[nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident

Angie Matney angie.matney at gmail.com
Sun Jun 7 19:11:57 UTC 2009


Hi Joy,

A GSD is a Yani--I mean, a German Shepherd Dog. (grin) "Dog" is a part of
the German Shepherd's official breed name, so GSD is an abbreviation that is
commonly used.

Angie with GSD Yani




-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Garry and Joy Relton
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 2:46 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident

Ok, I'll bite. Maybe I missed it somewhere, but what's a GSD?

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 10:08 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident


Limiting guide dogs to one or two breeds won't eliminate access issues. 
I'd wager that most denial of access situations occur with labs, GSD's and 
goldens.   Perhaps the more uncommon breeds get more access issues 
individually than the average guide dog handler, but as a group I think the 
common breeds will have many more access denials than the uncommon breeds. 
It simple math.  Probably 95% of the guide dogs currently working are one of

the three main breeds, labs, goldens and GSD's.

Also limiting the breeds of dogs used as guides limits the options available

to blind people.  Allergies is an example that comes to mind.  Poodles, 
Boxers and Dobermans are breeds used for handlers who have sensitivities to 
dog dander.

People who want to misrepresent their pet as a service/guide dog don't have 
to purchase a harness to do so.  You can purchase a vest or patch that says 
"service dog" for under $20. Guide harnesses don't have to be purchased on 
the black market.  they can be purchased entirely legally from several 
reputable companies.  If you're interested, I can recommend a really good 
one!

JMHO
Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Allison Nastoff" <anastoff at wi.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident


> Reading this article, there should have been no reason for the Taco 
> Bell
> Manager to remove the dog.  If the dog had just been picked up from the 
> groomer, he was definitely clean and thus would not pose a health hazard, 
> and it sounds like the family was just sitting at the table about to eat, 
> and the dog was not misbehaving.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I think 
> this is a clear case of harassment of an innocent blind ferson on the part

> of both police and the restaurant.  I hope this woman stands her ground 
> until laws are changed or people in Coppera Cove are better educated about

> guide dog access laws.
> I do wonder though if guide dog schools should stick with traditional 
> breeds like Labs and German Shepherds.  Maybe this would make it easier 
> for the public to trust that a dog is, in fact a guide dog. 
> Theoretically, someone could get a harness on the black market, and put it

> on their pet poodle and say he's a guide dog.  The same could be true for 
> someone's pet Lab of course, but I just think that sticking to a few 
> standard breeds might make the guide dog access issue less confusing for 
> the public.  Just my opinion.
> Allison and Gilbert
>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Wayne Merritt <wcmerritt at gmail.com
>>To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>Date sent: Sat, 6 Jun 2009 14:33:02 -0500
>>Subject: [nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident
>
>>I did a search on Google for the woman's name and among the
> results
>>that came back was this series of posts on a forum/newsgroup
> site.
>>I've cleaned up the posts for better reading, but for more and to
> read
>>comments from others, go to this link:
>
>>http://www.topix.com/forum/city/copperas-cove-tx/T52KB3SEVEHKE3KQ
> 3
>
>>This is interesting stuff.  Several times my eyes widened and I 
>>thought, "Wow." See for yourself.  Also, according to the below,
> Ms.
>>Ballou, the owner of the Leader Dog, was not using a
> "traditional"
>>guide dog breed, which might explain some of the manager's
> reaction.
>>It doesn't explain the behavior of the police though.
>>Wayne
>
>>***
>
>>new resident in Copperas Cove is considering legal action after
> being
>>forcefully removed from a local restaurant.
>
>>Nanette Ballou lost her sight 11 years ago due to multiple eye 
>>traumas.  She is assisted by Rusty, a white Berger De Picard or
> French
>>sheepdog, who was trained at Leader Dogs for the Blind in
> Rochester,
>>Mich.
>
>>While she does have limited vision in her right eye, similar to 
>>looking through a straw, she can't process depth of field or see 
>>anything other than what she is directly looking at.  Also, any
> change
>>in lighting like moving from indoors to outdoors causes her total 
>>blindness for five to 10 minutes until her eyes adjust.
>
>>"He protects me," Ballou said about Rusty.  "He keeps me from
> bumping
>>into things and from tripping over curbs.  But it's still scary
> to walk
>>places like parking lots where not everyone is paying attention
> and I
>>don't have any peripheral vision to rely on."
>
>>On Thursday, May 7, after picking up Rusty from the dog groomers, 
>>Ballou and Rusty along with her daughter and two grandchildren
> went to
>>Taco Bell.  The family placed their order, picked up their food
> and was
>>about to eat when Cynthia, a night manager, approached their
> table and
>>asked, "Is that a Seeing Eye," Ballou recalled.
>
>>"No, he's a guide dog, a Leader Dog," Ballou said to correct the
> manager.
>
>>Ballou said not all guide dogs are Seeing Eye's.  It depends on
> what
>>school they go to and her dog went to the Leader Dog school.
>
>>"It's like calling an A&M student a Longhorn," she said.  "I was
> trying
>>to educate her that there are more kinds of guide dogs, not just 
>>Seeing Eye.  But she had no part of it."
>
>>The manager told Ballou the health department would shut them
> down if
>>they saw the dog in the restaurant and then asked for
> identification
>>for the dog as a guide dog.
>
>>Ballou showed her the special harness Rusty wears identifying him
> as a
>>Leader Dog and stood her ground as she began to feel harassed.
>
>>The manager said she was going to call the cops and Ballou said,
> "Go
>>ahead, save me the call."
>
>>Six Copperas Cove police officers in three patrol cars arrived on
> the scene.
>>When the police arrived, Ballou said they did not identify
> themselves
>>and the first officer, whose name she was never given, told her
> "Lady,
>>you and the dog have to get out."
>>She told the officer Rusty is a service dog and Texas law allows
> him
>>to be with her.  She showed him a law book she carries with her
> with
>>all the state and federal laws for the blind across the country,
> but
>>said the officer would not look at it.
>>She told the officer she just moved to Copperas Cove and said she 
>>can't believe they don't know what the law is.  She said the
> officer
>>told her "Welcome to Copperas Cove, if you don't like our laws, 
>>leave." She said the same officer told her, "You don't look blind"
> because she
>>was looking at him while he spoke to her.  She said it is common 
>>courtesy in the visual world to look at someone when they speak
> to you
>>and you don't have to be sighted to do so.
>>A second officer on scene Cpl.  Shane Kieltyka did read her law
> book,
>>she said, because she believes he understood she was trying to
> diffuse
>>the situation.
>
>>"When the first officer approached me, it flustered me," she
> said.
>>"But I stood my ground."
>>Her daughter, Jennifer Warden, said when the police arrived they 
>>crowded around the table  enlarge
>>making it difficult for them to leave like they were being told.
> One
>>of the officers also followed Warden to her car, speaking in a 
>>confrontational voice while blocking her in the corner of her
> car's
>>open door, Ballou said.
>>"We felt closed in," Warden said.  "There was me, a 10 year old
> and a
>>nine year old and a blind woman with her dog.  How dangerous did
> we
>>look? They did everything short of calling in the SWAT and
> spreading
>>us out on the ground like an episode of COPS."
>>Her oldest child, age 10, has cerebral palsy and said the
> incident has
>>had a negative impact on her trust in the police and how disabled 
>>people are treated. Warden, who said the police have been called 
>>before because of
> her
>>mother's guide dog, said this is the first time they were treated
> this
>>way.  All the other times the police said they were allowed to
> stay,
>>she said.
>>"They didn't do anything but make us the victim," she said about
> the police.
>>Warden said her husband is being stationed at Fort Hood, but
> after
>>this incident, said her family will look for a place to live in
> Belton
>>or Harker Heights.
>
>>"We weren't impressed at all with the attitude the people in
> Copperas
>>Cove have, especially the police department," Warden said.  "If
> we're
>>not living on base we need to know we can rely on the police 
>>department, and that was a big no." Now Ballou, an advocate for the 
>>blind, is searching every avenue available to her to make sure this 
>>does not happen again.  She
> said she
>>is afraid this incident has labeled her as a troublemaker by
> everyone
>>who saw the incident.
>>"Everyone who drove by and saw me and my very identifiable dog
> doesn't
>>know what happened," she said.  "In a way, I was slandered across
> the
>>community as a troublemaker.  I'm very vocal about what happened 
>>because I want the public to know the laws that protect my civil 
>>rights were not protected by the police department or Taco Bell." 
>>Ballou contacted the police department several times to speak
> with
>>Police Chief Tim Molnes, but said he wouldn't return phone calls. 
>>Another officer did eventually speak with her and take a report 
>>filling official charges against the Taco Bell manager for
> non-access.
>>Ballou said she could have also pressed charges for interfering
> with a
>>service animal's job and for harassment, but has not.
>>She then contacted the district attorney's office where an
> assistant
>>told her this is a civil manner and they don't handle those
> cases.  She
>>told them it is not a civil manner and she said he repeated
> several
>>times "we're not going there" and then hung up.
>>She has also called City Attorney Charles Zech and left a
> message, but
>>has not heard back from him.
>>"Everyone at the city has shut me off," she said.  "They are
> afraid I
>>might sue.  I don't like to fight.  If the police chief had made
> them
>>apologize, I probably would have dropped all of this."
>>She said she just wants to see the laws enforced.  She also said
> there
>>are grants available through the ADA civil rights section of the 
>>United States Justice Department for entities to have someone
> come in
>>and teach them ADA laws.
>>City Manager Andrea Gardner said "The City's policy is not to
> comment
>>on ongoing investigative matters" and would not answer questions
> about
>>the city's ADA training or this incident.
>>Lt.  Danny Austin said the file on this case is still open and
> could
>>not release information without an open records request.  The
> request
>>was sent to the Copperas Cove Police Department earlier this
> week.  The
>>file has not yet been received.  The May 7 police blotter has no
> report
>>of an incident at Taco Bell.
>>Taco Bell representative Don Barton has also been contacted by
> the
>>Leader-Press office about the incident.  He said he would send a 
>>prepared statement by e-mail.  The statement was not received by
> press
>>time.
>>Texas law on service animals states any violations of a person's
> right
>>to use a guide dog is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable
> by a
>>fine of not less than $300 or more than $1,000.
>>"They know they stepped over the line," Ballou said.  "They are
> just
>>hoping it will go away."
>
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