Another service dog user raps transit

August 29, 2012 - 4:02am By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter

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Hearing-impaired woman alleges discrimination

Jenny Negus has filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, alleging Metro Transit has discriminated against her and her service dog Delta. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff)

Jenny Negus says she is not surprised that a woman was stopped from boarding a Metro Transit bus in Dartmouth on Monday with her seizure alert dog.

“It just makes me so mad,” Negus said Tuesday.

The 26-year-old hearing-impaired woman says she filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in June alleging discrimination because of difficulties she has encountered boarding Metro Transit buses with her service dog Delta.

On Monday, Lauri Noye of Dartmouth said she was prevented from getting on a bus with her cocker spaniel Molly, even though she says she showed the driver a doctor’s note explaining Molly’s role. She said she was told the seizure alert dog would have to be a registered service dog to be allowed on the bus.

Negus, also of Dartmouth, says even people with registered service dogs in uniform have run into problems boarding Metro Transit buses.

Negus, who has 75 to 80 per cent hearing loss, has been using a service dog for 3 years. Delta alerts her to alarms, phone calls and other situations.

She alleges her most recent negative encounter with Metro Transit occurred on May 24. A driver let her sit down on the bus after she showed service dog identification but then began to argue with her about the dog.

“She let me sit down and then she talked to me after everybody got on the bus and humiliated me in front of everybody,” Negus said.

“I have a friend who had issues with getting on the buses with her seeing-eye dog. It is not just service dogs that aren’t well known (that have become an issue on buses). It’s all service dogs, all guide dogs.”
Negus, who frequently takes the bus to the Nova Scotia Community College and back during the school year, said she called Metro Transit and offered to educate drivers about service dogs but was turned down.
Then she complained to the human rights commission, which informed her this week that her case is moving ahead, she said.

An official with the commission could not comment Tuesday on Negus’s complaint or even confirm that she has filed one.

“Nothing is a matter of public record until it is at the board of inquiry stage,” said Ritchie Wheeler, special assistant to the commission’s chief executive officer.

Metro Transit also would not comment on Negus’s allegation. Spokeswoman Tiffany Chase said no notice of a human rights complaint involving a service dog had been received.

Chase said registered service dogs are allowed on Metro Transit buses, and a doctor’s note would be sufficient authorization if the dog is not registered.

Chase said Metro Transit is still looking into Noye’s case. She said Noye hadn’t yet contacted Metro Transit directly.

It’s possible that the driver may not have understood that a doctor’s note would be acceptable identification, Chase said. Later Tuesday, she said the driver said the doctor’s note was not on letterhead.

Chase said Metro Transit policy states that a special harness should be visible or identification provided to show that a dog is a registered service animal.

“I think that more and more, there are service animals that people are using that are not necessarily registered, and so perhaps we need to look at the wording of what our policy is, to make it more clear for our operators,” she said.

Noye could not be reached Tuesday.

Just last week, a visually impaired Dartmouth man complained to the media that he had been told his guide dog wasn’t welcome at a Dartmouth employment centre.

Negus said education about service dogs, starting in schools, is the key to preventing future problems.
“It is not just Metro Transit,” she said. “Metro Transit is the big one for me now, as these other places have learned to accept the fact that I am coming in whether (they) want me to or not.”
(cmellor@herald.ca)

Service dog provides crucial companionship

 RENATO GANDIA, Calgary Sun

First posted: Sunday, August 26, 2012 12:29 AM MDT | Updated: Sunday, August 26, 2012 12:41 AM MDT

BRAGG CREEK - Alex Mertens gently tells Kasper, a purebred yellow Labrador, to come visit and the dog rests his chin on her lap.

“Visit” may be a simple word, but not for the two-year-old service dog and certainly not for Alex, 13, a quadriplegic also coping with epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
It’s the command word that signals the working dog should be up for a new task, says mom Carol Mertens.
“When she says visit, he puts his head right in her lap,” explains the mom of triplets, one of whom is Alex.
“That gets him going, knowing it’s OK for him to drop things on her lap.”
Alex needs Kasper’s assistance to open doors, pull her wheelchair for short distances, push elevator buttons, retrieve objects and bark to family if she needs more help.
With Kasper around, Alex has a new buddy to push the handicap-access door openers, turn off light switches, remove sweaters or socks and turn her over in bed at night.
In ordinary parlance, the word “visit” may also mean a temporary encounter, but Kasper isn’t just visiting Alex.
The graduate of the non-profit Dogs with Wings Assistance Dog Society is expected to be with the girl for the rest of his working life.
Michael Mertens, who takes comfort his daughter now has a new companion, estimates the pooch will be with Alex for at least 10 years.
“I absolutely love that dog. It is such a nice, well-behaved dog,” says the dad as he watches his three girls play with the pooch.
“I’m so impressed by the training they had done. It fits so perfectly to the family.”
Michael says he’s so thrilled his daughter has a companion to develop and grow with her.
“It just gives her a lot of independence and gives her a lot of confidence, especially if she’s alone,” he said.
Kasper, who was introduced to the family July 29, has already greatly changed the girl’s quality of life.
Michael says due to his daughter’s condition, Alex uses all sorts of “surrogate forms of companionship,” such as a TV left on while the girl works on something.
With Kasper being around, that won’t be necessary, says the dad, who accepts Alex is going to need care 24-7.
“You sort of have to go with the flow in this kind of situation,” he says.
“But I feel a lot better going with the flow with Kasper in the picture, in that there’s somebody else to help her.”
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Sam and Katie are Alex’s adoring triplet sisters.
The day their mom announced Kasper would finally become part of the Mertens’ household, they jumped with joy.
Sam says they were all surprised.
“Mom got off the phone and said ‘Guess what? I have the greatest news in the world.’
“Alex was screaming. Finally she’s getting her dog!
“We were all so excited and thinking what we’re going to do the first day we get him.”
Alex chimes in, confirming how excited she was: “I started screaming.
“I had a dream of doing a dance with him and I did it,” says Alex, who attends a ballet school for special-needs kids.
With the help of her sisters, who train at a Calgary dance studio, Alex choreographed a routine with Kasper, which she presented in a gala with Dogs with Wings.
Katie says what interested her at first was how the dog was going to react to their 17-year-old cat, Calvin, who during filming of a video interview caught everyone’s attention by coughing loudly, leaving everyone roaring.
Katie says when Calvin sees Kasper, he hisses, but the service dog just ignores him.
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Acquiring Kasper was a patience-testing, five-year process for the Mertens.
Carol says they met Dogs with Wings at a fair sponsored by the Cerebral Palsy Association of Calgary in 2008.
Alex and family were then evaluated by the group.
Carol says officials came several times, making sure her family would be responsible for Kasper’s health and well-being and they would be willing and able to follow the protocols set up for maintaining the pooch’s service.
One of the many protocols is to keep Kasper’s weight at 60-65 lbs., which means he can’t be fed human food.
“We have to weigh him every month and send in his weight for the first year to make sure that he doesn’t gain anything,” says Carol.
“They just want optimal health for him.”
Kasper weighs 61 lbs. and although the girls are tempted to give him treats, they just shower him with love.
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Although Kasper came to the family ready to work, his trainer stayed with the Mertens for three weeks to let them in on the secrets of how to make the pooch work.
Kasper must wear a jacket with the organization’s name and logo while he’s working.
Carol says Alex’s assistant is extremely intelligent.
“As soon as you hold up his jacket, he’s like, ‘I’m ready. Let’s go!’ It’s almost like he’s telling us we aren’t challenging him enough. It’s really funny.”
While the dog is on duty he doesn’t play.
The Mertens say it can be challenging when they’re out with the adorable dog.
Recently, while shopping, somebody they know spotted Alex and Kasper.
The fellow came up and chatted, which led to an attempt at patting the pooch, which was on duty.
Alex says she politely told the man Kasper is a working dog and not to be patted.
“ ‘I’m so sorry, he’s a working dog and he’s got a service dog jacket on’ and then they understand,” she says.
Like any working dog, Kasper gets to play, but his jacket must be off and he must be told another magic word.
“Release” is the command that tells Kasper he’s off duty and is allowed to play.
• • •
Paula Bildfell, co-ordinator of the newly established Calgary branch of Dogs with Wings, says there’s a long wait-list of potential clients.
More than 40 people from across the province are on the roster that keeps growing.
The wait for a dog is typically two to three years and Bildfell says it’s difficult to tell people about the wait-time.
“They’re hoping for independence and it’s hard to wait for that,” she says.
It is a complicated process of matching a dog with the specific needs of a patient.
Some dogs are good at guiding and helping the blind, others are best paired with an autism patient, while some are best with helping wheelchair-bound kids.
The group recently opened a branch in Calgary, fuelled by a need across Alberta.
And as the demand grows, the need for volunteers who raise the pups to become working dogs also increases.
“We need more volunteers to raise the puppies. They are having difficulties finding foster homes,” says Bildfell.
Raising puppies is not an easy task, she says.
“You take a puppy for a year. You do so much with that puppy and then at the end of the year you have to give the dog back,” she says.
• • •
Towards the end of the hour-long interview, Alex releases Kasper from duty by removing his jacket and uttering the magic word, “release”.
He immediately sheds his focused demeanour and turns into a playful creature.
The girls chase him in the family’s spacious front yard, where a swing and a volleyball net were set up.
As the triplets play with Kasper, their parents watch and reiterate what they hope for Alex in the future.
They say they just want their daughter to gain more independence.
Alex says early on in the interview that with Kasper around, she’s looking forward to many outings on her own.
“I hope to go places independently like the movies or the mall, stores and stuff like that,” she says.
Now, she can do that, with her new best friend and the command words they both know retain their magical powers.
renato.gandia@sunmedia.ca
On Twitter: @SUNRenatoGandia
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Hasty: Service dog's role still isn't understood

Katharine Royal wants to remind local business owners to be sensitive to those who rely on service dogs.
Royal, who was born with spina bifida and also suffers from bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder, relies on the services of Isaiah, a gentle service dog who wears a red identification vest in public.
She and her husband Micah were eating at a local restaurant recently when the manager approached her to tell her some of the other customers were uncomfortable about the dog at her feet.
"Which was kind of strange,'' Micah Royal said, "because everyone was friendly toward him.''
According to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, not only are service animals allowed to accompany their owners in all public places, but the animals and their users cannot be isolated from other patrons.
And the Royals point out that just because the need for a service dog isn't always obvious, that doesn't mean the dog isn't important.
"People need to understand,'' Katharine Royal said, "that the majority of the population is not going to take a random house pet into a restaurant.''
No service dog could have been more loved than Devon, the Bernese mountain dog who was the mascot of Mira Foundation USA, the organization that matches service dogs with vision-impaired children.
Devon, the constant companion of Mira USA founder Bob Baillie, died Aug. 2 just two days after being diagnosed with bone cancer.
"My best buddy,'' Baillie said when the two made an appearance at the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club's May meeting.
Those in attendance that day will remember Devon's gentleness as he sat watchfully at Baillie's side.
Retired Superior Court Judge Maurice Braswell had the time of his life recently during the 42nd annual reunion in New Bern of the Association of Former Prisoners of War in Romania Inc.
For the first time, and thanks to some help from Braswell and his family who served as hosts, the event was held in the Southeast, on Aug. 3 and 4. Sixty-one people attended.
The weekend included a screening of "Paying the Price,'' a musical written by Braswell's son. Mark Walter Braswell wrote the play after reading his father's book, "Flaming Arrow: WWII as seen from a B-17.''
The play, which depicts Maurice Braswell's experiences as an injured tail gunner imprisoned in a POW camp in Bucharest, debuted in 2003 at the National Theater in Washington.
The Cape Fear Regional Theatre co-produced the show and provided the actors when the play was performed in Fayetteville in 2004 in the Airborne & Special Operations Museum.
Nine years after it was first performed, "Paying the Price'' still draws a crowd, as it did at New Bern's Christ Church Ministry Center.
"The crowd ate it up,'' Maurice Braswell, 89, said, "including me.''

Community news editor Kim Hasty can be reached at hastyk@fayobserver.com or 486-3591.

Service Dogs need to be allowed in churches

Editor,

It was my hope to attend the open house of the new Brigham City Temple; however, because I rely on a service dog I’m barred from the event. If this were an isolated incident, I would probably let it slide. I’m sad to say that it is not. When I first moved to Ogden last year, I wanted to attend Sacrament Meeting at my ward, but the bishop told me I could not bring my dog to the church because she would be "disruptive to the children." It is not my responsibility to control the behavior of other people’s children. If they are unable to control their kids, take them out of the chapel.

In both of the incidents, "alternatives" were offered which included use of a wheelchair. What people do not realize is that people who employ service animals rely on them not only for assistance, they also provide us with autonomy which would otherwise be missing in our lives. While well intentioned, the "offer" of denying us this autonomy is condescending and insulting to our dignity. Not only this, but there are some services which a human simply is unable to perform such as alerting an epileptic of a coming seizure. These animals are trained to be our constant companions over many years; in the case of, me and my dog, we’ve been together since she was two months old, 13 years ago.

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Irish guide dog charity providing dogs to children with autism

ONE OF Ireland’s best-known charities has stopped accepting applications for assistance dogs from families of children with autism.

The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDFTB) made the decision after the waiting list grew to five years.

The client services manager at the Cork-based charity, Deirdre Moriarty, said it had insufficient funding to deal with the growing number of families seeking assistance dogs, resulting in the lengthening of waiting lists.

“It was an unacceptable situation. We train children up to the age of 10 to take on the dogs and, with the length of the list, it was resulting in children being over-age before they could receive a dog, so it couldn’t continue,” she said. “It is unfortunate, but we had to make a decision.”
IGDFTB – whose patrons include the former Irish soccer captain Roy Keane – provides the service free of charge. It was the first charity in Europe to provide assistance dogs to children with autism. It costs €38,000 to train each dog. To date, the charity has trained 224 and will train another 41 this year – at a cost of €1.5 million.

The decision to close down the waiting list follows a decrease in the IGDFTB’s income last year of 3 per cent, from €4.2 million to €4 million. Chief executive Padraig Mallon said the charity did not receive any State funding to provide the service.

Ms Moriarty said any plan to reopen the list “is not under discussion currently”. She said the waiting list had now been reduced to three years.

She said that, of the 224 trained working assistance dogs, 186 were working at the moment. The waiting list currently stands at 143.

The Cassidy family in Ennis took a cross-Labrador, Demi, to assist their now 11-year-old son, Darragh, who has autism, in October 2009 after being two years on the waiting list.

Darragh’s father, Frank, recalled the family’s first visit to the Guide Dogs Centre in Cork.
“Darragh was very excited and was so joyful around the dogs. It was very emotional,” he said. He added that Demi has had “a very positive impact” on Darragh and the family as a whole.
Darragh’s mother, Angela, said: “In stressful situations, Demi relaxes Darragh. Darragh is non-verbal, but he does seem to have built a connection with Demi. It has been very positive.”
Ms Moriarty said assistance dogs “have saved lives” among the children they serve. “There is no science behind the impact the dogs have on the children, but the primary reason they assist the children is safety.”

She said some children with autism could be “bolters” and the dogs were purpose trained to stop them running off.

Dog takes a ride in Ingles cart

I don’t know about you, but I sure could go for a thunderstorm.
They’ve been so far and few between this summer. Please, fall, come early this year.
Of course, I never tire of your burning questions. Let’s get to them, along with my smart-aleck responses and the real deal.

Question: Over the last year, I have witnessed a dog riding in a shopping cart at a local grocery store. The first time I mentioned it to the manager, he said he would take care of it. A few months later it happened again, and the manager apologized and said he would take care of it. The third time it happened, the manager said he thought it was a service dog, so they had to allow it. Is this true? I have no problem with service dogs being in places that other dogs are not allowed, but to allow one to sit in a grocery cart where people put their food seems unsanitary. If it is true, then perhaps the store should designate a cart for this lady and her dog.

My answer: Call me crazy, but I worry more about what the people leave behind in the carts. Seriously, you ever think about what’s in that toddler’s diaper? The one who was just sitting on the little plastic platform your bananas are sitting on? You’re welcome ...
Real answer: After further prodding, I found out this was occurring at the Ingles in the Reynolds community.

Ingles Markets Chief Financial Officer Ron Freeman checked into it.
“Service animals are very important to the individuals who use them, and we want to be as helpful as possible,” Freeman said. “We are making arrangements to have a specific buggy for this person to use so there is no confusion in the future.”

Original Article