[nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect service dogs

Sat Nov 14 13:36:25 UTC 2009

I would want to hold them responsible, too. I guess my quibble would really 
be more that this guy lost his job because he couldn't travel to work 
without the dog. However, that really isnt the issue at all. The issue is 
that two dogs, for whatever reason, were hurt on the same escallator ffor 
probably the same reason. That does make one want to know more what really 
is going on.

Cindy Lou

----- 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: Friday, November 13, 2009 8:06 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect 
service dogs

    I think we need to look at this objectively and not jump to conclusions.
We had a child severely injured on an escalator here in the Tampa area
because of design flaws of which the manufacturer and the place of business
were aware! No matter if the latter injury were the result of the first or
both were the result of flaws that were neglegently left unrepaired, it
seems plausible that the second incident could have been avoided. If my dog
were injured through the negligence of another, you bet I would want to hold
them responsible!

Fraternally yours,
Marion

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeanette Beal" <bealjk at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Part II: Medford resident takes action to protect
service dogs

> Man everyone wants to shrug out of personal error.  I can't imagine
> Drum having an accident and getting injured because I'm an idiot and
> fail to handle properly but that doesn't mean I pass blame off.
> Plus agencies vs. individual claims of stupidity rarely work out well.
> Also two handlers vs eachother over whether or not failure happened?
> Drama.
>
> On 11/13/09, Ginger Kutsch <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Medford resident takes action to protect service dogs
>> By Nell Escobar Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com
>> Thu Nov 12, 2009, 09:00 AM EST
>> Source:
>> http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x2087392354/Medford-resid
>> ent-takes-action-to-protect-service-dogs
>>
>> Medford - While Massachusetts General Law clearly states that if
>> an accident occurs on an escalator, the unit must be shut down
>> until it is fixed and inspected by the proper authorities, one
>> Medford man said the commonwealth clearly failed in its duties to
>> protect him and his guide dog.
>>
>> As a result, Steve Giannaros said his 5-year-old German shepherd
>> Dakota suffered a horrible accident, which left the dog with two
>> amputated pads on his right back leg and Giannaros with no job
>> and a $3,000 hospital bill to pay.
>>
>> Last week, Terrel Harris, communications director for the
>> Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which oversees
>> the Department of Public Safety, stated in an e-mail to the
>> Transcript that if the accident had occurred to a human being
>> rather than a dog, the escalator would have been shut down.
>>
>> Harris also stated the agency was notified about the accident,
>> which took place June 26, via an oral report from the
>> Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
>>
>> However, MEMA spokesman Peter Judge said the agency's hotline
>> never received any notification of an accident occurring in the
>> John W. McCormack Building, so it could not have made such a
>> report to DPS. He added he checked logs going back through early
>> May and into July, but found no such report.
>>
>> Additionally, Judge said he spoke to those manning the hotline
>> and they could not recall such an incident either.
>>
>> Harris declined further comment on the issue, referring all
>> further questions about the escalator, its maintenance or any
>> reports made about the accident to the Bureau of State Office
>> Buildings in Boston, which oversees not only McCormack, but also
>> the Charles F. Hurley and Erich Lindemann buildings.
>>
>> A call to BSOB Superintendent Carole Cornelison was directed to
>> the agency's spokeswoman Cindy Roy, who was on vacation. Bob
>> Bliss, acting spokesman for the Executive Office of
>> Administration and Finance, which oversees BSOB, in late
>> September, said the escalator was inspected and it was found that
>> a comb plate was broken and had popped off.
>>
>> He added a similar accident had occurred on the same escalator at
>> the same location to another guide dog and his owner. He said
>> that accident, which took place May 21, was also caused by a
>> broken comb plate.
>>
>> "I have no explanation as to why that would happen," he said of
>> the two accidents.
>>
>> Giannaros, however, said the explanation is just plain negligence
>> on the part of the state. He claimed that after the first
>> accident, the escalator was not properly shut down and inspected,
>> as per the requirement of state law.
>>
>> "It's just awful they didn't check into it," he said of the first
>> broken comb plate. "If they had checked it, they might never have
>> had this happen."
>>
>>
>>
>> The first victim
>>
>> But Carl Richardson, ADA coordinator for the State House, said he
>> believes the broken comb plate found following Dakota's accident
>> was a result of the accident and not its cause. As for the first
>> accident, he believes it was due to the owner's negligence.
>>
>> He should know. He was the first victim, or rather his guide dog,
>> Kinley, was.
>>
>> Richardson said he was on the same escalator in late May,
>> carrying items in his hands, when his dog was injured.
>>
>> "He got squeezed to the side and wasn't able to get off,"
>> Richardson said of Kinley's accident. "His right rear pad was
>> torn severely. They sewed it back together and he was down for a
>> total of about five weeks."
>>
>> Richardson said he kept his dog home, but returned to work each
>> day until Kinley was able to return to his duties.
>>
>> "I truly believe I didn't get off properly," he said of the
>> escalator accident. "It was very traumatic and stressful. I can
>> truly empathize with what Steve went through."
>>
>> But, Richardson said, he went to everyone in the building,
>> Giannaros included, and told them to be careful of the escalator.
>> Richardson said after his accident was reported, the escalators
>> were inspected daily.
>>
>> "They checked after me," he said. "Everything was in place."
>>
>> Richardson, however, was unable to explain why or how Dakota's
>> injury occurred or why, as Bliss claimed, the comb plate had
>> popped off.
>>
>> "I think it was a weird coincidence," Richardson said. "But I've
>> stayed away and I don't go on it anymore."
>>
>> Richardson also inferred that Giannaros was carrying lunch and
>> might have let go of Dakota's harness. Giannaros, however, called
>> Richardson's claim absurd and said he had spoken to Richardson
>> following Dakota's accident.
>>
>> "I asked him to file a report and he said he didn't want to talk
>> about it," Giannaros said. "Then he suggested I seek outside
>> counsel. I think he's afraid for his job."
>>
>>
>>
>> The reports
>>
>> Giannaros maintains that whether or not he or Richardson were
>> holding on to their dogs' harnesses has no bearing on the
>> accidents. The fact, he said, is the state still didn't follow
>> proper procedure when Kinley was injured by shutting down the
>> escalator until the DPS could sign off, and that resulted in
>> Dakota being injured.
>>
>> Giannaros further stated it wasn't until July 7, as Harris stated
>> in an e-mail to the Transcript, that a DPS inspector finally OK'd
>> the escalator repairs.
>>
>> According to an after-accident form provided to the Transcript by
>> the BSOB via Richardson, as ADA coordinator, the accident
>> involving Kinley took place May 21, but was not reported until
>> May 26. In it, an unidentified man named Richard Gagnon reports
>> the dog's paw "slipped between the combs at the top of the
>> escalator."
>>
>> The report goes on to say the escalator was shut down, the broken
>> combs replaced and the escalator re-inspected and placed back in
>> service. However, there is no mention of DPS being contacted or
>> whether a state inspector looked at the escalator.
>>
>> However, a Delta technician, which oversees the escalators and
>> elevators in the building, was reportedly to inspect the
>> receiving combs on both escalators daily, as Richardson stated.
>>
>> On a similar form submitted on the day of Dakota's accident,
>> Gagnon again states the escalator was inspected and no problem
>> was found, despite Bliss' claims that the combs had popped off
>> again.
>>
>> "Will be meeting with BSOB ADA Coordinator to explore this issue
>> and the training received regarding escalator use by service
>> animals," Gagnon writes, referring to the report's first page
>> where he states he will be "meeting with C. Richardson."
>>
>> In an addendum written Aug. 4, Gagnon goes on to further document
>> the incident, mentioning several security and police officers on
>> sight to help with the injured dog, as well as Paul Barry, a
>> Delta Elevator technician.
>>
>> "As the scene was cleared P. Barry examined the escalator," he
>> wrote. "After a review of the escalator, it was deemed to be safe
>> and was put back in service."
>>
>> Again, Gagnon does not state in the addendum that the DPS was
>> contacted nor that a state inspector OK'd the escalator's being
>> placed back in service.
>>
>> Giannaros calls this the smoking gun.
>>
>> "They mopped up the blood and turned the escalator back on like
>> nothing ever happened," he said. "A friend of mine who works
>> there said it was back in service half an hour after the first
>> accident and after Dakota's accident."
>>
>> He said it's no surprise no one has called him back, despite the
>> weeks of telephone calls and messages left. And, he added, it's
>> also not surprising that the first DPS escalator inspector he
>> talked with, a man named Lenny Chase, who told him the escalator
>> should have been shut down, as per state law, and re-inspected
>> only by the DPS, no longer answers his phone.
>>
>> Giannaros could only smile that the Transcript was told my Harris
>> it would not be allowed to speak to Chase either.
>>
>> "I've tried to keep contacting them, but they've blown me off,"
>> Giannaros said. "I haven't heard back from anyone at all."
>>
>>
>>
>> The future
>>
>> Giannaros said these days, he's no longer angry about the
>> accident and is only relieved that Dakota has fully recovered.
>>
>> "We went to Chinatown a few weeks ago and had to take the
>> escalator," Giannaros said. "I was worried about what he might
>> do, but he was fine. I was the one who was a total wreck!"
>>
>> But despite the dissipating anger, Giannaros said that doesn't
>> mean he wants to let the entire incident just drop. He plans to
>> sue the state in small claims court for negligence in the hopes
>> of reclaiming the $3,000 he shelled out in hospital bills.
>>
>> Meanwhile, he will continue with graduate school and hopefully,
>> work with Medford's state delegation to file and pass a bill that
>> protects service animals injured while performing their duties.
>>
>> "I doubt anyone knows how many guide dogs are injured every
>> year," he said. "There's probably been no research done. That
>> wouldn't surprise me.
>>
>> "What I want to do now is contact my state representatives and
>> senator to pass a law, at least in this state, that will protect
>> these animals," Giannaros added. "There's nothing ADA can do, but
>> there has to be some protection for these dogs. Look at me, in
>> two seconds, my entire life changed."
>>
>>
>>
>> Related Stories
>> Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog
>> injured on escalator
>>
>>
>> Loading commenting interface...
>> Comments (2)
>> Thank you for the abuse report. We will review the report and
>> take appropriate action.
>> Loading comments...
>> ShopLoc8523 hours ago
>> Report Abuse
>> This is a interesting story....I think people forget about what a
>> hard job these service dogs have.
>> PatsFan10118 hours ago
>> Report AbuseThat's very sad that two service dogs were injured on
>> the escalator. As a fellow service dog user, I wonder if these
>> dogs were properly trained in how to get on/off and ride an
>> escalator? If the dog is not trained to do it, it can be
>> dangerous. But if the dog is properly trained for escalators, he
>> won't get hurt.
>>
>> The dog needs to hop (jump) onto the escalator, keep his feet in
>> the middle of the steps, stay away from the sides of the
>> escalator, start walking as he nears the end of the escalator,
>> and then hop well over the end of the escalator (where the steps
>> get taken into the mechanism). I don't know how much, if any,
>> vision either of the men in the article have, so don't know if
>> they are able to watch their dog's paws at all, but whenever I
>> take my service dog on escalators and moving sidewalks, I watch
>> her paws and make certain she rides correctly, as she's been
>> trained to do.
>>
>> Letting go of the dog's harness would not negate his escalator
>> training, but if both or either of these men were not paying
>> attention to their dogs, thus helping them know the proper times
>> to jump and remind them where to stand, they need to partially
>> blame themselves for the injuries. Lunch or other items are never
>> more important than your service dog's safety!
>>
>> I do agree that Massachusetts needs a much better law regarding
>> injury to and interference with service animals, however. They
>> need to check out the law that Florida has and emulate it.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of Ginger Kutsch
>> Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 5:21 PM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
>> Users'
>> Subject: [nagdu] Guide dog injured on escalator
>>
>> Medford resident plans to file lawsuit, bill after guide dog
>> injured on escalator By Nell Escobar Coakley/ncoakley at cnc.com Thu
>> Nov 05, 2009, 09:00 AM EST
>> Source:
>> http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x1312011995/Medford-resid
>> ent-plans-to-file-lawsuit-bill-after-guide-dog-injured-on-escalat
>> or
>>
>> Editor's Note: The following is part one of two. See next week's
>> Medford Transcript for part two.
>>
>> When his 5-year-old guide dog was badly injured in an escalator
>> accident this summer, one local resident made it his mission to
>> file a bill that will protect all assistance animals traveling in
>> public places with their owners.
>>
>> "My anger over the whole thing is finally gone," said Steve
>> Giannaros, of Wellington Circle. "But I also don't want it to
>> happen to anyone else. I can't let something go on. I have to
>> correct this problem."
>>
>> The problem is what Giannaros perceives as the shoddy treatment
>> he received from the state following an accident on an escalator
>> in the John W. McCormack Building in Boston.
>>
>> On June 26, Giannaros and his German shepherd guide dog, Dakota,
>> were riding the escalator upstairs from the cafeteria. Upon
>> reaching the top, Giannaros felt a thump and heard a loud wailing
>> coming from the animal.
>>
>> "He was wailing like crazy," Giannaros recalled with a shudder.
>> "It was horrible. I could hear him screaming. It was really
>> chaotic."
>>
>> Although several people immediately jumped in to help, Giannaros
>> said it was a state trooper who really came through by driving
>> him and Dakota to Angell Animal Medical Center.
>>
>> "He was at Angell for about five days," Giannaros said. "The
>> doctors said the two pads of the middle toes of his right back
>> leg were badly injured. After a few days, they said they had no
>> way to repair it and if they tried, he couldn't work. I was
>> devastated. If he couldn't work again, I would have had to give
>> him away."
>>
>> Doctors amputated the two pads, and it took more than five weeks
>> for Dakota to recuperate from his wounds.
>>
>> "Angell said he would be fine and that he would work and live a
>> normal life," Giannaros said. "He's fine now."
>>
>> In the meantime, Giannaros found himself homebound, missing
>> several weeks of work at his job in the Secretary of State's
>> Office because he could not travel without Dakota. And it was his
>> job to take care of the animal as well.
>>
>> "He had stitches for four weeks and his foot was in a cast," he
>> said. "When he got the cast removed, he was very raw."
>>
>> Giannaros, whose vision has failed over the past 10 years, spent
>> his time at home not only caring for his dog, but getting angrier
>> and angrier. Especially when a friend called him and told him the
>> escalator Dakota had been injured on was running only 30 minutes
>> following the accident.
>>
>> "I got really mad," he said. "A half an hour later, they mopped
>> up the blood like the whole thing never happened."
>>
>> The situation was compounded after he said he was told that
>> another guide dog was injured the same way on the same escalator
>> only a month before Dakota.
>>
>> "That just made me feel horrible," he said. "What if a little kid
>> or an old woman's shoe got caught in that escalator?"
>>
>> And so Giannaros started looking into the laws and proper
>> procedures governing escalators in the commonwealth of
>> Massachusetts.
>>
>>
>>
>> The investigation
>>
>> While homebound, Giannaros started making some calls. First, he
>> tried the Department of Public Safety, where he spoke to an
>> escalator inspector named Lenny Chase. He said this man told him
>> that state law specifically states if an accident occurs, the
>> escalator must be shut down until it is fixed - and it can only
>> be turned back on once the DPS inspects its safety.
>>
>> Giannaros said Chase told him no one had filed a report about the
>> accident with DPS. About three weeks after the accident,
>> Giannaros called Chase again, but was referred to another
>> inspector, whom he said has never called him, despite leaving
>> several phone messages.
>>
>> Giannaros said he then called the building's management, the
>> Bureau of State Office Buildings, in order to obtain a full
>> report of the accident. With no calls returned, he filed his own
>> report.
>>
>> "By then, they said they filed a report with Public Safety and
>> that it was out of their hands," he said. "It seemed like
>> everyone was passing me off to everyone else."
>>
>> Fed up, Giannaros called the Massachusetts Office on Disability
>> (MOD). After speaking with the director herself, Giannaros said
>> he was told the case was not discriminatory in nature and that
>> MOD could not help him.
>>
>> "They seemed like they didn't want to get involved because this
>> was another state agency," he said. "They suggested I find
>> outside counsel."
>>
>> By September, Giannaros had received no telephone calls from
>> anyone, despite his persistence. And to top it all off, he
>> received a $3,000 bill from Angell for Dakota's care.
>>
>> But there was one more surprise in store.
>>
>> "I lost my job," he said, with a shake of his head. "My boss
>> called and said I had two options: a leave of absence with no pay
>> or a voluntary layoff."
>>
>> Giannaros took the latter, choosing to go back to graduate school
>> to study disability issues. He also paid off Dakota's hospital
>> bill, although he plans to file a small claim against the state
>> for negligence in failing to keep the escalator in safe working
>> condition.
>>
>> Yet, he couldn't let go of the fact that no one seemed to care
>> about the problematic escalator or the fact that his dog was
>> injured.
>>
>> "It's not like he was the first dog to be hurt," he said. "I
>> think they thought I would just give up."
>>
>>
>>
>> Second investigation
>>
>> But he didn't give up. Not even close.
>>
>> In August, Giannaros started writing to the local and Boston
>> media about the accident and while he received a call here and
>> there, no one seemed interested in his story.
>>
>> "I have no idea why," he said. "None of this makes sense."
>>
>> After hearing Giannaros' story, the Transcript contacted the
>> Division of Inspection, a DPS office which, according to
>> Secretary of State William Galvin's "Commonwealth of
>> Massachusetts Citizens' Guide to State Services" Web site, "is
>> responsible for the annual inspection of all existing elevators,
>> sidewalk elevators, dumbwaiters, hosts, lifts, escalators and
>> moving stairways and for the plan review/inspection of all new
>> installations in the state."
>>
>> An official in the office, who did not identify himself, declined
>> to comment, stating that any requests for information should be
>> made in writing to the legal office of the DPS. The official
>> transferred the Transcript to a media official, who failed to
>> return a message requesting the state laws and regulations.
>>
>> A further call to the Executive Office of Public Safety and
>> Security, which oversees the DPS, was transferred to
>> Communications Director Terrel Harris, who asked an e-mail be
>> sent with specific questions regarding the case.
>>
>> In mid-September, the Transcript sent several questions to
>> Harris, requesting the following information: the process for an
>> inspection following an escalator accident, the last two dates of
>> inspection for the escalators at McCormack and if the DPS had
>> received any incident reports involving guide dogs in the
>> building. An additional request was made to speak to Chase.
>>
>> Harris stated escalators are inspected annually, the last dates
>> being June 16 and June 18, 2008.
>>
>> He added that Chapter 4 of state regulations clearly states that,
>> "Once an owner learns that a person has sustained a serious
>> injury in an elevator accident, the elevator shall be immediately
>> shut down until express consent to resume operation is granted by
>> a supervisor of elevator inspectors employed by the Department.
>> In the event of such an accident, the owner shall be responsible
>> to ensure that the elevator and area surrounding the elevator are
>> secured and are not disturbed, cleaned, or altered in any way
>> until such time as an inspector has completed an investigation.
>> The only exception to this requirement shall be acts in
>> furtherance of ensuring the safety of the area or a person, or
>> for the extraction of an injured person."
>>
>> He went on to say the state had received no report from Steve
>> Giannaros about the accident and that the DPS was notified orally
>> by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency about the
>> McCormack Building incident.
>>
>> He also stated it would "not be possible" to speak to Chase.
>>
>> "Bottom line: neither the statute (G.L. c.143, s.66) nor
>> regulations require that DPS be notified or a report be filed in
>> a situation like this," Harris wrote in his e-mail. "If the
>> injury that the dog sustained happened to a person, we'd have a
>> whole different story. Then, the unit would have to be shut down
>> and a full report filed in accordance with the regs including the
>> section cited above. Apparently, the comb plate was broken when
>> the incident occurred. That was fixed and looked at by one of our
>> inspectors to make sure it was done properly."
>>
>> In a follow up e-mail, Harris said that inspection was done July
>> 9, 2009, although he could not say when the actual repairs took
>> place.
>>
>> "I'm not surprised this their response," Giannaros said. "It's
>> just a dog. That makes me angry. I think it's awful they didn't
>> check into it after the first dog was injured."
>>
>>
>>
>> - Did they or didn't they check into the problematic escalator?
>> And what, if anything, has the state done to make sure another
>> accident doesn't occur? Check next week's Transcript for part two
>> of this story.
>>
>>
>>
>> Loading commenting interface...
>> Comments (2)
>>
>> vlizzled3 days ago
>> Report Abuse
>> This is upsetting and uncalled for, but unfortunately, I do not
>> find it surprising! I am sick of the attitude of 'its just a dog'
>> and I cannot believe this man was forced to leave his job.
>> Instead of progressing as a society, we continue to regress.
>> ada3 days ago
>> Report AbuseIt seems to me that the people who were contacted in
>> the investigation of this incident are bobbing and weaving to
>> cover the inadequacies of the Commonwealth agencies. It is very
>> sad to see that this very specialized guide dog was considered 'a
>> nothing', and therefore no accident report filed. This man and
>> his dog should be considered 'one and the same' as he is an
>> integral part of his daily functional life. And the fact that
>> this happened to another guide dog a short time before without
>> any action taken to repar the escalator, could have prevented the
>> second dog from being severely injured. Just too bad. I hope this
>> is appropriately resolved.
>> Login or register to post a comment:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
>> Morristown, NJ
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/gingerkuts
>> ch%40yahoo.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/bealjk%40gmail.com
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Jeanette Beal
> MS.Ed Assistive Technology
> Independent Consultant
> Boston, MA 02115
> bealjk at gmail.com
> http://twitter.com/bealjk
> http://bealjk.tumblr.com/
>
> "Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire" - Marge
> Piercy
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/cindyray%40qwest.net