Guide dogs are special creatures who devote their lives to helping humans who need them. Many people rely on service dogs to live a normal life, and 22 year-old Megan Taylor is one of these people.

Recently, Megan boarded a bus with her devoted service dog Rowley, and seconds later, she found herself being berated by a passenger who screamed at her to “get her f***ing dog off!”

The passenger did not believe Megan when she tried to explain that Rowley was her service dog because he was a black Labrador, and the passenger was under impression that service dogs were always yellow for some reason.

“Guide dogs are yellow Labradors and your dog is black,” the passenger nonsensically yelled at Megan.

“I tried to explain to her that guide and assistance dogs can been any color and don’t have to be Labradors, although Rowley is. She told me I was wrong,” Megan recounted. “I decided at this point there was nothing I could say to educate this woman and that it wasn’t worth my time. I instead chose to ignore her while she continued to talk nonsense.”

Megan relies on Rowley to get around because she suffers from episodic blindness, a condition she has suffered from since she received a traumatic head injury at the age of 15. This injury gave her a variety of other medical issues that she still struggles with, including hearing loss, frequent fainting, and dizzy spells.

“I suffered multiple fractures to my skull in the incident which left me with multiple disabilities. I can temporarily lose my sight without warning at any time, which is truly terrifying,” she said. “Even when I can see I become so dizzy and disoriented when walking that I bump into obstacles and trip over things.”

Rowley helps Megan do everything that he can, and he is even trained to call for help if she falls unconscious, which makes her feel a lot more confident when she’s out and about.

“People should know assistance dogs come in many shapes and sizes and are trained to support people with a range of disabilities,” she said. “Just like a wheelchair, walking stick, or pair of glasses, they are important and vital auxiliary aids and as such are legally permitted to accompany their disabled owner in all public places.”

Most surprising of all is the fact that Megan said that this is not the first time she has been berated over her dog on public transportation.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a stress-free trip on public transport, that’s why I’m so nervous when using it now,” she said. “On other occasions I have been spat at, stepped over, pushed out of the way and accused of being ‘another drunk youth’ when losing consciousness due to my heart condition and neurological disorder.”

Every owner and their service animal have a story and we would all do better not to prejudge. Instead, we should either mind our own business or have compassion which goes a long way.