[nagdu] Louis Braille's 200th Anniversary today
cheryl echevarria
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
Sun Jan 4 19:53:02 UTC 2009
Off topic.
Hi all:
I saw on my local CBS channel this morning the Louis Braille Coin being
advertised and they mentioned the NFB. The Coin is being released
supposedly on March 26th
Cheryl Echevarria
--------------------------------------------------
From: <nagdu-request at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 1:00 PM
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Subject: nagdu Digest, Vol 46, Issue 4
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR (Ann Edie)
> 2. Re: in regards to the article of the person on NPR (Ann Edie)
> 3. Re: Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR (JULIE PHILLIPSON)
> 4. NY Times Article on Non-Canine Service Animals (Ann Edie)
> 5. Service animals and disability (Mardi Hadfield)
> 6. One thing to remember about service animals (Jenine Stanley)
> 7. One thing to remember about service animals (Jenine Stanley)
> 8. New dogs (Mardi Hadfield)
> 9. Re: Service animals and disability (Buddy Brannan)
> 10. Re: New dogs (Jennie Facer)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 13:21:15 -0500
> From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <001701c96dd0$10bdf740$6501a8c0 at 8K0FP61>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=response
>
> Hi, Marion and Everyone,
>
> Marion, I think, if you read the NY Times Magazine article upon which the
> NPR interview was based, you will find mention of the fact that the parrot
> was trained (at least in some way) to speak to the man when he is becoming
> agitated. And I believe there was also mention of the monkey having been
> trained as a service animal. However, I have no personal acquaintance
> with
> either of these people, so I don't know any more than is in the story.
>
> But I think Rebecca Skloot did present the issues of service
> animals/comfort
> animals/pets pretty well in the full NY Times Magazine article.
>
> Best,
> Ann
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 7:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
>
>
> Dear All,
> I think this is an issue we all need to be aware of and well-educated
> on. Though I am supportive of ann's right to use Panda, the other "service
> animals" mentioned in this article are not currently protected by the
> Americans with disabilities Act. The crucial part of the ADA's definition
> of
> a service animal is one that is "individually trained". The parrot and the
> monkey, though they may have an effect on the individual, have not been
> trained to perform that function; rather, what they do is an innate
> ability.
> It is a function of their presence, not a task for which they have been
> trained. I would like to hear other's comments.
>
> Fraternally,
> Marion
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerkutsch at yahoo.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 10:41 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
>
>
> Helper Parrots, Guide Horses Face Legal Challenges
> NPR Listen Now [7 min 20 sec] add to playlist
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98958273
>
> Photos:
> Jim Eggers carries his parrot Sadie around with him in this cage converted
> into a backpack.
>
> Richard, a bonnet macaque monkey, helps Debby Rose get through the day
> without debilitating panic attacks. Read more about him on our blog.
>
> Ann Edie, who is blind, relies on Panda to guide her through her daily
> activities
>
> Day to Day, January 2, 2009 ? Chances are you've seen a blind person
> accompanied by a guide dog. But what about a guide horse, a service parrot
> or a monkey trained to help an agoraphobic?
>
> These are just a few of the nontraditional service animals that are used
> across the country to help people with disabilities and psychological
> disorders. As their uses are expanding, however, the government is
> considering a proposal that would limit the definition of "service animal"
> to "a dog or other common domestic animal."
>
> In an article in the upcoming New York Times Magazine, Rebecca Skloot
> outlines why many people are upset about the pending law. Sometimes less
> familiar animals make better helpers, she tells Alex Cohen.
>
> Miniature horses, for example, live much longer than dogs, which means
> that
> their owners don't have to readjust to a new guide as often.
>
> "Horses tend to live and work into their 30s, whereas a guide dog will
> work
> six to eight years total," she explains.
>
> And while guide horses may prompt more questions when entering a store or
> restaurant than guide dogs, their strengths can make it worth it, she
> explains. In addition to having amazing vision, they instinctually work in
> synchronicity with their owner.
>
> "They are herd animals, so they naturally work really well with other
> people," she says, adding that "they are aware of their surroundings in a
> way dogs aren't because they are prey animals as opposed to predators."
>
> Skloot spent many hours observing how a miniature horse named Panda helped
> a
> blind woman named Ann Edie. Even after all her preparatory research,
> Skloot
> was blown away.
>
> "I could sort of envision how a horse could guide a person. But the level
> at
> which Panda guides her is amazing. In just a few blocks, I saw her
> maneuver
> around things that I, as a person that's sighted, wouldn't have thought
> of."
>
> As Panda walks, her hooves make a distinctive sound on the ground, sort of
> like a person walking in clogs. The pitch changes on wood, leaves, cement
> and metal, offering important clues for Edie about her surroundings. Panda
> can also use her hooves to tell Edie to step up or touch the crosswalk
> button - something a dog couldn't do.
>
> "This is a perk we didn't expect," Skloot says that Panda's trainer told
> her.
>
> A Calming Parrot
>
> The surprises don't end with horses. Jim Eggers, who suffers from bipolar
> disorder, accidentally discovered that his parrot can help him calm down
> and
> avoid destructive behavior.
>
> Sensing that her owner is on the verge of a psychotic episode, Sadie talks
> him down with, "It's OK, Jim. Calm down, Jim. You're all right, Jim. I'm
> here, Jim."
>
> He carries her around at all times in a backpack carefully fitted to hold
> her cage. It's not an arrangement that people are accustomed to and people
> are often skeptical.
>
> "The reaction from a lot of business owners and the general public is
> often
> one of suspicion, that you're making it up," Skloot says.
>
> Eggers has been told, for example, that his parrot isn't allowed on the
> bus
> with him.
>
> This is why the "service animal" definition is crucial to people such as
> Eggers and Edie. According to the American with Disabilities Act, service
> animals are allowed to go anywhere with their owners. Confusion stemming
> from the current law prompted a move for a more careful definition. But
> the
> proposed change would exclude birds and horses, among other animals not
> technically considered "common."
>
> This means people like Eggers and Edie will risk breaking the law if they
> keep their helpers.
>
> Your can read more about the proposed legislation in Skloot's article in
> The
> New York Times Magazine and see additional photos on her blog.
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
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>
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>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 13:58:47 -0500
> From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] in regards to the article of the person on NPR
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <001f01c96dd5$4f4f0490$6501a8c0 at 8K0FP61>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=response
>
> Thanks, Julie, for clarifying the issues for Marsha and perhaps others.
> You're correct that I was not saying, and have never said, that a guide
> horse is better than a guide dog in all ways and for all people. I do
> think
> that there are some ways in which a guide horse is better, at least for
> me.
> And the article in the NY Times Magazine upon which the NPR Interview was
> based did state some of the advantages and disadvantages as well of
> miniature horse guides.
>
> Marsha is correct that the things that impressed the writer of the article
> are not things that can be done exclusively by miniature horse guides.
> But
> I do not have control of the writer's mind. I was asked to show her how
> Panda and I work, and that is what I did. What the author sees and writes
> is her own perspective. She gathered information from many sources
> besides
> myself, and she organized and arranged the information as she saw fit.
>
> I believe that the writer needed to do more observation and look much more
> closely to try to evaluate whether the other animals mentioned in the
> article were serving as service animals, and whether it was good for the
> animals or society to have these animals in public places. Her doubts can
> be found in a careful reading of the NY Times article. But as she said,
> she
> had no doubts that Panda was doing a legitimate job as a guide animal, and
> she was very impressed by Panda's work and her evident joy and enthusiasm
> for her work.
>
> I do think Panda does as good a job of guiding as the best of guide dogs,
> but that is my personal opinion, based on my experience. And it is
> indisputable that the life spans of horses are at least twice those of
> dogs,
> on average. So I can expect Panda to be working well into her twenties,
> at
> the least. I have a 31-year-old Arabian horse who is still eager to come
> out and work every day, although he is not a guide horse, but a riding
> horse.
>
> As to whether psychiatric disabilities qualify as legitimate disabilities
> under the ADA, I think that bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies
> (which the man with the parrot has) and agorophobia (which the woman with
> the monkey has) certainly can and do limit many basic life functions, like
> working, socializing with others, being able to go out and perform tasks
> like shopping, banking, etc., and simply functioning safely in society.
>
> As stated in the article, the final regulations have not been published
> yet.
> So we are all waiting to see what the DOJ will decide in the end. But I
> think this article is the first to really lay out many of the issues
> surrounding the proposed changes to the ADA regulations for the general
> public.
>
> Best,
> Ann
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julie J." <jlcrane at alltel.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 12:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] in regards to the article of the person on NPR
>
>
>> Marsha,
>>
>> I don't think the article was trying to make the point that these other
>> types of animals are better at performing certain tasks than dogs. I
>> think
>> the author was trying to make the point that there are many types of
>> animals that can be used to perform many types of tasks. Ann, the guide
>> horse user from the article, is on this list. I'm sure she will agree
>> that there are both benefits and drawbacks to using a guide horse, just
>> as
>> we all agree that there are benefits and drawbacks to using a guide dog.
>> The same things could be said about using a white cane too. To me it's
>> all about finding what works for you and having the freedom to utilize
>> that option.
>>
>> The argument that an individual with a psychiatric disability could use
>> some device to mitigate their disability could also be applied to blind
>> people. We could all use white canes. Sure that isn't what we guide dog
>> users want to do, however it is irrefutable that many, many blind people
>> travel quite safely and effectively with only a white cane. I don't see
>> how folks with other types of disabilities should be limited in their
>> choices if we are not subject to the same limitations of choice.
>>
>> Then there is the topic of who exactly is disabled. I think that is the
>> real problem. Too many people think that because they have anxiety going
>> to new places or stress meeting new people or any manner of other issues
>> that they are disabled and therefore qualify to use a service animal.
>> The
>> ADA defines disability as a limitation of a major life activity.
>> Examples
>> given are seeing, hearing, walking... But is a fear of going outside a
>> major life function? I don't know. That has been left up to the courts
>> to decide. Most service animal related court cases that I know of were
>> lost on the basis that the person was not disabled and therefore not
>> entitled the use of a service animal in the first place.
>>
>> JMHO
>> Julie
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
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>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 17:33:28 -0500
> From: "JULIE PHILLIPSON" <jbrew48 at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <6F842108BA414AC284286B80B6D92AF8 at phillipson>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> Marion even though monkeys are reacting to a stimuli with their innate
> abilities what difference does it make as long as they are performing the
> service that the person benefits from every time the stimuli occurs. Our
> dogs are trained based on their innate abilities too.
>
> Julie Phillipson
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 7:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
>
>
> Dear All,
> I think this is an issue we all need to be aware of and well-educated
> on. Though I am supportive of ann's right to use Panda, the other "service
> animals" mentioned in this article are not currently protected by the
> Americans with disabilities Act. The crucial part of the ADA's definition
> of
> a service animal is one that is "individually trained". The parrot and the
> monkey, though they may have an effect on the individual, have not been
> trained to perform that function; rather, what they do is an innate
> ability.
> It is a function of their presence, not a task for which they have been
> trained. I would like to hear other's comments.
>
> Fraternally,
> Marion
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerkutsch at yahoo.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 10:41 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Ann Edie - Day to day on NPR
>
>
> Helper Parrots, Guide Horses Face Legal Challenges
> NPR Listen Now [7 min 20 sec] add to playlist
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98958273
>
> Photos:
> Jim Eggers carries his parrot Sadie around with him in this cage converted
> into a backpack.
>
> Richard, a bonnet macaque monkey, helps Debby Rose get through the day
> without debilitating panic attacks. Read more about him on our blog.
>
> Ann Edie, who is blind, relies on Panda to guide her through her daily
> activities
>
> Day to Day, January 2, 2009 ? Chances are you've seen a blind person
> accompanied by a guide dog. But what about a guide horse, a service parrot
> or a monkey trained to help an agoraphobic?
>
> These are just a few of the nontraditional service animals that are used
> across the country to help people with disabilities and psychological
> disorders. As their uses are expanding, however, the government is
> considering a proposal that would limit the definition of "service animal"
> to "a dog or other common domestic animal."
>
> In an article in the upcoming New York Times Magazine, Rebecca Skloot
> outlines why many people are upset about the pending law. Sometimes less
> familiar animals make better helpers, she tells Alex Cohen.
>
> Miniature horses, for example, live much longer than dogs, which means
> that
> their owners don't have to readjust to a new guide as often.
>
> "Horses tend to live and work into their 30s, whereas a guide dog will
> work
> six to eight years total," she explains.
>
> And while guide horses may prompt more questions when entering a store or
> restaurant than guide dogs, their strengths can make it worth it, she
> explains. In addition to having amazing vision, they instinctually work in
> synchronicity with their owner.
>
> "They are herd animals, so they naturally work really well with other
> people," she says, adding that "they are aware of their surroundings in a
> way dogs aren't because they are prey animals as opposed to predators."
>
> Skloot spent many hours observing how a miniature horse named Panda helped
> a
> blind woman named Ann Edie. Even after all her preparatory research,
> Skloot
> was blown away.
>
> "I could sort of envision how a horse could guide a person. But the level
> at
> which Panda guides her is amazing. In just a few blocks, I saw her
> maneuver
> around things that I, as a person that's sighted, wouldn't have thought
> of."
>
> As Panda walks, her hooves make a distinctive sound on the ground, sort of
> like a person walking in clogs. The pitch changes on wood, leaves, cement
> and metal, offering important clues for Edie about her surroundings. Panda
> can also use her hooves to tell Edie to step up or touch the crosswalk
> button - something a dog couldn't do.
>
> "This is a perk we didn't expect," Skloot says that Panda's trainer told
> her.
>
> A Calming Parrot
>
> The surprises don't end with horses. Jim Eggers, who suffers from bipolar
> disorder, accidentally discovered that his parrot can help him calm down
> and
> avoid destructive behavior.
>
> Sensing that her owner is on the verge of a psychotic episode, Sadie talks
> him down with, "It's OK, Jim. Calm down, Jim. You're all right, Jim. I'm
> here, Jim."
>
> He carries her around at all times in a backpack carefully fitted to hold
> her cage. It's not an arrangement that people are accustomed to and people
> are often skeptical.
>
> "The reaction from a lot of business owners and the general public is
> often
> one of suspicion, that you're making it up," Skloot says.
>
> Eggers has been told, for example, that his parrot isn't allowed on the
> bus
> with him.
>
> This is why the "service animal" definition is crucial to people such as
> Eggers and Edie. According to the American with Disabilities Act, service
> animals are allowed to go anywhere with their owners. Confusion stemming
> from the current law prompted a move for a more careful definition. But
> the
> proposed change would exclude birds and horses, among other animals not
> technically considered "common."
>
> This means people like Eggers and Edie will risk breaking the law if they
> keep their helpers.
>
> Your can read more about the proposed legislation in Skloot's article in
> The
> New York Times Magazine and see additional photos on her blog.
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/swampfox1833%40verizon.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/jbrew48%40verizon.net
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
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>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 18:00:00 -0500
> From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
> Subject: [nagdu] NY Times Article on Non-Canine Service Animals
> To: <vi-clicker-trainers at freelists.org>,
> <GDUI-Friends at yahoogroups.com>, <nagdu at nfbnet.org>,
> <Guide-Horse-Users at yahoogroups.com>,
> <horsesarefreedom at yahoogroups.com>
> Cc: Ann Edie <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
> Message-ID: <000a01c96df7$01d53730$6501a8c0 at 8K0FP61>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi, Everyone,
>
> I have sent most of these lists the link for this article, Creature
> Comforts, which is on the New York Times website now and will be in the
> Sunday NY Times Magazine on Sunday, January 4, 2009. But some people are
> having difficulty accessing the article through the website, so I have
> printed, scanned, and saved the article in Word and I have appended it to
> this message. I'm sorry for the length of this message, but I don't think
> most of these lists take attachments, so I had to put the article in the
> body of the message. Of course, if you want to see the photos, you'll
> have to go to the website or buy the newspaper.
>
> The purpose of the article is to bring to public attention the issues and
> questions surrounding the DOJ's proposed rule changes for the ADA and the
> definition of service animals in that law. I think this is the first
> article I have seen which lays out many of these issues for a general
> audience.
>
> Happy Reading!
>
> Ann
>
> Article follows:
>
> Creature Comforts - Assistance Animals Now Come in All Shapes and Sizes -
> NYTimes
>
>
>
> January 4, 2009
>
>
>
> Creature Comforts
>
>
>
> By REBECCA SKLOOT
>
>
>
> ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN A SUBURB of Albany, a group of children dressed as
> vampires and witches ran past a middle-aged woman in plain clothes. She
> gripped a leather harness - like the kind used for Seeing Eye dogs - which
> was attached to a small, fuzzy black-and-white horse barely tall enough to
> reach the woman's hip.
>
>
>
> "Cool costume," one of the kids said, nodding toward her.
>
>
>
> But she wasn't dressed up. The woman, Ann Edie, was simply blind and out
> for an evening walk with Panda, her guide miniature horse.
>
>
>
> There are no sidewalks in Edie's neighborhood, so Panda led her along the
> street's edge, maneuvering around drainage ditches, mailboxes and bags of
> raked leaves. At one point, Panda paused, waited for a car to pass, then
> veered into the road to avoid a group of children running toward them
> swinging glow sticks. She led Edie onto a lawn so she wouldn't hit her
> head on the side mirror of a parked van, then to a traffic pole at a busy
> intersection, where she stopped and tapped her hoof. "Find the button,"
> Edie said. Panda raised her head inches from the pole so Edie could run
> her hand along Panda's nose to find and press the "walk" signal button.
>
>
>
> Edie isn't the only blind person who uses a guide horse instead of a dog -
> there's actually a Guide Horse Foundation that's been around nearly a
> decade. The obvious question is, Why? In fact, Edie says, there are many
> reasons: miniature horses are mild-mannered, trainable and less
> threatening than large dogs. They're naturally cautious and have
> exceptional vision, with eyes set far apart for nearly 360-degree range.
> Plus, they're herd animals, so they instinctively synchronize their
> movements with others. But the biggest reason is age: miniature horses can
> live and work for more than 30 years. In that time, a blind person
> typically goes through five to seven guide dogs. That can be draining both
> emotionally and economically, because each one can cost up to $60,000 to
> breed, train and place in a home.
>
>
>
> "Panda is almost 8 years old," her trainer, Alexandra Kurland, told me.
> "If Panda were a dog, Ann would be thinking about retiring her soon and
> starting over, but their relationship is just getting started. They're
> still improving their communication and learning to read each other's
> bodies. It's the difference between dating for a few years and being
> married so long you can finish each other's sentences."
>
>
>
> Edie has nothing against service dogs - she has had several. One worked
> beautifully. Two didn't - they dragged her across lawns chasing cats and
> squirrels, even pulled her into the street chasing dogs in passing cars.
> Edie doesn't worry about those sorts of things with Panda because
> miniature horses are less aggressive. Still, she says, "I would never say
> to a blind person, 'Run out and get yourself a guide horse,' because there
> are definite limitations." They eat far more often than dogs, and go to
> the bathroom about every two or three hours. (Yes, Panda is
> house-trained.) Plus, they can't curl up in small places, which makes
> going to the movies or riding in airplanes a challenge. (When miniature
> horses fly, they stand in first class or bulkhead because they don't fit
> in standard coach.)
>
>
>
> What's most striking about Edie and Panda is that after the initial shock
> of seeing a horse walk into a cafe, or ride in a car, watching them work
> together makes the idea of guide miniature horses seem utterly logical.
> Even normal. So normal, in fact, that people often find it hard to believe
> that the United States government is considering a proposal that '
> would force Edie and many others like her to stop using their service
> animals. But that's precisely what's happening, because a growing number
> of people believe the world of service animals has gotten out of control:
> first it was guide dogs for the blind; now it's monkeys for quadriplegia
> and agoraphobia, guide miniature horses, a goat for muscular dystrophy, a
> parrot for psychosis and any number of animals for anxiety, including
> cats, ferrets, pigs, at least one iguana and a duck. They're all showing
> up in stores and in restaurants, which is perfectly legal because the
> Americans With Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) requires that service animals be
> allowed wherever their owners want to go.
>
>
>
> Some people enjoy running into an occasional primate or farm animal while
> shopping. Many others don't. This has resulted in a growing debate over
> how to handle these animals, as well as widespread suspicion that people
> are abusing the law to get special privileges for their pets.
> Increasingly, business owners, landlords and city officials are
> challenging the legitimacy of noncanine service animals and refusing to
> accommodate them. Animal owners are responding with lawsuits and
> complaints to the Department of Justice. This August, the Arizona Game and
> Fish Department ordered a woman to get rid of her chimpanzee, claiming
> that she brought it into the state illegally - she disputed this and sued
> for discrimination, arguing that it was a diabetes-assistance chimp
> trained to fetch sugar during
>
> hypoglycemic episodes.
>
>
>
> Cases like this are raising questions about where to draw the lines when
> it comes to the needs and rights of people who rely on these animals, of
> businesses obligated by law to accommodate them and of everyday civilians
> who - because of health and safety concerns or just general discomfort -
> don't want monkeys or ducks walking the aisles of their grocery stores.
>
>
>
> A few months ago, in a cafe in St. Louis, I met a man named Jim Eggers,
> who uses an assistance parrot, Sadie, to help control his psychotic
> tendencies. Eggers looks like a man who has been fighting his whole life.
> He is muscular, with a buzz cut, several knocked-out teeth and many scars,
> including one that runs ear-to-chin from surgery to repair a broken jaw.
> Eggers avoids eye contact in public - he walks fast down streets and
> through stores staring at the ground, jaw clenched. "I have bipolar
> disorder with psychotic tendencies," he told me as he sucked down a
> green-apple smoothie. "Homicidal feelings too."
>
>
>
> Eggers's condition has landed him in court several times: a
> disturbing-the-peace charge for pouring scalding coffee onto a man under
> his apartment window who annoyed him; oneyear probation for threatening to
> kill the archbishop of St. Louis because of news reports about church
> money and molestations by priests in other cities (which the archbishop
> had nothing to do with). In describing his condition, Eggers says it's
> like when the Incredible Hulk changes from man to monster. His vision
> blurs, his body tingles and he can barely hear. According to his friend
> Larry Gower, who often serves as a public liaison for him, in those
> moments, Eggers gets extremely loud. They both agree that Sadie is one of
> the few things keeping Eggers from snapping.
>
>
>
> Sadie rides around town on Eggers's back in a bright purple backpack
> specially designed to hold her cage. When he gets upset, she talks him
> down, saying: "It's O.K., Jim. Calm down, Jim. You're all right, Jim. I'm
> here, Jim." She somehow senses when he is getting agitated before he even
> knows it's happening. "I still go off on people sometimes, but she makes
> sure it never escalates into a big problem," he told me, grinning
> bashfully at Sadie. "Now when people make me mad I just give them the
> bird," he said, pulling up his sleeve and flexing his biceps, which is
> covered with a large tattoo of Sadie.
>
>
>
> Soon after what he calls "the Archbishop Incident," Eggers got Sadie from
> a friend who owned a pet store. She'd been neglected by a previous owner
> and had torn out all her feathers, so Eggers nursed her back to health. He
> didn't initially train her as a service animal, he says; she did that
> herself. When Eggers had episodes at home, he'd pace, holding his head and
> yelling: "It's O.K., Jim! You're all right, Jim! Calm down, Jim!" One day,
> Sadie
>
> started doing it, too. He soon realized that she calmed him better than he
> calmed himself. So he started rewarding her each time it happened. And he
> has had only one incident since: he dented a woman's car with his fist on
> a day when he'd left Sadie at home.
>
>
>
> Eggers didn't think to use any special language to describe Sadie until he
> tried to take her on a bus and the driver said that only "service animals"
> were allowed. Eggers went home and looked up "service animal" online.
> "That's when it all fell into place," he told me. He learned that
> psychiatric service animals help their owners cope with things like
> medication side effects. Eggers takes heavy doses of antipsychotics that
> leave him in a fog most of the day. So he trained Sadie to alert him with
> a loud ringing noise if someone calls, or to yell "WHO'S THERE?" when
> anyone knocks on the door. If the fire alarm goes off, Sadie goes off. If
> Eggers leaves the faucet running, Sadie makes sounds like a waterfall
> until he turns it off.
>
>
>
> Eggers got a service-animal bus pass for Sadie and began taking her
> everywhere. (He has special insulated cage panels to keep her warm in
> winter.) For years, few people objected. Then, in the spring of 2007,
> Eggers went to have his teeth cleaned at the St. Louis , Community College
> dental-hygiene school, and officials there told him that Sadie wasn't
> allowed inside because she posed a risk to public health and wasn't really
> a service animal. "All I can say is, they were lucky I had Sadie with me
> to keep me calm when they said that," Eggers told me.
>
>
>
> He filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education's
> Office of Civil Rights (O.C.R.), which initiated an investigation. Its
> conclusion: the school wrongfully denied access based on public-health
> concerns without assessing whether Sadie actually posed a risk. (Several
> top epidemiologists I interviewed for this article said that, on the
> whole, birds and miniature horses pose no more risk to human health than
> service dogs do.)
>
>
>
> But Eggers is still fighting that fight. According to the O.C.R., the
> school "exceeded the boundaries of a permissible inquiry" by questioning
> Eggers about his disability. But that didn't change the school's
> conclusion: it labeled Sadie a mere "therapy animal." If that label
> sticks, it will mean that Sadie isn't covered by the federal law that
> protects service animals and guarantees them access to public places.
>
>
>
> Stories like Eggers's involve two questions that are often mistakenly
> treated as one. The first: What qualifies as a service animal? The second:
> Can any species be eligible? ,,
>
>
>
> There are two categories of animals that help people. "Therapy animals"
> (also known as "comfort animals") have been used for decades in hospitals
> and homes for the elderly or disabled. Their job is essentially to be
> themselves - to let humans pet and play with them, which calms people,
> lowers their blood pressure and makes them feel better. There are also
> therapy horses, which people ride to help with balance and muscle
> building.
>
>
>
> These animals are valuable, but they have no special legal rights because
> they aren't considered service animals, the second category, which the
> A.D.A. defines as "any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually
> trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with
> a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with
> impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders
> or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a
> wheelchair or fetching dropped items."
>
>
>
> Since the 1920s, when guide dogs first started working with blind World
> War I veterans, service animals have been trained to do everything from
> helping people balance on stairs to opening doors to calling 911. In the
> early '80s, small capuchin monkeys started helping quadriplegics with
> basic day-to-day functions like eating and drinking, and there was no
> question about whether they counted as service animals. Things got more
> complicated in the '90s, when "psychiatric service animals" started
> fetching pills and water, alerting owners to panic attacks and helping
> autistic children socialize.
>
>
>
> The line between therapy animals and psychiatric service animals has
> always been blurry, because it usually comes down to varying definitions
> of the words "task" and "work" and whether something like actively
> soothing a person qualifies. That line got blurrier in 2003, when the
> Department of Transportation revised its internal policies regarding
> service animals on airplanes. It issued a statement saying that in recent
> years, "a wider variety of animals (e.g., cats, monkeys, etc.) have been
> individually trained to assist people with disabilities. Service animals
> also perform a much wider variety of functions than ever before."
>
>
>
> To keep up with these changes, the D.O.T.'s new guidelines said, "Animals
> that assist persons with disabilities by providing emotional support
> qualify as service animals." They also said that any species could qualify
> and that these animals didn't need special training, aside from basic
> obedience. The only thing required for a pet to fly with its owner instead
> of riding as cargo was documentation (like a letter from a doctor) saying
> the person needed emotional support from an animal. Legally speaking, the
> D.O.T.'s new policy applied only to airplanes - the A.D.A.'s definition of
> service animal stayed the same. But for those looking online to find out
> whether they could take their animals into stores and restaurants, the
> D.O.T.'s definition looked like official law, and people started acting
> accordingly.
>
>
>
> Soon, a trend emerged: people with no visible disabilities were bringing
> what a New York Times article called "a veritable Noah's Ark of support
> animals" into businesses, claiming that they were service animals.
> Business owners and their employees often couldn't distinguish the genuine
> from the bogus. To protect the disabled from intrusive questions about
> their medical histories, the A.D.A. makes it illegal to ask what disorder
> an animal helps with. You also can't ask for proof that a person is
> disabled or a demonstration of an animal's "tasks." There is no
> certification process for service animals (though there are Web sites
> where anyone can buy an official-looking card that says they have a
> certified service animal, no documentation required). The only questions
> businesses can ask are "Is that a trained service animal?" and "What task
> is it trained to do?"
>
>
>
> If the person answers yes to the first and claims that the animal is, say,
> trained to alert him or her to a specific condition (like a seizure),
> additional questioning could end in a lawsuit. And in many cases,
> according to Joan Esnayra, founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society,
> the outcome of those lawsuits depends largely on the words people use to
> describe their animals. "If you say 'comfort,' 'need' or 'emotional
> support,' you're out the door," she says. "If you talk about what your
> animal does in terms of 'tasks' and 'work,' then you stand a chance."
>
>
>
> Case in point: When the dental school questioned Eggers about whether
> Sadie was a service animal, he said she kept him "calm." If he had said
> that she alerts him to things like attacks and doorbells, his case might
> have been stronger. ;. ;
>
>
>
> According to Jennifer Mathis, an attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental
> Health Law, "A lot of times when people with legitimate service animals
> lose these cases, it has to do with the fact that they don't explain their
> service animals well."
>
>
>
> Rather than risk a lawsuit, many business owners simply allow the animals,
> even if they doubt their legitimacy. Then they complain to the Department
> of Justice that the A.D.A. is too broad in its definition of "service
> animal," and too restrictive of businesses trying to protect themselves
> from people who fake it. Which many people do.
>
>
>
> In October, a man in Portland, Ore., took his dog on a bus, claiming that
> it was a service animal. While getting off the bus, the dog killed another
> dog that was riding as a "comfort animal." (In Portland, comfort animals
> are allowed on public transportation.) A few days later, an editorial
> appeared in The Oregonian with the headline "Take the Menagerie Off the
> Bus." It opened with: "No offense, ferret lovers.... Your pet... may offer
> emotional support. But it shouldn't be roaming the aisles of a ... bus or
> train." It argued that the story of the dead comfort dog was proof that
> people had stretched the legal definition of service animals to include a
> virtual zoo of animals.
>
>
>
> Lex Frieden, a professor of health-information science at the University
> of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a former director of the
> National Council on Disability, sees the issue differently. "People
> shouldn't be able to carry their pets on a plane or into a restaurant
> claiming they're service animals when they're not," he says. "But that has
> nothing to do with what species a service animal is." The appropriate
> response in those situations isn't a species ban, he says, but rather
> strict punishments for people who pose as disabled. "It's fraud," he
> points out, "and it results in increased scrutiny of people with
> legitimate disabilities."
>
>
>
> In June, in an effort to clarify the confusion surrounding service
> animals, the Department of Justice proposed new regulations to explicitly
> include psychiatric service and exclude comfort animals. This was part of
> a sweeping revision of the A.D.A. intended to increase protection and
> access for the disabled, which was widely applauded. But tucked into that
> proposal were a few lines that worry advocates and people with
> disabilities: the D.O. J. proposed limiting service animals to a "dog or
> other common domestic animal," specifically excluding "wild animals
> (including nonhuman primates born in captivity), reptiles, rabbits, farm
> animals (including any breed of horse, miniature horse, pony, pig or
> goat), ferrets, amphibians and rodents."
>
>
>
> This summer, the D.O.J. held a public hearing in Washington and invited
> anyone who would be affected by the proposed changes to argue for or
> against them. Many pleaded their cases in person, others by letter. The
> arguments in favor of species restrictions came primarily from businesses
> concerned about having to alter facilities, rebuilding seating areas, say,
> to make room for miniature horses. Several service-animal organizations
> and people with disabilities argued that banning reptiles and insects was
> fine but that excluding miniature horses and primates simply went too far.
> In their defense, they cited things like dog allergies, the long life
> spans of several species and monkeys' opposable thumbs. After considering
> the arguments, last month the D.O.J. submitted a final proposal to the
> Office of Management and Budget. Until there's a ruling, neither office
> will comment on the issue or say whether the species restriction was
> removed or revised after the public hearings.
>
>
>
> Jamie Hais, a spokeswoman for the D.O.J., said she couldn't comment on why
> the department suggested the species restriction. But its proposal
> expressed concerns about ' public-health risks and said that when the
> original A.D.A. was written, without specifying species, "few anticipated"
> the variety of animals people would attempt to use.
>
>
>
> "That's simply not true," says Frieden, who was an architect of the
> original A.D.A. While drafting the regulations, he said, Congressional
> staff members had long discussions about defining "service animal" and
> whether a trained pony could qualify. "There was general consensus that
> the issue revolved around the question of function, not form," he says.
> "So, in fact, if that pony provided assistance to a person with a
> disability and enabled that person to pursue equal opportunity and
> nondiscrimination, then that pony could be regarded as a service animal."
> They discussed the possibility of birds and snakes for psychiatric
> disorders, he said, but one of their biggest concerns was that the A.D.A.
> shouldn't exclude service monkeys, which were already working with
> quadriplegics. Since then, however, monkeys have become the most contested
> assistance-animal species of all.
>
>
>
> On a rainy day in November, I walked through a T. J. Maxx store in
> Springfield, Mo., with Debby Rose and Richard, her 25-pound bonnet macaque
> monkey - one of the most controversial service animals working today. Rose
> was wearing brown pants and a brownand-gold-patterned shirt. Richard was
> wearing a brown long-sleeved polo over a white Tshirt with jeans and a tan
> vest that said "Please Don't Pet Me I'm Working." Richard stood in the
> child seat of Rose's shopping cart, facing forward, bouncing up and down,
> smacking his lips and grinning as Rose pushed him down the aisles.
>
>
>
> Richard is a hands-on shopper. If Rose pointed at a sweater or purse she
> liked, or a pair of shoes, his hand darted out to touch them. As we passed
> a pair of tan, fuzzy winter boots that Rose particularly liked, Richard
> leaned out of the cart and quickly licked one on its toe. '
>
>
>
> People stared as we walked. "Why do you have him?" they'd ask.
>
>
>
> "He's a service animal trained for my disability, kind of like a
> seizure-alert dog," Rose told them, again and again., ,,
>
>
>
> "Can I pet him?"
>
>
>
> "He doesn't like to be touched," she'd say, "but you can give him five."
>
>
>
> People raised their hands, and Richard gave them five.
>
>
>
> That Rose isn't bothered by people looking and asking questions is
> impressive, considering that she has agoraphobia and severe anxiety
> disorder with debilitating panic attacks. Until getting Richard four years
> ago, she required heavy doses of anti-anxiety drugs just to go out in
> public. "I couldn't have come in this store before Richard, let alone
> handled all these people talking to me," she said. "Now I like it."
>
>
>
> Rose adopted Richard in 2004; he was badly neglected and near death. She
> and two of her six children - whom she raised as a single mother - run an
> exotic-animal shelter. Rose says she believes that Richard was trained as
> a service animal for his previous owner, an elderly woman whose son gave
> Richard away when she died. He had been neutered, and his tail had been
> surgically removed. He'd also had his large and potentially dangerous
> canine teeth pulled, a procedure commonly done with service monkeys for
> safety (and often cited as one of several ethical concerns with using wild
> instead of domesticated species for such jobs).
>
>
>
> As Richard returned to health, Rose realized that he had begun to
> recognize her panic attacks before she did. Her doctor suggested that she
> train him to help with her disorder, then wrote a letter approving of him
> as a service animal, saying that Richard was "a constructive way to avoid
> use of unnecessary medications." Rose took that letter to the
> Springfield-Greene County Health Department, got permission for Richard to
> accompany her in public and has been drug-free ever since. She ordered a
> service-animal ID certificate online; she even got a restriction on her
> driver's license saying that she can't operate a car without a monkey
> present. Now he sits in her lap with a hand on the wheel while she drives,
> and she never leaves home without him.
>
>
>
> But the number of places Rose and Richard can go is decreasing. In
> September 2006, after receiving complaints that Richard was sitting in
> highchairs in restaurants, touching silverware and going through a buffet
> line with Rose, the Health Department sent a letter to all local
> restaurants announcing that Richard was a risk to public health and not a
> legitimate service animal. It instructed businesses to refuse him access
> and to call the police if Rose protested. Businesses posted the letter on
> their doors and in their bathrooms; soon Cox College of Nursing and Health
> Sciences, where Rose was attending nursing school, refused Richard access,
> too. Stories started appearing about Rose and her monkey in the newspaper
> and on TV. "Suddenly," she told me, "everyone knew I had a mental
> disorder."
>
>
>
> Rose dropped out of school and filed a lawsuit against her local Health
> Department, the nursing school, Wal-Mart and several other local
> businesses that had forbidden Richard access, saying that they violated
> the A.D.A. Kevin Gipson, director of the local Health Department, told me
> that he had asked Rose to show him what "tasks" Richard performed that
> would qualify him. "She couldn't," he said.
>
>
>
> Defining "task" is often a point of contention in these cases, especially
> with psychiatric service animals, whose work generally can't be
> demonstrated on command. Before going to T. J. Maxx, I saw Rose begin to
> panic while sitting in her lawyer's office talking about her case. Her
> face flushed; her voice quivered. Richard, who had been dozing in the
> chair beside her, leapt onto her arm and began stroking her hair. He
> hugged her, rubbed her ear and cooed while she talked. She immediately
> calmed down. "He snaps me out of it before the attacks happen," she said.
> "If they start at night, he'll turn on the light and get me a bottle of
> water."
>
>
>
> For Gipson, that's really beside the point. "Even if Richard is a
> legitimate service animal," he told me, "if he poses a public-health risk,
> the A.D.A. says he can be excluded. And we believe primates pose a
> significant health risk."
>
>
>
> Rose says that Richard is perfectly safe and immaculately clean. She
> showers and blow-dries him every day and uses hand sanitizer on him
> regularly, and he always wears diapers. But that doesn't impress the
> Health Department. Monkeys can carry viruses, like herpes B, which are
> essentially harmless to them but usually deadly to humans. Those viruses
> can be transmitted through saliva and other bodily fluids. In 1998, the
> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study titled
> "B-Viruses From Pet Macaque Monkeys: An Emerging Threat in the United
> States?" saying that 80 to 90 percent of adult macaques like Richard carry
> herpes B. It's possible to test them for viruses, which Rose does every
> year with Richard, but those tests often give false negatives. Plus,
> Gipson told me, "he could catch it any time from contact with other
> monkeys, which we know he's had." Five days before the Health Department
> banned Richard, a local newspaper ran pictures of him and several other
> monkeys hanging out at Rose's family's sanctuary.
>
>
>
> According to Frederick Murphy, former head of viral pathology for the
> C.D.C. and codiscoverer of the Ebola virus, the threat that viruses from
> service monkeys present to humans is essentially unknown. There have been
> a few cases of primate-lab workers contracting herpes B from macaques -
> mostly from being bitten - but no cases of people being infected by
> service monkeys, which are usually capuchins.
>
>
>
> The bigger concern, according to several experts, is potential aggression.
> "People think monkeys are cute and like humans, but they're not," says
> Laura Kahn, a public-health expert at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public
> and International Affairs at Princeton. "They're wild animals, and they're
> dangerous."
>
>
>
> Critics of noncanine service animals tend to focus on disease perhaps
> because that's the only way to legally exclude any service animal under
> the current A.D.A. But on the whole, Bradford Smith, former director of
> the University of California Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital,
> says, "I would tend to think the disease argument is really a proxy for
> other concerns, like having to let any person who says their parrot or
> horse is a service animal enter into public areas."
>
>
>
> Rose's case is sometimes held up as an example of why the A.D.A. should be
> rewritten to exclude primates as service animals. But in fact, Frieden
> says, it's an example of how the original A.D.A. works well as it was
> written, since it allows broad use of service animals while still leaving
> room to protect the public health. "Some situations have to be dealt with
> on a case-by-case basis," he says. "You can't legislate fine lines -
> that's just not a functional law."
>
>
>
> Frieden is very clear about his belief that it would be a huge loss if
> concerns about specific cases jeopardized the use of all noncanine service
> animals, especially the capuchin monkeys trained to help quadriplegics.
> The capuchins attend "monkey college" at Helping Hands, a nonprofit
> organization in Boston, where they fetch remote controls, put food in
> microwaves, open containers, vacuum floors and flip light switches, all in
> exchange for treats. Helping Hands capuchins are captive bred, which
> minimizes the risk of picking up diseases, and they're provided
> specifically for in-home use. The proposed species restriction might make
> it impossible for people to transport capuchins or keep them in their
> homes because of zoning restrictions. The thought of this makes Helping
> Hands's founder, M. J. Willard, shudder. "There ought to be a more nuanced
> way if somebody just thinks it through," she says. "Even just minor
> requirements of verifying the legitimacy of a service animal would solve a
> lot of the current problem."
>
>
>
> Frieden agrees. He suggests that perhaps a national committee could be
> appointed to develop certification standards for all service animals as
> well as a formal process for preventing and punishing service-animal
> fraud. Doing so might solve part of the controversy, he says. But not all
> of it. Particularly when it comes to species questions.
>
>
>
> "Many people try to make this issue black and white - this service animal
> is good; that one is bad - but that's not possible, because disability
> extends through an enormous realm of human behavior and anatomy and human
> condition," Frieden told me. In the end, according to him, the important
> thing to remember is this: "The public used to be put off by the very
> sight of a person with a disability. That state of mind delayed
> productivity and caused irreparable harm to many people for decades. We've
> now said, by law, that regardless of their disability, people must have
> equal opportunity, and we can't discriminate. In order to seek the
> opportunities and benefits they have as citizens, if a person needs a
> cane, they should be able to use one. If they need a wheelchair, a dog, a
> miniature horse or any other device or animal, society has to accept that,
> because those things are, in fact, part of that person."
>
>
>
> Rebecca Skloot teaches nonfiction at the University of Memphis. Her first
> book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," will be published by Crown
> in spring 2010.
>
>
>
> ....... , Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
>
>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04Creatures-t.html?_r=l&pagewanted=print
> 1/2/2009
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 16:59:03 -0700
> From: "Mardi Hadfield" <wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nagdu] Service animals and disability
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Message-ID:
> <9023d1d70901031559n613756f3n12eaa665c599e89 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hi every one, I read the article on the service animals and I think the
> key is the disability. It is only my opinion that psyc. animals and
> therapy
> or comfort animals should be called something else other than service
> animals. What that terminology should be, well I am no sure.I am sure that
> some one will come up with a terminology and regulations that are
> suitable.
> There are many types of disabilities and they do not all have the same
> limitations . Some are more limiting than others. I think this should be
> taken into consideration. I can not call my dog a "seeing eye dog" even
> though, she guides me with her eyes. She is a guide dog. She does the same
> thing that a "seeing eye dog " does, But again it is terminology. Both
> dogs
> are service dogs because of the training that they have had and the tasks
> they do. It is harder to invision the tasks of a dog or other animal if
> it
> is mitigating the problems of a hidden disability. Classify the disability
> first, and then classify the animal. I have several disabilities, and in
> fact have a seizure alert dog. This is clasified as a hidden disability as
> it is not apperent untill I have a seizure. It is also not a constant
> limitation. It is sporatic. That is the nature of seizures. I have a
> spinal
> problem and I had a mobility service dog for that. I was also visually
> impaired at that time,but could still see well enough that I did not need
> a
> guide dog. When I became legally blind,and suddenly needed a guide dog, I
> simply had the mobility dog trained to guide me. Since then I have
> Trained
> my guide dogs with the help of a trainer ,just for guide work. Although I
> would not mind a dog that could retrieve, Mine do not seem to want to do
> it
> so, I decided that I needed a guide dog more than any thing else and did
> not
> force them to retrieve. I am more limited by my sight loss than any other
> disability. When receiving Social security disability, They use the most
> disableing condition to base there reason for allowing a person to
> collect.
> Maybe this is a good way to have the DOJ interpert a service animal.By the
> seriousness of the disability,to the kind of help an animal is trained to
> give to the disabled person. JMO.Have a great day Mardi
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 19:10:53 -0500
> From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
> Subject: [nagdu] One thing to remember about service animals
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <8D8233697E924E56B1DE92533184FB4C at dragonslayer>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I'm still not quite sure how I feel about all manner of animals being used
> as service animals. I see the logic in many of the species being used,
> with
> appropriate training.
>
> One thing I hear a lot from people is this "fear of untrained or ill
> behaved
> animals". It's important to keep in mind that even a well trained service
> animal earns the right for you to have it work with you through its public
> behavior as well as its training. The most highly trained guide dog from
> the
> oldest, most well established, most progressive, whatever adjective you
> want, school, can be tossed out of a business if it barks repeatedly,
> jumps
> on things or people, growls, eats things repeatedly or bothers people for
> attention.
>
> I've heard many blind people say that our dogs are somehow superior
> because
> of their training, yet I see plenty of them, mine included, misbehaving in
> public from time to time. I just retired a dog whose behavior fell into
> one
> of those disruptive categories.
>
> If the animal has been trained to perform specific tasks, can do so
> reliably, is clean and does not pose a proven disease risk, and finally
> and
> probably most importantly, is under good control, then why not allow it to
> be seen as a service animal?
>
> Where I'm conflicted though is just when to draw the line in terms of
> disability. I fear the ADA Restoration Act is going to make this an even
> murkier dilemma. I'm also a bit skeptical about some of the claims people
> make about their animals' abilities.
>
> In the "Creature Comforts" article Anne shared, it mentions nothing about
> the parrot's toileting habits that I recall. I don't know a lot about
> parrots but I'm not sure that many of them can or do have control of their
> eliminations. A friend had Sun Conyers, along with several other types of
> parrots. The Sun Conyers were the only ones regularly allowed to hang
> around
> the house because they only toileted in their own cages. This was a
> natural
> behavior, not a trained one. The other birds came out now and then for
> short
> periods, and never without some mess.
>
> I was really bothered too in the article when the monkey licked something
> in
> a store. OK, our dogs lick things, probably more often than we realize,
> but
> as the article did note, primates can carry some diseases dogs do not and
> those diseases are spread through saliva. Could this woman not get the
> same
> benefit from a dog trained to do the same behaviors of calming, etc?
>
> I do completely agree with Dr. Freidan and I know I've spelled his last
> name
> wrong. Our goal should be to punish those who fraudulently claim to have a
> disability to gain some benefit. Proving this though is nearly impossible
> and will be even harder in the future.
>
> Then I go to my basest thoughts about the issue which involve backlash.
> It's
> hard enough to get access with a large dog, to cabs, airport escorts, some
> small businesses, but when they realize that anything can be a service
> animal and anyone can claim a disability and claim his or her animal is
> trained, regardless of whether the business understands that it is able to
> take action if there is disruptive behavior, the business owner and/or
> front
> line staff are going to just throw up hands and say, "No one comes in!"
> Then
> I and others have to fight to prove ourselves. Or, if we so choose, fight
> to
> prove the rights of others. It feels at times like a giant Mobius strip.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 19:10:54 -0500
> From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
> Subject: [nagdu] One thing to remember about service animals
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <50D10ACBF6A54150951F8B057BABF6B1 at dragonslayer>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I'm still not quite sure how I feel about all manner of animals being used
> as service animals. I see the logic in many of the species being used,
> with
> appropriate training.
>
> One thing I hear a lot from people is this "fear of untrained or ill
> behaved
> animals". It's important to keep in mind that even a well trained service
> animal earns the right for you to have it work with you through its public
> behavior as well as its training. The most highly trained guide dog from
> the
> oldest, most well established, most progressive, whatever adjective you
> want, school, can be tossed out of a business if it barks repeatedly,
> jumps
> on things or people, growls, eats things repeatedly or bothers people for
> attention.
>
> I've heard many blind people say that our dogs are somehow superior
> because
> of their training, yet I see plenty of them, mine included, misbehaving in
> public from time to time. I just retired a dog whose behavior fell into
> one
> of those disruptive categories.
>
> If the animal has been trained to perform specific tasks, can do so
> reliably, is clean and does not pose a proven disease risk, and finally
> and
> probably most importantly, is under good control, then why not allow it to
> be seen as a service animal?
>
> Where I'm conflicted though is just when to draw the line in terms of
> disability. I fear the ADA Restoration Act is going to make this an even
> murkier dilemma. I'm also a bit skeptical about some of the claims people
> make about their animals' abilities.
>
> In the "Creature Comforts" article Anne shared, it mentions nothing about
> the parrot's toileting habits that I recall. I don't know a lot about
> parrots but I'm not sure that many of them can or do have control of their
> eliminations. A friend had Sun Conyers, along with several other types of
> parrots. The Sun Conyers were the only ones regularly allowed to hang
> around
> the house because they only toileted in their own cages. This was a
> natural
> behavior, not a trained one. The other birds came out now and then for
> short
> periods, and never without some mess.
>
> I was really bothered too in the article when the monkey licked something
> in
> a store. OK, our dogs lick things, probably more often than we realize,
> but
> as the article did note, primates can carry some diseases dogs do not and
> those diseases are spread through saliva. Could this woman not get the
> same
> benefit from a dog trained to do the same behaviors of calming, etc?
>
> I do completely agree with Dr. Freidan and I know I've spelled his last
> name
> wrong. Our goal should be to punish those who fraudulently claim to have a
> disability to gain some benefit. Proving this though is nearly impossible
> and will be even harder in the future.
>
> Then I go to my basest thoughts about the issue which involve backlash.
> It's
> hard enough to get access with a large dog, to cabs, airport escorts, some
> small businesses, but when they realize that anything can be a service
> animal and anyone can claim a disability and claim his or her animal is
> trained, regardless of whether the business understands that it is able to
> take action if there is disruptive behavior, the business owner and/or
> front
> line staff are going to just throw up hands and say, "No one comes in!"
> Then
> I and others have to fight to prove ourselves. Or, if we so choose, fight
> to
> prove the rights of others. It feels at times like a giant Mobius strip.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 17:36:04 -0700
> From: "Mardi Hadfield" <wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nagdu] New dogs
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Message-ID:
> <9023d1d70901031636y6e61aabev231fa38d1f80b0e at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hi every one, I am now fostering 2 dogs for two different rescues. I have
> been busy training Zack to give him basic manners and basic obedience, and
> Cat desensitizing. This will help him become a nice dog to have around,
> and
> get him a good home. The second dog a female,and also a husky / shepherd
> cross, loves cats, is already trained in basic obedience,and is a little
> shy. I am working to get her over her shyness, which I think is really
> fear
> as she was given up to one shelter, than transferred to another shelter
> where she ended up on death row be cause she was deemed unadoptable
> because
> she was shy. Just an excuse to kill another dog.Since she has been at my
> home, she has not been that shy, behaves very nicely and loves my cats and
> they love her. I am going to work with her to see if she can be a guide
> dog.
> I think she just might do well. I have named her Cante Waste, wich is
> pronounced Chonta Wash Tay. It means Good Heart in Lakota. She is a very
> sweet and loving dog. I have another dog comming on Monday. He is a Husky
> /
> Border Collie cross. He has had advanced obediance training and has also
> had some Search and Rescue training. I feel that this dog is a good
> candidate as a guide dog as he loves people. Gets along with all the dogs
> he
> has ever met and loves to ride in moving vehicle no matter what they are.
> He
> has opened gates to let out goats and then brought them back to their
> pen,
> not a one missing. He was never trained to do this. This is a thinking
> dog!Now if only he would shut the gate............He has also opened car
> doors and sat in the front seat waiting to go for a ride. I think his
> owner
> thought he would figure out how to drive the car and car jack the owner.
> The
> vet agrees that Wanagi has a problem, but until we see the xray we will
> not
> know if it is an old injury, or hip displaisia, or the Valley Fever going
> into her hip joints. She has been put on Rimadyl to help with her pain.
> She
> is such a wonderful dog. I am really disapointed that she can't be my
> guide.
> But she has a home with me permantly. Have a great day, Mardi and
> Nala,
> still plugging away and happy as a clam.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2009 21:35:58 -0500
> From: Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Service animals and disability
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <04977A19-66BF-4742-8056-A045C6790E68 at brannan.name>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
>
> On Jan 3, 2009, at 6:59 PM, Mardi Hadfield wrote:
>
>> . It is only my opinion that psyc. animals and therapy
>> or comfort animals should be called something else other than service
>> animals. What that terminology should be, well I am no sure.I am
>> sure that
>> some one will come up with a terminology and regulations that are
>> suitable.
>
> How about "pet"? That should cover it, no?
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2009 10:21:03 -0700
> From: "Jennie Facer" <puppya at clearwire.net>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] New dogs
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Message-ID: <000101c96e90$d4098730$7c1c9590$@net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Do you have a lot of room in your yard and house for these big dogs?
> Sounds
> wonderful to have them all. I'm jealous, because I want to have a lot of
> big dogs, too. Have a lot of fun with them, and tell us how they do.
>
> Jenn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Mardi Hadfield
> Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 5:36 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] New dogs
>
> Hi every one, I am now fostering 2 dogs for two different rescues. I have
> been busy training Zack to give him basic manners and basic obedience, and
> Cat desensitizing. This will help him become a nice dog to have around,
> and
> get him a good home. The second dog a female,and also a husky / shepherd
> cross, loves cats, is already trained in basic obedience,and is a little
> shy. I am working to get her over her shyness, which I think is really
> fear
> as she was given up to one shelter, than transferred to another shelter
> where she ended up on death row be cause she was deemed unadoptable
> because
> she was shy. Just an excuse to kill another dog.Since she has been at my
> home, she has not been that shy, behaves very nicely and loves my cats and
> they love her. I am going to work with her to see if she can be a guide
> dog.
> I think she just might do well. I have named her Cante Waste, wich is
> pronounced Chonta Wash Tay. It means Good Heart in Lakota. She is a very
> sweet and loving dog. I have another dog comming on Monday. He is a Husky
> /
> Border Collie cross. He has had advanced obediance training and has also
> had some Search and Rescue training. I feel that this dog is a good
> candidate as a guide dog as he loves people. Gets along with all the dogs
> he
> has ever met and loves to ride in moving vehicle no matter what they are.
> He
> has opened gates to let out goats and then brought them back to their
> pen,
> not a one missing. He was never trained to do this. This is a thinking
> dog!Now if only he would shut the gate............He has also opened car
> doors and sat in the front seat waiting to go for a ride. I think his
> owner
> thought he would figure out how to drive the car and car jack the owner.
> The
> vet agrees that Wanagi has a problem, but until we see the xray we will
> not
> know if it is an old injury, or hip displaisia, or the Valley Fever going
> into her hip joints. She has been put on Rimadyl to help with her pain.
> She
> is such a wonderful dog. I am really disapointed that she can't be my
> guide.
> But she has a home with me permantly. Have a great day, Mardi and
> Nala,
> still plugging away and happy as a clam.
> _______________________________________________
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> t
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> End of nagdu Digest, Vol 46, Issue 4
> ************************************
>
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