Assistance Dogs Welcome

It's embarrassing for me to admit this but since I've been working where I am, I've frequented McDonalds in Royal Avenue (Belfast) a number of times. A few weeks ago I noticed a sign on the door which I find slightly troubling.

It reads, 'Assistance Dogs Welcome' and has a little line diagram to demonstrate.

(I was going to take a picture of it this afternoon but there were too many people about, some of them standing in the way, and I would find it embarrassing to try to explain why I would want a photo of that little sign)

Presumably, one might think, it means Guide-dogs. The diagram certainly suggests that. But then, most people who need guide-dogs aren't really going to see the sign especially when it's about waist height. (Seems like a cruel trick) Is it meant to be at the dogs' eye-level? I've never seen a guide-dog that big! And can they be trained to recognise the sign? Maybe they lace it with aniseed, but then I'd espect to see McDonalds crammed with disorientated blind people, which I haven't noticed as yet.

The ambiguous language made me wonder whether I could take my dog (Pictured, his name is Muttley) and say he's been helping me round-up sheep all morning.

Maybe I could say 'I need my dog to assist me to eat this crap!' (Which I quite enjoy eating) If I say that, I might need him for legal assistance.

My conclusion is that the sign is about guide-dogs but it is intended to be seen by neither the blind nor their dogs. Its location is perfect for hyperactive (because of the additives in their Happy Meal?) eight-year-olds. The wee scamps see the sign and then toddle off around the city centre looking for blind people to whom they can pass on the message that their dogs are welcome at McDonalds.