Skippy the Service Iguana Makes the Wall Street Journal
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| Jake Poehls |
| Cosmie Silfa and Skippy have hit the big time... |
Silfa and Skippy were featured prominently in the 2009 SF Weekly cover story, Service with a Snarl regarding the proliferation of service creatures in our fair city. We also chronicled Silfa's successful struggle to keep his service lizards (yes, plural) in his subsidized apartment.
Well, now he's hit the big time. Silfa happily called us up today to note that "Skippy made the Wall Street Journal -- national!" And it's true, too.
Silfa and Skippy are contrasted with Maxx, a small dog its owner knowingly passes off as a therapy pet -- when it's really just a pet. Silfa, the article notes, carries his doctor's "prescription" for Skippy with him at all times. We can attest this is true; he proudly showed it to us in his reptile-crammed, incredibly hot apartment:
"To whom it may concern, I am the treating psychiatrist of Mr. Cosmie Silfa," reads the well-worn letter written on his behalf by Dr. Cynthia Resendez. "I have been treating Mr. Silfa for depression. His pet iguana, Skippy, helps him to maintain a stable mood as she provides companionship and motivation for him to stay well. She is an essential component of our treatment plan, and I recommend she continue to be able to live with Mr. Silfa in his apartment."
As the WSJ article notes, however, changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act slated to take effect next month will limit the creatures acceptable as "service animals" to dogs and, in some cases, horses. Iguanas did not make the cut.
It remains to be seen how this will affect Silfa's life. In the meantime, he says he was very pleased with the WSJ article, and bought one for his son in Rhode Island. He'd have bought one for us, too. But at $2 a pop, that'd be pushing it.
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