“So Illegal” — Skating Rink Denies Service Dog Entry Into Facility, Gets Review Bombed Into Oblivion

A mother who posts under the TikTok handle @mom.2.five.dogs was shocked by the response a skating rink business had to her son's service dog.

The parent recorded a bit of her interaction with an employee of the USA Skate Center in Springfield, Ohio. In the video, a portion of her disagreement with staff over its refusal to allow the animal on the premises was captured.

According to the post's caption, her son is 6-years-old and a diabetic. According to the Diabetes Foundation, these service dogs can provide a vital additional form of protection for children, as they are specifically trained to sense high or low blood sugar levels in the individuals they're prepped to assist.

This blog, Pawesome University, explains how a dog's heightened sense of smell is able to detect these blood sugar spikes before they reach potentially dangerous levels.

That's because when a person's blood sugar drops too low, "their glucose stores are depleted." Subsequently, the body then resorts to burning fat as an energy source.

In turn, "Ketones are produced as a by-product and exhaled through the handler’s nose and mouth. This is why Diabetic Alert Dogs trained for hypoglycemia, are trained to detect Acetone and or Isoprene, the most prominent ketones produced by the liver when burning fat reserves."

I.e., diabetic service dogs can smell the chemicals a human body produces once they're in ketosis.

However, the skating rink apparently wasn't allowing the service dog in question to be inside the building and accompanying the young diabetic child to monitor any increases or precipitation in his glucose levels.

The mom can be heard saying to a silent worker that the dog has to be allowed in the establishment because "it is completely the law."

In response, the employee turns to the camera the mother is using to record their dialogue. The worker shrugs and shakes their head as if to intone that their mind hasn't been changed and the service animal still won't be allowed inside of the location.

The mother assures the worker that she will be with the dog the entire time and that her son just wants to enter the building to skate.

Again, the child's mother informs the worker that it's "the law" that service dogs must be allowed to accompany the people they serve regardless of the establishment. The employee responds stating that "if there's a police officer" who tells her that she needs to allow the animal in the building, then she will comply with the mom's request.

At this point in the clip, the woman attempts to touch the mom's phone, and the TikToker informs her that she's not allowed to do that. Next, the worker replies that she is, but the mother informs her that her device is her property and she doesn't want the employee to put her hands on it. The woman working for the skating rink then looks to someone off-camera and makes a face, apparently mocking the stand the mother has made to allow her diabetic son to have his service dog accompany him in the skating rink.

Following this, the worker turns around and tells the mother that there's a police officer in the building who informed her that because the business is a "private facility" they do not need to allow concessions for service animals.

Someone tried to counter the employee's claim, stating that the building is a "public" one.

However, the worker counters, stating that while they do "allow the public to come" into the establishment, it is indeed a "privately owned facility."

Afterward, the employee can be heard engaging in a back-and-forth with someone else off-camera. She explains that someone else in the building is "allergic" to dogs and that the service animal's presence "is a health issue" for the skating rink.

A man can be heard explaining to the employee that the person who is allergic to the dog doesn't have a "disability" but the 6-year-old boy in question does.

Several times throughout the conversation, the worker can be seen turning her back to the TikToker's camera in what seems like an attempt to ignore their further arguments regarding the subject.

"If you were deathly allergic to dogs you'd be calling the hospital now," the mom says to the worker.

Next, the employee turns back around to address the mother and says, "I've never seen somebody fight so hard to want to be in our facility."

At around the 3-minute mark in the mother's clip, she finally begins to leave with her child and dog. The female employee featured throughout the video begins to usher them out, but a man who works at the business seems to take issue with someone accompanying the TikToker off-camera.

It seems as if a fight is going to potentially break out between the two of them, but the female employee gets between the male worker and asks @mom.2.five.dogs to exit the building.

Once out the door, the mother continues to talk to the female employee: "You're denying a kid coming in because you guys are afraid of a dog."

"Thanks for coming honey," the employee says in response, before being asked again by the mom not to be touched by her. "Please exit the facility, thank you."

The mom asks the worker to not touch her again before stating that she's going to "call the police" in response.

"I will file something since you just put your hands on me," the TikToker says again.

"The police will meet you outside. Thank you for coming," the female employee says again to the TikToker as she exits the building.

Several TikTokers vouched their support for the mom, and it appears that the business has been review bombed on Yelp following the incident.

According to the Sketchley Law Firm, private businesses are only allowed to deny a service dog entry if it is not properly house trained or if it isn't under the control of its handler as per the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Moreover, private companies can only legally ask two questions pertaining to a service dog: if it is house trained and what the dog is trained to do.

The law firm went on to state that businesses aren't allowed to ask about the service dog handler's disability. Additionally, handlers aren't required to provide "proof" of whether or not a service dog can perform these tasks, i.e. give a demonstration of a service dog in action.

Also, the Service Dog Registration of America writes that "fear of animals or allergies related to animals is not an acceptable reason to deny people with service dogs access to the business premises."