In a world where young families more often have pets than children, bringing your four-legged friend to someone's wedding doesn't seem like a big deal. In fact, according to a survey by WeddingWire, one-third of pet owners have included their pets in their engagement or wedding.
But this mother and daughter got into a huge fight about the mom bringing her pet pig to the daughter's wedding. After the animal caused a ruckus during the reception, the women had a spat in front of the guests, causing the mother to feel publicly humiliated. Still, the bride sparked a discussion about what kind of animals should be allowed at weddings.
A mother brought a pet pig to her daughter's wedding and got kicked out for it
Image credits: seyfutdinovaolga / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
Since the pig caused a mess during the reception, the bride asked whether her mother bringing it was appropriate in the first place
Image credits: GaudiLab / envatoelements (not the actual photo)
Image credits: MadLadyBug8
Emotional support animals don't automatically get access to public spaces
Image credits: pvproductions / freepik (not the actual photo)
Pets and animals provide us with a great deal of comfort, and a whopping 72% of Americans say they have a pet at home. Interestingly, 18% of those pet owners also have had them certified as emotional support animals.
An emotional support animal (ESA) is not the same as a service animal. Service animals are trained specifically to aid a person with their emotional or physical disability. The main difference between an ESA and a service animal is that they do some sort of task. If an animal just makes you feel better, it's an emotional support animal.
Still, only people with a mental health condition can get a pet certified to be an ESA. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a licensed mental health professional has to sign off on the certification. "It provides therapeutic emotional support to alleviate a symptom or effect of the disability of the patient/client, and not merely as a pet," the agency adds.
You can't take an emotional support animal with you on a plane, since they don't have public access or air travel protections. The same goes for other public spaces: say, a café that isn't animal-friendly can deny entry to an ESA if it chooses to.
You can get a pot-bellied pig to be an emotional support animal
Image credits: DejaVu Designs / freepik (not the actual photo)
According to the ADA, dogs are the most common service animals, but sometimes miniature horses are trained to be service animals as well. As for emotional support animals, many kinds can get certified to become ESAs. Most ESAs are dogs as well, but other people have cats, birds, pigs, rabbits, mice, and miniature horses as emotional support animals.
There are no accurate statistics about how many Americans keep pot-bellied pigs as pets, but the estimates are around 250,000 to 1 million. A pot-bellied pig is a miniature or a mini pig. According to the American Mini Pig Association, pot-bellied pigs can grow up to about 120 pounds and 15 to 20 inches tall. However, in some states or counties, they might be illegal as pets. There might be size and weight restrictions, or they might only be allowed as pets in rural areas.
Still, there shouldn't be any problems with getting a pet pig certified as an ESA. There are several upsides to having them as emotional support animals:
- They're calm and docile, and love to be scratched and cuddled, so they're great for reducing our anxiety and removing our worries.
- They help us socialize, as they need to be walked just like dogs. They can even help people manage their social anxiety disorders, as going out for a walk with a pet mini pig can be a great conversation starter.
- They're only as tall as dogs when they reach the age of 5, so they have the perfect stature, not too small and not too big. Some owners even allow their pet pigs into their beds or on couches to cuddle.
- Pot-bellied pigs are trainable, and you can train yours to behave in public and walk on a leash properly. If they're not trained, they might behave like the pig that the mother in this story owned. They meander, investigate every scrap of litter, and have a restless appetite, which prompts them to always be on the search for food. Experts note that a lot of time and effort go into correcting this type of behavior in miniature pigs.
Most people sided with the bride: "She was entitled and rude as hell"
However, others blamed the bride for not banning the pig from the wedding more firmly
