A brother’s refusal to allow his sister to bring a service dog to his wedding has the internet divided.
The 32-year-old man took to Reddit, posting his side of the story to see whether people thought he was in the wrong or right. U/Free_Standard_7276 started the post by giving his readers some background information, explaining that he and his girlfriend Gemma, 30, are planning to get married at the end of November. The ceremony and reception are set to be intimate affairs with only close friends and family in attendance.
“We don’t want it to be an inconvenience to others and choosing a venue is really hard due to Gemma’s allergy,” the original poster remarked.
According to him, his soon-to-be wife is allergic to dogs. More than that, Gemma is terrified of the furry pets due to a “freak accident” that occurred when she was younger.
The groom noted: “While her allergy is not deadly, even when taking anti allergies her face would get significantly swollen, have red marks all over it that are visible even with heavy makeup and she would constantly sneeze.”
He went on to explain that Gemma benefits from wearing a face mask, but now that there is no longer a mask mandate in place, people assume she’s ill whenever she wears one to protect herself from getting an allergic reaction. This has allegedly led to Gemma and the Redditor getting turned away at restaurants and cafes.
The brother explained that the severity of Gemma’s allergy is why he asked his sister to refrain from bringing her service dog.
“My sister ‘Kate’ has diabetes and has a service dog ‘Lenny’ to help her. I absolutely adore him and Gemma is not scared of him either,” he wrote. “However, due to Emma’s allergies I have reminded Kate not to take Lenny to our wedding.”
“I believe my future wife should be able to enjoy her day without the swelling, which would be hard to avoid due to the venue being quite small and private (Gemma gets the reaction even if there’s a dog in the same supermarket even if it doesn’t touch her),” the Reddit user continued. “My sister has reminded he is a service animal and I can’t ask her to not to take him, but I have told her he is still a dog and being a service animal doesn’t miraculously cancel my wife’s allergies and she knew about them from the start.”
The Redditor said he’s only requested his sister not bring Lenny to his wedding, and that all other family gatherings are fine. Still, he confessed that she and their mom were so angry with him that they threatened to skip his big day entirely.
“Which I said is fine as I value my wife’s comfort more,” he remarked.
Flocks of users took to the original poster’s comment section, adding their opinions on who they think is in the wrong in the situation.
“You have to stick up to your wife and it’s good you are doing so. I’ll predict the future now and say that you ll have to do that more often later on, because your sister and your mother will blame your wife for choosing her ‘stupid health’ over your sister’s dog,” one supporter proclaimed.
Another wrote: “There are ways for your sis to check her blood sugar without her service dog like before she got him. But there is no way for your wife to be allergy-free when the dog is there. So the sis has a medical alternative, your future wife does not.”
“From what you’ve said your wife doesn’t complain at family functions. Which is nice of her but her wedding is a day where she shouldn’t have to worry about the dog and her face will be immortalised in pictures forever so of course she wants to look her best,” one Reddit user exclaimed.
An individual with their own service dog agreed that the groom wasn’t in the wrong. However, a few frustrated readers thought the man and his partner were out of line.
“You’re telling me every single dog owner she interacts with keeps themselves immaculately clean but a dog being within 400 feet is too much?” one Redditor questioned.
Another added: “I’d imagine your sister’s diabetes must be difficult to control if she has a service animal. You don’t want an ambulance taking attention away from the bride either.”
“I dont see how your wife would ever be able to go into any grocery store/Target/Walmart/etc with how often service animals and ESAs go through them,” someone else noted.
