[Flagdu] Fwd: [Ccb-l] FW: [leadership] Response from Danielle Steel re Fraudulent Service Dog in her Book Under Cover

Mon Mar 7 14:39:28 UTC 2016

Good morning to all I thought I would share this email with all of you.

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Terry and Grinnell Almy <almygt at earthlink.net>
> Date: March 6, 2016 at 11:06:03 PM EST
> To: carlos.montas at gmail.com
> Subject: Fwd: [Ccb-l] FW: [leadership] Response from Danielle Steel re Fraudulent Service Dog in her Book Under Cover
> 
> 
> 
> ----
> Grinnell Almy
> cgalmy at verizon.net
> 310 207 8750 home
> 310 849 9694 cell
> http://galmy.net
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Guillermo Robles <g.robles at samobile.net>
> Date: March 6, 2016 at 1:05:23 PM PST
> To: Terry Almy <almygt at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Fwd: [Ccb-l] FW: [leadership] Response from Danielle Steel re Fraudulent Service Dog in her Book Under Cover
> 
> 
> 
> Guillermo Robles 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: "Jeff Thom" <jsthom at comcast.net>
>> Date: March 6, 2016 at 12:38:24 PM PST
>> To: <ccb-l at ccbnet.org>, <CCB-Presidents at ccbnet.org>
>> Subject: [Ccb-l] FW: [leadership] Response from Danielle Steel re Fraudulent Service Dog in her Book Under Cover
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Marlaina Lieberg via leadership [mailto:leadership at acblists.org] 
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2016 3:50 PM
>> To: [leadership at acblists.org]
>> Subject: [leadership] Response from Danielle Steel re Fraudulent Service Dog in her Book Under Cover
>> 
>> Hello Leaders.
>> 
>> I urge you to read the response I received from Danielle Steel which is below.  My response to her appears first.  As you will see, she is totally missing the point of the damage she did in her book  and even goes on to say she’s skeptical that anyone would lie about a service dog because to do so is against the law and nobody would be foolish enough to do that.  She further goes on to say that I’m probably upset with service dogs whose duties are not as high level as guide dogs.  Poppycock!
>> 
>> As leaders in a grass roots advocacy organization of blind people, I urge everyone to let her hear from you.  While I think I did pretty well with restraining myself in my response, I’m hot as hell about her’s to me and hope that every advocate on this list will feel similarly.    Even if you do not have a guide dog, I hope you will also feel offended about her pejorative tone to me in this note.  If you choose to put this up on some form of social media, please remember to hash tag the words author, Danielle and Steel.
>> 
>> Thank you for caring; our advocacy for each other never ends.  You can reach her at DSteelWeb at aol.com.
>> 
>> 
>> Marlaina and guide dog, Nisha
>> 1guidedog at gmail.com
>> 
>> *************************
>> 
>> Hello Ms. Steel.
>> 
>> Thank you for your response, disappointing as it is to me to read.
>> 
>> I find it quite amazing that as a non service dog user, you feel skeptical about my concerns.  You may not know this, but this has become such a problem that several states have enacted fraudulent service dog laws, and the US Department of Justice now has a page on its website guiding business owners to know how to determine whether a dog is a service dog.  I have seen people with dogs in baby carriages, calling them service dogs, backpacks, and just running free on the streets.  I have been refused entrance in to more than one restaurant because a fraudulent service dogs which in one case, actually bit a waiter.  
>> 
>> Indeed, it is unlawful to lie as Marshall did in Under Cover.  However, it’s also unlawful to deal drugs; do you doubt that drugs are being sold illegally because, after all, it’s against the law?
>> 
>> I would never pretend to doubt your fact checking; it saddens me terribly that you doubt me.
>> 
>> I know well how you love dogs; I know the importance of guide dogs, and above and beyond all, I know all too well how Under Cover, in that one spot, perpetuates a problem that every single guide and service dog owner can attest is factual.  I’m only sorry you cannot seem to hear that.
>> 
>> I will share your response with my network, and hopefully, if you hear from more than just me, you’ll open your eyes to this issue and realize what poor judgment you used in this book.  I so want to continue reading your books, but if we can’t resolve this issue, I’m afraid Under Cover will represent the last of your books that I will read.  Perhaps it is easier for you to shoot back the responsibility to me by suggesting that I’m upset about the various services dogs can perform.  Well, you are very wrong.  As long as a dog is trained and meets the federal guidelines, I don’t care if they guide, hear, provide balance, support, service as diabetic or seizure dogs, etc.  What you fail to hear, and I’m so disappointed in you for this, is that we who rely on these amazing and well-trained dogs, no matter what they do, are meeting with more and more problems because people do just as you suggested in Under Cover—they lie.
>> 
>> Please, do the research; look at the stories, many of which also include dog attacks, told by legitimately trained guide/service dog teams.  I think you’ll be quite shocked, and if your sensibilities are as I pray them to be, you’ll do something  to remediate the damage you’ve done in Under Cover.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Marlaina and guide dog, Nisha
>> 1guidedog at gmail.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mar 2, 2016, at 12:05 PM, DSteelWeb at aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Dear Ms. Lieberg,
>> 
>>   Thank you for your email, and I'm so very sorry that you were disappointed byUndercover. I try to cover the bases about subjects that occur in everydaymodern life and are meaningful to all of us, some valid some not, some evenirritating. If you've read my work for a long time, I'm sure you're aware ofhow much I love dogs, and I try to get dogs into my books wherever possible.
>>     And there is absolutely no question, Guide Dogs forthe Blind are among the most noble dogs of all. As are rescue dogs, who doremarkable feats to save lives in nearly impossible circumstances. I saluteyour work with Guide Dogs or the Blind. These are the hero dogs we all admire.And there are many helpful dogs who assist people in other lesser ways.
>>      I'm skeptical about "fraudulent' service dogs,because having a dog masquerade falsely as a service dog is a crime, punishablewith jail time, and most people are not foolish enough to attempt that. What Ithink you are reacting to, are the many other 'lesser' varieties of servicedogs, which must seem foolish to you, being involved with such noble dogs.Perhaps what you find upsetting is how low some or most airlines have set thebar about what qualifies as a service dog. Having a dog in those categories isnot 'fraudulent,' it's just not at the top of the list of noble dogs likeyours.  I don’t know how often you fly. Living in two cities 6000 milesapart, I fly A LOT and am constantly on and off planes.  Several yearsago, the airlines opened up the service dog issue, and allowed any traveller tolist their dog as a service dog, if the human was afraid to fly and felt thedog was an emotional support and comfort to them. And as you can imagine,people leapt on the opportunity, and everyone imaginable listed their dog as aservice dog. All they needed was a letter from their doctor saying they wereafraid to fly. And perhaps some were afraid to fly, but what appealed to mostof those people was that a service dog flew for free, and you could take anysize dog in the cabin with you, not in a crate in cargo. I fly a lot, and very,very rarely see a blind person with a guide dog, but on every flight I seeseveral 'service dogs" loose in the cabin with their owners, some verylarge. More recently, realizing they had opened the flood gates, the airlinesnow require a letter from a psychiatrist, stating why the person needs one ofthese service dogs, with a specific psychiatric diagnosis, not just a letterfrom a friendly doctor. All of these people with service dogs on planes are not'fraudulent,' they are in compliance with the very loose rules of the airlines.
>>         There are service dogs for almost everyimaginable problem: for people suffering from depression and for epileptics whocan detect a seizure coming before the patient can sense it themselves. And I'msure many others for problems I'm not aware of. It is also a federal law thatthe airline cannot ask you what the animal is a service dog for -- that isconsidered a violation of privacy and is against the law to ask.  Thereare Service Dogs, and also Emotional Support Animals. They're not 'fraudulent,'they are just not as highly trained as yours. And perhaps part of what you'reobjecting to is how broad the range is now, which to some degree I showed inUndercover. In my novel A Perfect Life, I wrote about a young woman who isblind from diabetes. In an upcoming book, I write about an emotional supportdog for a young man who has suffered extreme trauma. All of these dogs arelegal, according to the current rules and laws. There are emotional supportdogs or the elderly, and recently my 8 year old granddaughter was criticallyill in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital for a month. A group whosponsors service dogs brought some in to visit the children in the hospital tocheer them up. All of these dogs have a purpose and are important to somebody,and serve a valid purpose, even if not as noble as your guide dog. In a way,one has to respect these other dogs and groups, and given the odd nature ofsome of them, one occasionally has to see the humor in it too, which I tried toaddress in Undercover. I'm very sorry if it offended you. I recently sat nextto a huge Golden Retriever on a flight, who sat on his owner's lap for theentire flight from Paris, crying (the dog not the owner)-- the dog was muchmore afraid to fly than his owner.
>>        Again, I'm so sorry if I offended you. It was trulynot my intention. I wanted to be respectful, but also add a touch of humor tosome of these silly situations. I think in most cases, the airlines have openedthe doors to these situations, which creates such a broad range as to what is asupport or service dog -- more than anyone being 'fraudulent' about it.
>>        Thank you for your letter.
>> 
>>   With warm regards, 
>> 
>>   Danielle Steel
>> 
>> 
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