Megan Taylor, 22, was on a bus with her guide dog Rowley when an unnamed woman approached her and said: ‘Why is there a f*****g dog on the bus? Get it off.’ But when Megan attempted to politely explain Rowley was an assistance dog, she alleges that the woman called her a liar because guide dogs were yellow Labradors and her dog was black.
Megan, from Merseyside, said that she sought to clarify that her guide and assistance dogs can be any colour and don’t have to actually be Labradors, even though Rowley was, and the woman told her that she was mistaken. So Megan decided at this point that there was nothing she could say to educate this woman and that it wasn’t deserving her time in doing so, and Megan instead decided to ignore her while the woman proceeded to talk rubbish.
Megan has suffered from episodic blindness since she sustained a head trauma at 15, which also produced a number of other medical problems including hearing impairment, impaired balance, frequent fainting attacks and vertigo.
She stated that the incident was not the first time she has been vilified on public transport and it has left her anxious to go on the bus again, and she stated that she doesn’t believe that she’ll ever have a stress free trip on public transport, and that’s why she’s nervous when using it now.
On other occasions, she’s been spat at, stepped over, shoved out of the way and accused of being another drunk youth when losing consciousness due to her heart condition and neurological dysfunction.
Rowley helps Megan with numerous everyday tasks including retrieving dropped items, emptying the washing machine and getting undressed, but more importantly, Rowley can keep Megan calm and can even phone for assistance if she loses consciousness.
Megan said that she tries to stay positive and not let events such as what happened to her get her down because she’s not ashamed of her disability, and that despite having so many adverse experiences, she knows that these people are the minority and that most people are helpful and understanding.
Service dogs are incredible creatures, it’s just a shame that many of the human race can’t be as highly trained, and why didn’t the bus driver make this arrogant woman get off the bus so that everyone could have a peaceful ride?
It’s so obvious that this despicable person appeared to enjoy watching others suffer but then that’s what it’s like in the United Kingdom now with all the governments attacks of the disabled, and this is what it’s enabled because people now believe its okay to insult anyone who fits the disabled characterisation of what a disabled person is deemed to look like.
Not only is this a bad way to treat anyone who has to go through life with such medical problems it’s also a kick in the teeth for the people who do an excellent job training these animals to do the work they do. And any person who thinks they must make a point of how they feel with a reference to any point will stand on their soapbox to be heard and they’re the attention seekers.
All of these people need to walk a mile in this woman’s shoes and see if they feel the same reference to their words and then see how they feel because they should be ashamed of themselves, but then again, the police should have been called and this woman was at a shocking disadvantage, and such examples of poor behaviour can be terrifying, and people should show more concern, step up and help, and clearly the woman who did this was not only narrow-minded, cruel and rude, but also too believe that guide dogs et cetera have to be golden must have the mentality of a pea, considering the black Labrador is a pretty well know breed.
