Every year, during domestic violence awareness month, I try to muster the guts to share my story because I am a survivor. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced physical, emotional, mental, or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. Sharing that I am a DV survivor is embarrassing because of the attached stigma.
In April 2022 I and my partner met with a friend of ours for lunch at a restaurant in Wildomar. I was able to walk that day and had my service dog Storm with me. He was wearing his service dog vest with a guide handle for me.
Service dogs give people with disabilities more independence and provide life-changing benefits. Unfortunately, we experience far too many service dog access issues in public places these days.
During a hospital visit in June 2021, I had a follow-up appointment with one of my specialist doctors. We had been to this location and doctor before and never had any problems. What happened that day was surprising, shocking, and completely unacceptable.
Dog decompression is important! I will never forget the first several times I told a foster that the dog needs to decompress when coming into their home. They looked at me as if I was being unfair to the dog. Most humans, …
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