The Illinois state senate just voted to add miniature horses to the list of ‘helper animals’ for people with disabilities, a move that is already being referred to on this blog and nowhere else as “The Li’l Sebastian Amendment,” in honor of Pawnee’s most beloved deceased miniature horse.
Sure, on one hand, Li’l Sebastian was technically from Indiana and is fictional and has nothing to do with any of this, but on the other hand, who’s to say this new law isn’t entirely because of Li’l Sebastian? The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Proponents of the law argue that miniature horses are ideal alternatives for people in need of helper animals who have severe allergies or phobias to dogs, plus they live longer, but critics have cited the potential sanitary drawbacks to having horses walking around in indoor spaces. I haven’t studied this issue long enough to have an opinion other than “Miniature horses are completely hilarious and I’m in favor of them doing whatever,” so feel free to use this sentence I just typed in your debates or whatever, senators who are reading this.
In closing, let’s just use this as an excuse to re-watch Tom’s touching Li’l Sebastian In Memoriam:
