[nagdu] pooper scoopper

Sat Jan 17 16:57:41 UTC 2009

Linda at least you did pick it up and put it some where that someone would
not step in it.  That is certainly more responsible then just leaving it
there.  Police seem to have a problem with sensitivity to the disabled not
just blind people.  This guy sounds like he was really just getting his ego
stroked by being a A. hole!  I think they love to have someone who they
think they can get away with intimidating.  I would not be surprised that he
doesn't know the laws regarding the disabled.  We have recently heard about
that cops have so many laws to know that they can't possibly know them all.
A legislator said at our state convention that laws are there for a reason
and the police don't have the right to pick and choose the ones they want to
enforce.  It of course comes down to us to reach out and educate them on
civil rights issues.  That's not to say it doesn't go in one ear and out the
other!

Julie Phillipson
----- Original Message -----
From: <
lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com>

To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<
nagdu at nfbnet.org>

Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws

> Hi All,
> I talked to someone in the City Disability coordinator's office and they
> said that they didn't deal with this kind of issue and to talk to a
> seargent
> at the police department.  I told them that I had already done this and
> I'll
> find something else to do.  The person in my City councilmember's office
> didn't have much else to offer either.  these people all mean well but
> they
> know so little about blindness or disability issues.  It is totally
> outside
> their radar screen - totally no clue whatsoever.
>
> I think I'm going to contact Turko Files after all.  He does have a track
> record of helping people with disabilities, including blindness issues.
>
> Cari, if you were here and left the bag of dog crap in the bag outside the
> store, the police would would probably try to bust you for that! (grin!).
> I
> think we are exempt here in San Diego County because of this very problem
> of
> not always finding a trash can.  All the guide dog users here do pick up
> and
> throw it in a trash can as a matter of course even though we are
> technically
> exempt.  It's the times when we can't find that trash can is when we
> really
> need that exemption.
>
> The biggest problem we have around our blind center is other people
> letting
> their pet dogs poop in our dog relief area and they leave it there -
> unbagged - and an ususpecting blind person comes along to relieve their
> guide dog and they step in crap and track it into the center.  Hmmmm,
> where's the cops for that??  These pet owners are violating the leash laws
> as well as the pooper scooper law.  They come up from the canyon with
> their
> loose dog, the dog smells the relief area and then does what dogs do
> naturally - leave their calling card for our dogs to read.
>
> I do want to publicize this because the cop didn't know the law as far as
> our exemption goes.  He failed to identify himself to me, and he refused
> to
> assist me to comply with the law because of my disability.  And he was a
> jerk to expect me to become sighted to find the trash can on my own.
> Well,
> if I had that option, I certainly would have taken it.  I want people to
> know how insensitive the cops are and how clueless about blindness they
> are.
> That isn't right and it should be corrected.
>
> I'll keep you all imformed as to what happens.
>
> Linda and Landon
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <
countrygrl290 at aol.com>

> To: <
nagdu at nfbnet.org>

> Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pooper Scooper Laws
>
>
>>I live in? reiverside county ... i did not know in san diego blind people
>>were expempt. I always pick up my poop and if i cant find a trash can i
>>take it with me? BUT on the same note if im going into? some place i leave
>>it in the baggie and go back for it on the way out ... if we r exempt i
>>would fight the? sitation with an attorney? let me know i have the name of
>>one? who is in LA and supposed to be good ?
>> cari and denver
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com
>>
Sent: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 1:44 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 b
>> ack 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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>
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Julie Phillipson 