[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.
>
> _______________________________________________
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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
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>> 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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