Judge Who Raises Guide Dogs Upheld In Barring ‘Service Dog’ From Courthouse
Posted on | December 17, 2009 | 1 Comment
Moral of this story is it’s not the smartest move to take your questionable “service dog” into the courtroom of a judge who raises guide dog puppies with his wife (I believe for Guide Dogs for the Blind, but haven’t verified that):
“Federal judge rejects Ryderwood woman’s service dog discrimination suit”
Haven’t heard much about this case, either, even though it’s been going on for over a year, but I can’t say I’m surprised – it’s exactly the opposite of those “service dog discrimination” stories the “outraged public” waits around to pounce on and be outraged about all the time.
My guess is you also won’t be hearing a lot about it being tossed now, which is exactly why I wanted to write about it here.
Big points to Judge Stephen Warning for standing up on this one. You can read the links below for more details, but here’s the heart of the matter:
“I was told by security that her dog smelled so bad that people were having to get up and leave the courtroom,” Warning said.
When he asked Brown what service the dog performs, he said, the situation became “laughable.”
“She said, ‘Well, she pulls me.’ … As she’s facing me, the dog’s trying to pull her in another direction. It was clear the dog was not trained to assist her in any way.”
Warning said he of all people would be especially forgiving of a service animal in his court. He and his wife have trained three seeing-eye dogs, one of which was sleeping at his feet when the incident unfolded.
And the real bottom line:
“Unfortunately a lot of people abuse the provisions of the ADA in order to keep their pets with them at all times and that makes it difficult and is one of the biggest problems legitimate service dog users and service dog organizations have,” [Judge Warning] said.
Amen.
“Two women take on county over service animal policies”
“County faces federal suit over service animal policy”
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One Response to “Judge Who Raises Guide Dogs Upheld In Barring ‘Service Dog’ From Courthouse”
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December 31st, 2009 @ 9:12 am
It is disheartening to see that we here on the other side of the pond are not the only ones who suffer with well meaning but poorly thought through laws. If under the ADA there is no ability to be able to question and thus verify if an dog is a true service animal what is the point? Abuse will inevitably happen. I feel sure that those with genuine service animals would have no problem with providing proof of their service animals standing.
Seen your column for the first time today, thought provoking, warm, humorous and inspiring.