Fury as Stranger Continually Demands to Pet Service Dog: 'Leave Him Be'

A video of the moment a disabled woman was forced to confront a man trying to pet her service dog has angered viewers on TikTok.

Haylee, 28, lives in Massachusetts with her yellow Labrador retriever Jake, who is a 7-year-old medical and cardiac alert dog, also assisting with mobility.

In the video, she shared how she was forced to ask a stranger in the local supermarket not to pet her dog during a visit on January 16.

"We had run into Walmart quickly to get a new handheld vacuum because ours broke," Haylee told Newsweek. "We were walking down one of the main aisles, and this gentleman was coming down the left-hand side. He stopped and put his hand out to pet Jake and tried calling him over to him."

Service dogs are there to assist, often providing mobility and guidance for their handlers.

Interfering with them could result in a potentially dangerous situation. Many service-dog charities warn that, just as you wouldn't distract a driver or air traffic controller, it is essential not to distract a service dog from their important role.

As the man tried to pet Jake, Haylee was forced to stop and back the dog up while politely asking the man not to touch him.

"The man insisted on petting him so I explained that he was a working service dog and petting him right now could be distracting," said Haylee. "His response was 'I KNOW' so I just reminded him it's actually important to ask to pet any dog—not just service dogs—because you don't know how the dog will react."

But the man was not deterred by the request and once again reached down to try to pet the working dog.

In the video, Haylee can be heard asking the man not to stroke Jake and requesting that he "leave him be."

"He tried to get in Jake's face to then ask my dog, 'Do you mind if I pet you?' So, I turned Jake around and said, 'Sorry, please don't,'" said Haylee. "We walked the long way around to the aisle. We were going just to get out of the situation."

Haylee captured the moment on camera and was prompted to share it with TikTok to try to raise awareness of what she says is a common issue for owners of service dogs.

"This does happen very often. I would say, about 85 percent of the time, we go out and about, we get people coming up to try and pet Jake without asking," Haylee said. "Sometimes, people will ask and are respectful, other times, not so much."

She added that she is frequently stopped to answer questions about her dog and condition and tries to stop and answer them whenever she can.

"However, it can be frustrating," Haylee said, "at times when my health is really bad, or I just want to run into the store quickly to get something fast. Imagine every time you run to the grocery store, you're stopped five to 10 times to be asked about your disabilities, your personal medical stuff."

While service dogs are trained to ignore most distractions, it is still important that people understand the impact that intentionally distracting a dog could have.

"We ask people simply not to pet or distract when they are working," said Haylee. "It's important not to distract a service dog while they're working because this could cause the dog to miss an important medical alert for the handler."

Haylee often shares updates on social media of her daily life with Jake in the hope that it will spread awareness and educate others around service animals.

"I'm happy I'm able to use my platform to spread proper awareness and education on service animals to help keep them and their handlers safe," she said.