Man brings snake into restaurant, claims it is a ‘service animal’

‘And she was pulling it, and I just started trembling and my mother said ‘We’ve got to get out of here’.

Some customers in a Springfield, Missouri restaurant earlier this week were on edge while trying to enjoy their meal.

Per the ADA, the only service animals allowed are actually dogs, but this dude didn’t think that was the case, claiming that his boa “helps with my depression”.

Lisa Loeffelholz told CNN affiliate KYTV the restaurant manager said that, because of the man’s claim, he couldn’t ask him to leave. “We’ve got to get our of here”, said Terri Pitts.

Loeffelholz said the manager of the restaurant was going to let the couple keep the reptile in the diner because one of the pet’s owners said it was his “service snake”.

Loeffelholz said she took a picture when the woman handed the snake to the man across from her, and then she told her server. “So that’s when my mom and I and the girls decided that we would not stay”, she told the TV station. “He said, ‘No, it’s my service animal. It doesn’t have to be the restaurant that does that”, said Jill Finney, the Nixa city spokesperson.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states “only dogs are recognized as service animals”. “So, if somebody says they have a service monkey, a service cat, or a service snake, ADA only defines it as dogs”.

She added that while management didn’t want to violate anyone’s rights, and that is perfectly understandable, the customer could have called 911. In future cases, health officials say patrons can call police because snakes are considered a health hazard.