Vistakon Employees Donate $22K to K9s for Warriors

"Vistakon, the Jacksonville entity of Johnson and Johnson Vision Care, rallied its employees to donate more than $22,000 to Operation Orion to help the non-profit, K9s for Warriors," reports First Coast News. "The group, based in St. Johns County, is building a new facility in Nocatee. The money will operate the new center, which planners say will be the leading PTSD recovery center in the country using service/rescue dogs...K9s for Warriors currently operates in a small house in Nocatee. The program has a waiting list now more than a year long for veterans with PTSD coming in from all over the U.S." Read more.

Clashing Tolerance for Service Animals, Excluding Seeing-Eye Dogs

"Classifying animals as emotional support animals has long been permitted under antidiscrimination laws, allowing owners to take them into restaurants and shops or to residential buildings that have no-pet policies. To demonstrate the need for an emotional support animal, the animal’s owner needs a letter from a mental health professional," reports the New York Times. "But their presence on airplanes is increasingly facing a backlash from flight attendants, passengers with allergies and owners of service animals, like Seeing Eye dogs, who say that airplane cabins have become crowded with uncaged animals who have no business being there. The Department of Transportation does not require airlines to keep data on emotional support animals. One that does, JetBlue expects more than 20,000 emotional support and service animals this year." Read more.