Ashley Judd Is Defending Her “Psychological Support Dog.” Are You Buying It? Because Yeah. It’s Nonsense.

Brett Smiley of Fox Sports recently wrote about all the backlash Ashley Judd has faced for bringing her one remaining "psychological support dog" to the Thursday night Kentucky Wildcats game against Hampton.

In his column, he included a tweeted photo of Ashley at the game, looking utterly unsupported psychologically by her dog, Shug, who was resting comfortably in the arms of a woman sitting NEXT to Ashley.  I am totally cracking up at the deathstares being shot Ashley's way by the two blondes off to the side. 

Brett Smiley was incredibly sympathetic to Ashley Judd's need for a psychological support dog.  He wrote, "Haters are always going to hate" and then referenced Ashley's self-serving, self-righteous, sophomoric essay about the abusive comments she faced on Twitter after tweeting the Arkansas Razorbacks that they could "kiss her team's free-throw making ass."

As for Judd's dog, why does anyone really care? The dog appears to be chilling out, not getting in anyone's way. Some of the haters (in less vitriolic fashion than on Sunday) are actually ridiculing the concept of an emotional therapy dog in the first place.

OMG. So much wrong with that statement.  First of all, people care because when high profile celebrities place themselves above rules and regulations simply because they ARE celebrities, it hurts people with a genuine need for service animals. It delegitimizes the entire service animal industry, by making it more difficult for people who rely on service animals for safety and independence  in public venues to get the acceptance they deserve.  And the abuse of the label "emotional support animal" is rampant.  See here. And here. And just look how easy it is to get the service animal vest and ID card. 

Ashley herself tweeted back to several folks questioning her about bringing her dog to the game by linking them to these DOJ guidelines. 

The link she provides goes right here. However, her own link states quite clearly that in order to be a service animal, it must be  "trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability."  If she really wants to convince naysayers that Shug is a service dog, why not simply explain exactly what specific function or task Shug has been trained to do to help her with her disability?  Since Shug goes to basketball games and falls asleep in the laps of other people, it's not difficult to understand why people are suspicious that Shug isn't an actual service animal.

I would be willing to bet money on the fact that Shug hasn't been trained to perform a specific task or function to provide assistance to an individual with a disability, because Ashley herself  has made the mistake of referring to her as an emotional support animal, which is ENTIRELY DIFFERENT than a service animal.  You can read the differences right here. 

This is also a great link that explains the differences.

Emotional support animals are NOT entitled to accompany their owners in all public areas like service animals are.  They are allowed, according to the ADA, onto planes and in housing areas which may  not otherwise allow animals. That's it.  Emotional support animals are "companion animals that provide therapeutic benefit to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability" according to Brett Smiley's own link.

Obviously, I don't argue that Ashley's got a mental or psychiatric disability AT ALL.  I wholeheartedly agree with any assessment that suggests she's got mental issues. But her dog isn't a service animal.  And even if she wants to call it an emotional support animal, she is too self-serving and too much of a diva to realize that calling Shug that doesn't mean she gets to bring her to basketball games.

Incidentally, if Shug is required for emotional support for Ashley, then wouldn't it stand to reason that she should be at ALL college basketball games Ashley attends?  Or is Ashley's emotional disability a fleeting one?

Brett Smiley asks, "But why does anyone care about her dog in the first place? Does it impair anyone's enjoyment of the game? Offend personal sensibilities? No, people still view social media as a platform to bully."

No, Brett Smiley.  People care because Ashley Judd puts herself above others simply because she wants her 15-year old pet with her.  And that's not ok.  It creates public resentment of genuine, legitimate service dogs, and that's something ALL of us should care about.  It's not about impairing someone's enjoyment of a game.  It's about calling out questionable behavior when we see it.  And that means calling out Ashley Judd and her pet dog Shug.