Hi August!
AA> The doctor and restaurant owner should have said that they
AA> or their employees have allergies or sensitivity to dogs.
That is a really lame excuse... and still illegal. You can't bar
PWD's accompanied by a Guide Dog from virtually any public place.
AA> If the judge or city wouldn't accept that, then that would
AA> be unreasonable.
The law is the law -- and PWD's should NOT have to fight for their
civil rights each and every time they go out!
AA> People with guide dogs probably have a variety of other
AA> business establishments they could choose from.
Not if all the businesses follow your great advice to lie about
allergies (BTW, allergies to dogs are quite rare -- more often,
people are allergic to cats!). You would deny PWD's the opportunity
to make a free choice for where they would like to dine or conduct
other normal business. To restrict PWD's with Guide or Service Dogs
to just a few choices would be akin to the old laws in the South
(USA) that had separate EVERYTHING for Whites & Blacks -- the laws
that treated Blacks as less-than-human, second-class citizens were
a horrible, disgusting thing... Yet, here you are... proposing
something that harkens back to those laws!
AA> To single out one business like that and then make a big
AA> deal about "guide dog insensitivities" is ridiculous.
Most businesses are enlightened and compliant with the laws -- some
even go above & beyond to make PWD's feel comfortable and welcome.
Then you encounter a business where either the workers are poorly
trained (and don't understand the laws concerning Guide/Service
Dogs) or the business is run by some arrogant individual who thinks
s/he is above the law, so they give the PWD's a hard time... They
deserve to be taught the importance of the law (hence, the fines).
BTW, I'm disabled... and I had an Rx for a dog to help me out --
perfectly legal, but it drove my apt. complex manager crazy and she
became abusive toward me and tried to evict me. I had to call in the
Fair Housing Authority who intervened. When faced with the prospect
of getting the apt. owners sued by BOTH the Federal gov't. AND by me
for violating my rights AND facing the loss of her job for creating
the fracas, she relented & dropped the eviction plans and even
treats me civilly now. I needed the protection of the law, and I was
grateful for it.
Now, let me issue an invitation to you -- in addition to doing duty
as one of the moderators of DOGHOUSE, I also moderate another echo
called THERAPY_SERVICE_DOG ... You would be more than welcome to
come join us there and learn more about this issue. I really don't
want people to come on & attack us for our dogs, but we do welcome
folks who desire to learn, discuss, and ask questions... On TSD we
offer support as well as advocacy and education -- and we have a
really nice group of people, many of whom also participate here. At
any rate, join us on THERAPY_SERVICE_DOG and learn/understand -- it
is a more appropriate place to discuss Guide Dogs & the law more in
depth... Whaddya think -- sound good?
  Shoshona Bieman, 1:103/505  |\_/|  A righteous man has regard
  Moderator: DOGHOUSE Echo    /@ @\  for the life of his beast.
  Gabi, the Companion MinPin  \(T)/  _____ Proverbs 12:10 _____
--- Aeolus v1.2.1 (#49820837)
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