MACON, Ga. — Every day, there are people walking around with invisible disabilities you may not know about.
Debra Jackson is one of them.
She was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and her doctor recommended a service dog about three years ago to help.
"The medication and counseling alone wasn't, it was helping, but I needed more," Jackson said.
That's when she started taking her service dog, Sophie, everywhere with her.
"I did get a lot of stares and mean looks and people refusing to wait on me," she said.
That's what inspired her to start a service dog awareness group with a friend. Together, they go around the community to educate people about the rights of people with service animals.
A couple of weeks ago, she had just finished an event and headed to a restaurant afterward.
"I was stopped and told I couldn't take my service animal with me to the restroom," Jackson said.
Another issue came at the restaurant: whether she was allowed to feed her dog under the table.
13WMAZ called the Department of Justices' Americans with Disabilities information line and were told service animals can follow their owner into a bathroom, but restaurants are not required to allow owners to feed their service dog in the restaurant.
Jackson said she hopes more restaurants ask the ADA when unsure about service dog owners' rights.
"Educating your staff is the key. It's key, cause I mean, disabled people are a part of society just like anybody else," Jackson said.
She also hopes to see more restaurants have a designated manager who asks customers if their dog is a service animal, instead of having multiple employees ask the same question.
According to the ADA's website, restaurants are only allowed to ask customers two things:
- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
Under the ADA, service animals are also not required to wear a vest or identification.
Service dogs are different from emotional support animals, which aren't protected under the same ADA laws.