From Amanda Bartlett, a SFGATE Digital Reporter
BART passengers were joined by perhaps one of the cutest commuters the transit agency has seen as of late: a miniature horse named Sweets.
Alameda resident Louis Rodrigues said he first saw the animal when he embarked on a train at 12th Street in Oakland. “From there, I looked on in amazement as this pony rode the train to Montgomery, of all places.”
Reactions from other passengers ranged from a mix of surprise to laughter, Rodrigues said. While the expressions worn by most BART commuters are stereotypically stony-faced, a few cracked a smile upon seeing Sweets.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all on BART, there’s a pony,” Rodrigues said.
It wasn’t a pure act of horseplay, however. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost told SFGATE the miniature horse is a service animal. Sweets and her owner arrived at Rockridge station earlier this afternoon and showed her official paperwork to the station agent. The staffer then consulted supervisors who called the legal department for advice on the matter.
Likely to the delight of many, Sweets and her owner were allowed to enter.
“Less delays, more equines, please,” one commuter responded.
Under the Department of Transportation Americans with Disabilities Act, Trost explained, transit entities are required to permit service animals to accompany individuals with disabilities in vehicles and facilities. Currently, the language of the law defines a “service animal” as “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability.”
“A large animal in the BART system comes with certain challenges and we plan to further investigate interpretations of the law when it comes to large animals,” Trost said.