Published: September 22, 2007 11:27 pm         

Treatment of service animal frustrates owner

PALESTINE — Since Palestine resident Jay Marshall’s beloved Chihuahua CoCo Puff was designated a service dog in 2004, both have faced a lot of challenges when it comes to convincing retailers about the canine’s life-saving role.

CoCo Puff’s special gift — being able to detect Marshall’s potentially fatal diabetic seizures before they happen — earned the dog its designation as a service animal.

“One day CoCo started clawing my cheek and smelling my breath,” Marshall said. “I realized she could tell something was wrong with me, so I checked my blood sugar and it was very high.”

CoCo Puff’s warnings help Marshall know when she needs to take precautions against a diabetic seizure, or let her know that she needs to get to a safe place and lie down.

“CoCo was originally given to me as emotional support — she was not trained to detect my seizures,” Marshall said. “Some dogs, like CoCo Puff, just have the instinct to help people like me.”

While most local store owners and customers are aware of the human-canine duo’s need to travel together, it is in other areas that Marshall and CoCo have been challenged and sometimes even thrown out of a store.

“In August, I was house-sitting for my sister in the Houston area and ran out of diabetes medication,” she said. “I went to two different Wal-Marts in the area to fill my prescription and was humiliated by the greeters and managers there.

“I walked in the door and they started screaming at me to get myself and my dog out of the store,” she said. “I tried to explain that CoCo Puff was a service dog and even sent the dog’s papers to one of the stores.

“They refuse to cooperate and threatened to call the police.”

Marshall, who has designated herself as a spokesperson of sorts for service animals, is frustrated by the fact that these incidences still continue to occur despite federal laws that say otherwise.

“It feels like I am hitting a brick wall, and the entire experience is humiliating for me,” she said. “It isn’t just larger dogs that are able to be service animals — and they are not just for blind people.

“Small ponies, monkeys and dogs like CoCo can all help people.”

A report from the U.S. Department of Justice website, www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada, states that businesses must allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the business where customers are normally allowed to go.

“Service animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities,” the report said. “Typically, restaurants, stores, and other businesses with a ‘no pets’ policy must make an exception to the policy when a customer has a service animal.”

If in doubt, the report said, the business owner may ask the person if his or her animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform.

“Many uncomfortable situations can be avoided by educating staff about the rights of people who use service animals,” the report stated. “Most people are familiar with guide dogs that help people who are blind to get around safely. But there are many other types of service animals that assist people with a wide range of disabilities.”

Animals can be trained to pull a wheelchair or retrieve objects for people who use wheelchairs, alert people who are deaf to sounds in the environment, alert people with epilepsy to an impending seizure, help people with autism to stay focused, and perform many other tasks.

“I know I am not alone in how I feel,” Marshall said about her negative shopping experiences with CoCo Puff. “I wish I didn’t have to have a service dog, but I do, and I just want people to treat me and others like me like a human being.”

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Mary Rainwater may be reached via e-mail at mrainwater@palestineherald.com

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Service Animal FAQs

The following information is provided by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Q: What are the laws that apply to my business?

A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.

Q: What is a service animal?

A: The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.

Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include:

• Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.

• Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.

• Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.

A service animal is not a pet.

Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet?

A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.

Q: What must I do when an individual with a service animal comes to my business?

A: The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from other customers.

Q: I have always had a clearly posted "no pets" policy at my establishment. Do I still have to allow service animals in?

A: Yes. A service animal is not a pet. The ADA requires you to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by a person with a disability. This does not mean you must abandon your "no pets" policy altogether but simply that you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.

Q: My county health department has told me that only a guide dog has to be admitted. If I follow those regulations, am I violating the ADA?

A: Yes, if you refuse to admit any other type of service animal on the basis of local health department regulations or other state or local laws. The ADA provides greater protection for individuals with disabilities and so it takes priority over the local or state laws or regulations.

Q: Can I charge a maintenance or cleaning fee for customers who bring service animals into my business?

A: No. Neither a deposit nor a surcharge may be imposed on an individual with a disability as a condition to allowing a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if deposits are routinely required for pets. However, a public accommodation may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal causes damage so long as it is the regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for the same types of damages. For example, a hotel can charge a guest with a disability for the cost of repairing or cleaning furniture damaged by a service animal if it is the hotel's policy to charge when non-disabled guests cause such damage.

Q: I operate a private taxicab and I don't want animals in my taxi; they smell, shed hair and sometimes have "accidents." Am I violating the ADA if I refuse to pick up someone with a service animal?

A: Yes. Taxicab companies may not refuse to provide services to individuals with disabilities. Private taxicab companies are also prohibited from charging higher fares or fees for transporting individuals with disabilities and their service animals than they charge to other persons for the same or equivalent service.

9. Q: Am I responsible for the animal while the person with a disability is in my business?

A: No. The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of his or her owner. You are not required to provide care or food or a special location for the animal.

Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?

A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.

Although a public accommodation may exclude any service animal that is out of control, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises.

Q: Can I exclude an animal that doesn't really seem dangerous but is disruptive to my business?

A: There may be a few circumstances when a public accommodation is not required to accommodate a service animal--that is, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. Generally, this is not likely to occur in restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities. But when it does, for example, when a dog barks during a movie, the animal can be excluded.

If you have further questions about service animals or other requirements of the ADA, you may call the U.S. Department of Justice's toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TDD).

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http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm

     

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