I just read an article in the newspaper from North Haven, Connecticut entitled "Special dogs protect kids from allergens." It was interesting, because some families are getting dogs that can sniff out allergens (such as peanuts) to try to protect their kids. The baseball player in this picture has to wait for his dog to inspect the field before he can play. One family has a daughter who has to carry wipes, Benadryl, an inhaler and an EpiPen for anaphylactic shock. She has had to go to the hospital several times because of reactions to peanuts.
Another woman was in a big box store and couldn't figure out why her dog wouldn't let her go down a non-food aisle. She thought something was wrong with the dog, but then saw a mouse trap with peanut butter on it.
These families want to have the dogs accepted everywhere, just like service dogs for people who are blind or who have seizures.
I have mixed emotions about this, because what about people who are allergic to the dogs? My kids are allergic to all animals (except Kitty can have a rat, but I am not buying one for her!) There was a student in Kitty's school who went into anaphylactic shock after someone brought their dog for show and tell.
So- what does everyone else think? Do we allow dogs everywhere to sniff out peanut allergies to prevent their owner from going into anaphylactic shock? But what if the dogs cause someone to have an asthma attack or anaphylactic shock?
Don't get me wrong-I inspect everything we eat at family parties and restaurants, because I am allergic to seafood and Son #2 is allergic to tree nuts. But I don't think I would get a allergy sniffing dog that could put other people with asthma at risk.
What a hard choice!