It's pretty common knowledge that service dogs are different from common house pets.
Service dogs have a job to do.
Petting them/distracting them can actually interfere with that job, since their senses and focus must remain acutely attuned to their owner's needs.
So when a mom approached a woman in public training service dogs and asked if her child could pet the dog and was denied, things got... a little bit ugly.
The video was shared to Facebook by the trainer in question.
Megan Stoff, the woman who posted the video, said:
"Had this crazy experience yesterday at the mall where some lady asked if she could pet the dogs. People ask us all the time so I just said, 'no.' All the dogs are working so it's my go to answer. And they walked away. No big deal right?"
Well, clearly, big deal.
This woman went out of her way to come back and yell at the people training the dogs for being rude.
The internet is in pretty strong agreement that this mom is 100% out of line.
People pointed out that asking permission before approaching or petting ANY dog should be what is taught.
And when the answer is "no" there is probably a good reason.
The video, which took place at a mall in Pittsburgh, has been shared over 87,000 on Facebook alone.
Stoff, who is autistic, says that this is not an uncommon occurrence, but the energy it takes to describe why to strangers is often beyond her capability.
She said to Bored Panda:
"I'm autistic and sometimes just can't speak very efficiently at all so I can't explain even if I wanted to."
Security was called to deal with the woman, who was reportedly "crying" as she was escorted away.
"There was no common sense here," Stoff says, which is a perfect way to sum up the ridiculous events which took place.
