A video showing a couple getting into a confrontation with a disabled woman after she asked them to leave her and her service dog alone has gone viral.
The incident took place at Disney California Adventure Park, when the woman states she was having a rest in her wheelchair with her service dog, Sulley, by her side.
Instead of enjoying a nice relaxing break though, the woman was faced with a confrontation when the couple in question kept trying to bring their child closer to the dog in an attempt to get its attention.
In the now viral video, which was posted on Sulley the Service Dog’s Facebook page, the woman can be heard asking the couple to keep their distance and telling us that she’s asked them to leave her alone several times now.
The man can be seen laughing and waving at the camera while his partner holds up a phone of her own and begins filming the disabled woman.
As the woman asks her to ‘back up please,’ she points to her wheelchair and tells her, ‘that’s the reason you’re actually in that seat’.
You can take a look at what happens below:
The woman wrote in the video’s caption:
I had noticed this man bringing his child continuously closer to ‘look at the doggie’ and did my best to stave off my anxiety over it. After a few minutes I called Sulley to the other side of my chair in hopes making him less visible would give this man the hint that he was making me very uncomfortable.
Instead he simply did his best to maneuver his child into view. He began making kissy noises and other sounds in attempt to gain my service dog’s attention. This is when I couldn’t stay silent anymore.
Deliberately distracting a service dog is DANGEROUS. It can cause them to miss vital cues their handler gives for them to alert to their medical conditions. I looked over and politely said ‘sir, could you please leave us alone? You’re making me really uncomfortable.’
It’s at this point, the woman states, the man became irate and used some ‘choice words’ towards her. She claims the man’s temper got worse until his child ended up crying, which she says she pointed out to him.
The man’s partner then reportedly stepped in, before yelling at the woman and starting to film her. The woman then states she threatened to call security on the couple.
The post continued:
I don’t understand how we’ve reached a point where we can’t respect someone who politely says that you’re making them uncomfortable and to just move on.
I assure you, your child will be far happier to meet Pluto and Goofy than to merely hawk at my service dog that’s too busy and too well trained to pay any mind to them.
Since being posted last Thursday (December 27), the post has gone viral, attracting more than 279K views, 2.1K likes and more than 4K shares at the time of writing (January 3).
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).