There’s no denying that we don’t deserve (most) animals due to the amount of support, emotional or otherwise, they give us, particularly to those with disabilities. However, one bloke has decided to push things to a whole new level by registering *checks notes* beer as his “service animal.”
Brooklyn resident Floyd Hayes told the Brooklyn Paper that he suffers from social anxiety disorder. Since he travels on the bus “from upstate to Brooklyn a lot” and “its a federal crime to smoke or have an alcoholic beverage unless by prior written contest,” he decided to see where he could get that consent to legally drink beer on the bus.
In a move that’ll please beer enthusiasts everywhere, Hayes ended up registering the alcoholic beverage as an “emotional support dog” for his social anxiety order with the USA Service Dog Registration.
For those wondering how the hell it is possible to register beer as service animal and if it is even legal, well it sort of is because of some weird loophole in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to the Act, a “service animal” is a dog or tiny horse trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. However, that’s not the same thing as an “emotional support animal” (which is what Hayes registered his beer as).
Emotional support animals helps someone’s state of mind and isn’t included under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which means there’s plenty of flexibility as to what counts as a “service animal” under this criteria.
We all know about beer’s ability to do good and it can truly be a emotional support (of sorts) at times, but a USA Service Dog Registration rep wasn’t too amused with Hayes’ little stunt, saying that he can “register his beer all day long, it’s not going to get him anywhere” due to the website’s lack of “legal merit.”
Now before we get all excited at the prospect of having beer as an official service animal, there are signs that this is all a big stunt. Hayes’ line of work involves guerrilla marketing and he’s already shared his antics over to LinkedIn and is on the lookout for bevvy sponsors.
At the end of the day, it all sounds like a little stunt to get attention (which worked, admittedly), but hey if it works then it works. If it doesn’t, well at least Hayes can drown his sorrows with his registered emotional support beer.
Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.