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Outside Article Bride bans sister's service dog from her wedding as it'll 'steal her attention'

Abhean

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A bride has been slammed for banning her sister's service dog from her wedding claiming it'll steal her spotlight on the big day.

The woman, who has remained anonymous, insists her sister does not need a service dog and is making up her mental health issues "for attention".

Forbidding her sister from bringing her dog to the celebrations, the bride-to-be said her sister wanted to dress him up in a "doggy tuxedo" so he'd fit in with the other wedding guests.

She said on Reddit: "I told her absolutely not. She said she won't be coming unless the dog can come too."

Originally wanting her sister to be a bridesmaid, the woman, who is due to marry in six months' time, is now struggling to maintain her guest list as her sister is trying to turn their family against her following the ban.

"I told her she was being ridiculous. The dog isn't even trained and there is nothing medically wrong with her," she added.

"She says it's for PTSD from our childhood. We had an exceptionally normal childhood with great parents. We never financially struggled or anything like that and were never abused.

"She is now refusing to come to the wedding and trying to get family members to take her side.

"She is saying I am discriminating against her disability - PTSD, and anxiety caused from a supernormal childhood."

Claiming her sister's service dog is "fake", the bride-to-be explained how her sister adopted the dog as a puppy and started referring to it as a "service dog in training" so her landlord would allow her to keep him.

She added: "Now she has herself convinced that she actually needs this dog and that he is performing some kind of therapy for her.

The bride has questioned whether she is justified in her actions
The bride has questioned whether she is justified in her actions (

"The problem is the dog is not a trained service dog. It barks, it will rub up against you and get slobber and hair on you. It'll scratch up your legs if it's excited.

"I think the whole service dog thing is her way of feeling special, standing out and getting attention from others.

"She loves the attention the dog brings and it's super obvious. The dog has its own Instagram for goodness sake.

"I'm also worried that she will use the dog to steal the attention on my wedding day.

"She has done this at family birthday parties with the dog and other events. She literally needs people to pay attention to her and her dog."

Questioning whether she has been too harsh on her sister or whether her reasoning is justified, the woman has turned to Reddit to seek others' opinions.



One user said: "People like you sister are incredibly annoying for people like me who have actual trained service dogs, and give service dogs a bad rap.

"My dog helps me with my autism and mental illnesses. I have a hard time navigating crowds and so he is trained to lead me around when I get overwhelmed, along with doing some other stuff.

"It is incredibly annoying when people think I might be faking him being a service dog because of people like your sister."

While some users supported the bride-to-be's decision to ban the dog from attending her wedding, others pointed out how her dismissible behaviour towards her sister's mental health might be the reason for her problems.

Pretending to speak through the bride, one user said: "Dear family, I've just learned that I am the source of sister's PTSD and childhood trauma.

"I am shocked and sad as I thought we had a wonderful childhood. I cannot in good conscience force sister to attend my wedding.

"She was gracious enough to try to put her trauma aside, but it is exacerbating her need for her service animal.

"Please help me support her by supporting her nonattendance and not talking about wedding details in front of her. Love you all so much!"

Another user added: "She sounds extremely dismissive of her sister and I really wonder if she's ever considered that this behaviour could be a cause of her childhood trauma too, especially if she has always regarded her sister this way."

A fourth user said: "Please remember that not all PTSD suffers are affected in the same way.

"Your symptoms may not affect you to such an extent that they constitute a disability but for others their panic attacks can be completely deliberating."

 

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