spokane