Nora Johnson Breaking Views: Purrfect paws for thought

Did you catch the recent news about the UK shopper with autism who was suing Sainsbury’s over banning his assistance cat from accompanying him in its stores?

Decades ago when a pal started work in supermarket retail, a few customers mainly with sight and anxiety issues struggled to shop, so staff would help them to cope and get around. Reassured and distracted from the rest of the shoppers, they always left with a smile, happy they had somebody they could talk to. What happened to human-to-human contact? Supermarkets, due to staff hiring and other costs, are unfortunately increasingly disconnecting themselves from their communities.

However, as for the cat in question, it may be well trained but the issue is where you draw the line. If someone brought an assistance python into a store, regardless of training, I’d be out of there in a shot and some may feel the same about other pets.

And it’d take more than an “emotional support” animal to calm me down on any Boeing 737Max flight. And should anyone ever sit next to me with an “emotional support” spider, they’ll quickly find out who needs the most emotional support…

Nora Johnson’s critically acclaimed psychological crime thrillers (www.nora-johnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99;£0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

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