Doggone

"Dog Silhouette 01" by Amada44 - Own work. Licensed under
Public domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Dog_Silhouette_01.svg#mediaviewer/File:Dog_Silhouette_01.svg

The theater has gone to the dogs!

Emotional support animals (ESAs) and service dogs (let Patricia Marx define the difference in her excellent New Yorker article, Pig On A Plane) occupy the best seats in the house. 

Not content with being upfront, some of them distract by barking at the actors, as they did at the Women's Project for a show called "Row After Row." (More on this performance here on this blog at http://tbontheaisleatheaterdiary.blogspot.com/2014/01/row-after-row-is-billed-as-dark-comedy.html.) 

Some "trauma dogs" scratch themselves during a performance, or demand petting from their disinterested (in the play at any rate) owners.

Their presence in the audience is mostly to satisfy some perverse demands of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and may be utterly spurious. 

It is most definitely annoying to this theater-goer and her spouse. How do you feel about sharing the theater with four-footed critters?

"Tan ferret named cincin" by Kerri Love - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tan_ferret_named_cincin.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Tan_ferret_named_cincin.JPG

Before you answer, note that the ferret pictured above may also qualify for categorization as a "trauma" or emotional support pet. 

If the pet owners are in need of emotional support, perhaps they should bring their psychiatrists to the show. The interval would be a perfect time to hold a mini-therapy session.