[nagdu] [GDUI-Friends] when is a guide not a guide

[Ann Edie]

It really pushes my buttons when insurance companies get to decide what a person can or cannot do in this country!  Last I heard, it was Congress which legislates in the USA.

I have certainly had run-ins with insurance companies before. like when I want to go horseback riding at a place, and they tell me that I have to be on a lead rope, or I can't ride at all, or I have to sign a different release form--all because I am a member of a minority, a person with a disability.  It's no different, in my opinion, and perhaps even worse, than when the restaurant tells someone they can't enter the restaurant with a guide dog because the Health Department won't allow it, or when a taxi driver tells someone he can't take them in his cab because his religion says dogs are unclean.  As far as I know, it is Congress that sets Civil Rights policy in this country, and all these other "authorities are just talking through their hats.

I hope the legal minds on this list can clarify this point.

Best,
Ann

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Gwen and Mia 
  To: GDUI 
  Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2009 7:18 PM
  Subject: RE: [GDUI-Friends] when is a guide not a guide





  Jenine, each year as a hospice volunteer (and mia is one also) I need to
  present certification that she has had her rabies shots. I was told that
  this is required of any dog going into the building at

  The request of the insurance company.

  From: GDUI-Friends at yahoogroups.com [mailto:GDUI-Friends at yahoogroups.com] On
  Behalf Of Jenine Stanley
  Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:23 AM
  To: 'Lenny McHugh'; 'gdui-friends'
  Subject: RE: [GDUI-Friends] when is a guide not a guide

  Lenny, 

  Not to argue here as your own personal choices as to your dog's status and
  how you wished to handle this situation are just that, but legally, here's
  what I know. 

  Your dog, if you state that it is a service animal, is a service animal all
  the time, regardless of whether you are holding its harness handle, or even
  whether it is wearing a harness or not. Under the ADA, and this was
  explained to us in a presentation at GDUI oh, nearly 10 years ago now, that
  even if your dog is walking at heel and you are using sighted guide, that
  dog is still a service animal and you are legally entitled to all rights and
  privileges due someone accompanied by said service animal. 

  Someone else could come along wishing access to this facility and legally
  she could certainly be challenged even if the dog was taken out of harness.
  The reason for this is that there is an assumption, rightly or wrongly, that
  people who use service animals do take better care of them an insure that
  all their vaccines are current. It's why we don't have to have health
  certificates when we fly in the continental US. 

  Now, that said, there may be some provision in Pennsylvania law that
  addresses service animals in these types of facilities, under the
  requirement to see a current Rabies vaccine certificate. 

  I wonder, would a tag due? I don't normally carry my dog's Rabies
  certificate with me. Maybe I should? 

  I can understand if the facility is closed to the public and you must make
  an appointment to come in. 

  This is the case for many guide dog school campuses. Only small parts are
  open to the public and if you wish to bring even a service animal into the
  parts not open to the public and you make an appointment, the school can't
  deny you but they can have certain qualifications you need to follow. These
  might include providing proof of vaccination. 

  So, though I understand your position, legally, someone could argue just the
  opposite. 

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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