[nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws

Wed Jan 14 19:20:28 UTC 2009

Hi Rebecca,
That was funny about the Democrats and Republicans.  Actually, the rally was 
a bipartisan one - No on Prop 8 Marriage Equality For All Campaign. If I can 
enjoy marriage, so should my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. Landon 
loves those rallies and marches - lots of nice dogs to meet! (smile!)

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.  That's funny about your dog pooping 
near a Democrat's sign.  Maybe other dogs did the same and he smelled it and 
added his own commentary.  I'm a lifelong Democrat but I function more like 
an Independent.  I have worked for Republicans who were more progressive. 
There haven't been many of those because of the neoconservatives and other 
fanatics who have commendeered the Republican Party over the last 30 years! 
I did vote for the Republican in this year's City Attorney race because I 
thought the Democratic incumbant was an idiot.  (grin!)

Well, one way or another, I will both fight the citation and educate folks.

Regards,

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M. (TASCSD)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at ngc.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws

> Linda,
> Know too that the policeman may indeed be a Democrat, who was upset at
> your dog's comment on the event.
> My previous Leader Dog without fail would always take me to a Republican
> sign, and she would poop near Democrat ones.
> I have no idea how she knew.
> Maybe your dog is the Rrepublican and was displeased about the rally?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Marion & Martin
> Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 9:05 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>
> Linda,
>    First, I would like to say that I don't think blind people should be
> exempt from such laws. On the contrary, I think we need to be more
> diligent, since we are more likely than the sighted to have our dogs in
> public. That said, it sounds as if the officers didn't know you were
> blind due to their ignorance, not to mention their insensitivity.
>    I believe you are taking the correct action by going to the PD and
> your ADA coordinator's office. It sounds as if you have a just cause to
> fight the citation should you need to take it to court, as inaccessible
> as that may be. Now, this sounds like a story: Blind woman cited for
> pooper scooper violation can't have her day in court because she can't
> get there! (smile) I do think, though, that making a media issue of the
> citation in spite of the laws exemption would not serve our mission
> well, as it would send the message that the blind are incapable of
> performing this simple task.
>
> fraternally,
> marion
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com>
> To: "NFBnet NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 4:44 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>
>
>> Hi All,
>> I recently got cited by the police for violating San Diego's "pooper
>> scooper law".  Both our county and city laws exempt blind people.
> Curious
>> to know if anyone else has had this problem?
>>
>> I was at a political rally at our County Administration Building last
>> Saturday.  Landon took a dump on the grass near the street, I picked
> it up
>> with a baggie, and put the package under a nearby bush out of the way.
> I
>> wasn't able to find a trash can to throw it away in.
>>
>> I was talking to a lady who is in my Democratic Party club when a man
> came
>> up to me to tell me I had to throw the poop in a trash can.  I told
> him
>> that I was blind and can't find a trash can and asked him to show me
> to
>> one and I'd be happy to do that.  He said that I had to do it myself
> and
>> that he wasn't going to help me find a can.  He then asked me for my
> ID.
>> Then I asked him who he was.  He answered " San Diego Police".  I
> again
>> told him that I was blind and needed his help to find a trash can to
> throw
>> the poop into.  Again, he said that I had to do this myself.  The
> lady's
>> kid offered to throw it away for me but the police had my ID and they
>> wrote me a citation for "Dog Nuisence" and that I was to appear in
> Traffic
>> Court (in an inaccessible location) in March.
>>
>> The lady I was with said that I could have avoided the ticket if I was
>
>> real polite and begging for help from him.  I did tell the police
> officer
>> that I was exempt from the County's law and most likely, the San Diego
>
>> city law.  So, this lady wasn't at all sympathetic to me on this.  She
>
>> even has a disabled son!  I was not angry or disrespectful to the cop.
> I
>> just stated facts and didn't grovel.
>>
>> I went home after the event and called the police department to place
> a
>> complaint against an officer because he was totally insensitive to the
>
>> fact that I couldn't find the trash can due to my blindness and for
> his
>> failure to identify himself - I thought I was talking to just another
>> person at the rally who objected to my putting the dog crap under the
>> bush.
>>
>> I got a call back from the seargent and it turned out that the same
>> seargent was there!  He didn't identify himself to me either!  The
>> seargent said that he observed me letting Landon defecate, saw me
>> competently pick it up, and throw it under the bush.  He wondered why,
> if
>> I was really blind, how could I know where the pile was to pick up.  I
>
>> told him that we are all trained in the arts of picking up dog crap -
> it
>> was part of the curriculum of the guide dog schools.  He was surprized
>
>> that the blind could learn how to find the pile their dog leaves.  So
> that
>> told me that not only did he not know the law, he didn't know anything
>
>> about blind people either.
>>
>> I called the office of our City Disability Coordinator and have not
> heard
>> back from them yet.  I called my City Council member's office and
> talked
>> to somebody there.  They thought that I would still have to go to the
>> inaccessible Traffic Court, or maybe, they could come to a downtown
>> location that I could get to.  He was going to check on that and get
> back
>> to me. He also said he knew of someone at the Police Department who
> dealt
>> with disability issues.
>>
>> Some of my friends thought I should go public with this by contacting
> a
>> lawyer on KSUI-TV named Mike Turko.  He has a segment called"Turko
> Files"
>> and he gets contacted by lots of people with all kinds of problems and
> he
>> helps the problems to be solved and goes public with them.  My CCB
> (ACB)
>> chapter members went to him about SD TRansit refusing to put bus
> changes
>> and meetings in a format readable by the blind.  The website was also
>> inaccessible as well.  After Turko did two seperate segments on
> KUSI-TV on
>> this, Transit made the needed changes.  I told my friends that I'd
> save
>> Turko for later if needed!
>>
>> Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do about it? Thanks.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Linda and Landon
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