Rat Your Service

Michaelangelo, one of Dani Moore's two service rats

I recently came across this Tumblr post from about a month ago. A student managed to get approval to use his rat as a service animal at school, assuming it has the proper shots and is kept on a harness. I can’t help thinking about how awesome that is. I mean, service dogs and other medium-sized animals can be wonderful, but it can be tough moving with them in a busy environment. With a rat, you basically have your own pocket therapist. Not to mention that it’s a lot easier to avoid bringing attention to yourself if your disability involves having trouble in social situations.

I wound up doing a bit more research on rats as service animal and found some interesting information about a woman who uses her rats to detect and prevent seizures. Apparently there was quite the battle after a change to the Americans with Disabilities Act prevented any animal other than dogs and miniature horses to be recognized as service animals. Read more on it here and here.