[nagdu] Animal control officer in Ct. and Zoo on the buses

[lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com]

Hi Mardi,
We were neighbors! My dad worked for Rings End Lumber Co. in Darien and he 
got Oxridge Hunt Club horse show tickets every year from work and we used to 
go to the horse shows - except the year I had German Measles and I couldn't 
go; I was so heartbroken!  I was 12 at the time.  We went every year during 
the 1960s.  I used to roam the barns and visit all the horses and people 
attending them. I was a real high partial then and needed no cane or dog 
yet.

My twin worked at Easter Seals in Stamford.  Last time I was aroound there 
was in 1988 but we still have some family in the area.

Now, before I'm too off list... I don't really care what animals are on a 
city bus as long as they are not freaking out or causing any problems for 
other riders.  San Diego Transit permits small animals as long as they are 
in a crate. This includes dogs.  Occassionaly, I find larger dogs on leashes 
but I have no idea if they are service or emotional support dogs or not. I 
have had some unpleasant incidents with some dogs on the bus. I've got to 
share my recent experiences with two emotional support dogs on the bus.  One 
was a pit bull mix and the other a small terrier mix.  Both dogs were VERY 
well behaved and was as comfortable on a bus as Landon.  Matter of fact, 
Landon and the pit bull mix shared the space under the seat as the owner sat 
next to me on the seat.  Landon wanted to make friends and I had to tell 
Landon to "leave it".  That pit mix was so calm and nice tempered. The 
terrier mix was a little lap dog and she was an emotional support dog.  That 
little dog was very well behaved and it never even aknowleded Landon.  The 
lady and I talked about the problems that many emotional support dog owners 
have caused and she agreed with me. She told me that she gave owners of 
unruly dogs hell when their dogs caused problems in public. I told her that 
it was a shame that the owners of unruly dogs caused the owners of well 
behaved dogs alot of trouble. I didn't have the heart to tell her of the 
impending DOJ changes that will eliminate her right to bring her dog on the 
bus.  It wouldn't be an issue for her on our bus system because the pet dogs 
are welcome.

I just wanted to share a nice story amongst the bad stories.  Inspite of 
these two nice dogs, there still is the general problem of untrained 
emotional support dogs and these problems still need to be addressed or none 
of us will remain welcome in public places.

Take care.  Don't forget to change your clocks BACK one hour to Standard 
Time tonight!  Don't forget to vote on Tuesday if you haven't already.

Cheers,

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mardi Hadfield" <wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, October 31, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Animal control officer in Ct. and Zoo on the buses


> Hi  every one,   Linda, I was an animal control officer in Stamford Ct. I
> was 27 years old then. It was part of the Police dept. back then. I don't
> know if it is still . I was born and raised in Stamford, but have been to
> Norwalk many times, and frequently traveled the Post Rd.through Norwalk to
> other destinations. The job was hard for me as I am a dog lover and this
> work takes it's toll on people like me. I finally quit and went to work 
> for
> Oxridge Hunt Club, in Darien Ct., as a horse groom. I really enjoyed this
> work as I had my own horses  as well as dogs and cats in my life. This was
> years before my accident that damaged my brain and screwed up my sight. 
> But
> life goes on...........I agree that the buses are becomming a zoo. I hope
> something is done to tighten the laws about service animals. I see a lot 
> of
> these so called service animals, that I don't think much training  or
> socialization went into their training routine.  An animal becomes a 
> service
> animal to do a job, and must be trained to do that job to the best of it's
> ability. It also must not be a threat to people or other animals.More 
> people
> are training their own animals as service animals ,because there is a long
> waiting period to get a program trained service animal. I think ,when 
> people
> decide to train these animals , they forget about that part of the
> training.Some animals  are just not service animal material!  There is  a
> lot of training involved, and I think some people forget this and
> think,because their animal has had some obedience training ,that it is now 
> a
> service animal.I don't decide when my dog is a service animal. I leave 
> that
> up to my trainer. When my trainer says to me that there is nothing more 
> that
> Ican teach you and your dog,that the dog is working and doing it's job
> correctly and behaving properly,that is when it becomes a service animal.
> Before that time, it is just an animal in training to become a service
> animal. I think if more people had their dogs  temprament tested
> first,before any other training was started, alot of the undesirable 
> animals
> would be weeded out,and we would have fewer problem animals on the buses 
> and
> other transportation. Food for thought.............Mardi and
> Nala,retired,Wanagi,gdit,and Tokala gdit.
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