[nagdu] defining abuse was being reported to your school

[The Pawpower Pack]

I also have a permanent medical condition which basically makes me  
look as if I were a "stumbling drunk."  I am unable to direct my dog,  
walk in a straight line, tell left from right.  Frequently people with  
my medical condition get harassed by police if they are seen walking  
down a sidewalk because we do look as if we are intoxicated.  To  
combat this condition I take some very serious vestibular suppressants  
which don't do anything in the clearness of thought department.
Should I then, not be working a dog?  I basically seem like a drunk  
all of the time.  As for passing out on the sidewalk, there have been  
times when I've fallen over and couldn't move because of my disorder.   
Usually I end up in an ambulance  and in the ER.  Same thing for  
someone with a seizure disorder or diabetes.  should we not have dogs  
because we may pass out on the sidewalk?

If a drunk person passes out, they're going to get picked up by the  
police or medics and taken to a hospital or jail.  Their dog may be  
taken to an animal control-type facility of there is nobody to take  
him.  Either way, the person has made their own bed and will pay the  
consequences for their actions.  If they were drunk and passed out,  
they're probably going to be given a ticket and animal control may not  
give back the dog right away, depending if the person is in jail.
This is simple cause and effect.
I'm using this story to illustrate how there are already things in  
place to deal with this situation.
My first guide dog was attacked by a dog tied to a drunk asleep in the  
gutter.  His dog wasn't a guide dog but he was treated just like I  
said above, taken to jail and his dog taken away by animal control.
Do I like the thought of a really drunk person working a dog?  Not  
really.  I know someone who was drunk quite a bit and always had their  
guide dog in the bar.  This person rarely slept in the same bed two  
nights in a row and rather then spending their money on high quality  
dog food, they spent it on liquor.  Did I like this?  Nope, I really  
didn't.  Was it abuse?  Nope it wasn't because the dog was eating, it  
had medical care and had all in all a pretty good life in that it had  
a warm place to sleep, food and water and people to care for it.
This person did let their dog run around off leash in the bar, taught  
their dog to put it's paws on the bar for peanuts, and basically let  
it run wild.  I didn't like this either but it's not abuse.  I did  
mention to the bar owner that he can ask that the dog be removed  
because it is out of control.  This dog was from a program.  I could  
have called, and since it's a program which doesn't give ownership,  
they'd have taken the dog.  However the dog wasn't being abused and  
like Rebecca and Julie have pointed out, there is a huge difference  
between abuse and personally finding a behavior repugnant.


Rox and the Herbal HenchHounds
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point  
out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half- 
wit, and the emperor remains an emperor."-- Neil Gaiman
http://www.pawpowercreations.com/retreat.html
pawpower4me at gmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl