[nagdu] questions I get from my bus driver that is not anaccessible bus just regular bus

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Cheryl,

Well, the dog's behavior was unacceptable, so it should not have been
allowed on the bus on that basis alone, at least as I understand things.

You're right about the comfort animal not being a service animal, although
many people -- at least around here -- don't know the difference.  People
sometimes believe that a guide dog is a comfort animal, not a service
animal, and educating them past that misconception can take ssome careful
conversational maneuvering.  Usually I only have those sorts of dialogues
with people who are asking about Mitzi because they're curious about service
animals, so it's not a big deal to talk about it.  Every now and then, there
will be some sort of news article or publicity statement, and I will get to
explain it all over again to clear up the differences.

For people whose jobs require them to make decisions about whether or not to
allow a dog into a public place, it must be very difficult.  Some people in
those positions will ask me and tell me stories of oddities that really were
in a gray area.  Then they'll shrug and allow as to how, since the dog was
well-behaved, they just stopped worrying about it.  Which I assure them is
quite sensible.  There are enough frauds who cause damage by passing off
their foul brutes as service dogs, and those are the ones worth worrying
about.  In my opinion, anyway.  For the rest, who just want an excuse to
take a well-trained pet whereever they want, well...  I feel huffy and
irritable that they're taking advantage of my rights just to break the
rules; however, they're not infringing on my rights or creating future
infringement of my rights the way those whose dogs cause incidents do.

For myself, I'm always willing to answer the questions about Mitzi's status
straightforwardly.  Yes, she's a service dog.  She guides me by keeping from
running into things or banging my head on stuff I would miss with my cane,
etc.  If I hear a hesitation, I will go ahead and volunteer that I am blind.
Oh!

If I had a card from a program stating that my guide dog was, in fact, from
that program, I don't think it would bother me any to show it as a
communications tool, any more than it bothers me to pull out my library card
or whatever.  Like you say, it's no great inconvenience, and it can really
help to smooth things out.

On the other hand, it seems just silly to me to print out a card I just made
up saying Mitzi is a certified guide dog graduated by the Tami Training
Program.  /lol/  Since any moderately computer-literate fraud could do the
same, it would be meaningless.  So I figure if someone at some door starts
going on about certification, I will remind them (unless they don't already
know, which they may not) that it's the training and work of a service
animal that makes it what it is.  We'll see how that goes, I guess.

Okay, I'll confess.  Every now and then, I desperately want to giggle and
burst out, "What does it *look* like she's doing??"

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 2:38 PM
To: nagdu
Subject: [nagdu] questions I get from my bus driver that is not anaccessible
bus just regular bus

As many of you know I live out in Long Island, NY not to far from GDF.

And there has been a person, who swears that there dog is a guide dog,
meaning a pit bull.

I don't know if Jeanine knows about this issue.  But here on Long Island, I
believe every year the Suffolk County Bus Company for there drivers that is
called sensitivity training.

I wish they would allow me to come as well as being part of NAGDU, and have
a representative from GDF as well as the other service animal schools in the
area.

One day, I was a passenger on the bus when this person tried to pass off
there dog as a service animal, again this dog is a pit bull.

I was sitting there and the driver said that we are stopping and the person
has a dog and has tried to get on the bus before the driver side to me, they
don't carry a card with them, but they carry the print out of the ADA law
with them.

I will tell you what happened, and then I will put what the driver's
question is.

First when the driver stopped and the woman tried to get on the bus, now
mind you I sit in the front because I like to talk to my driver as well.
Nice guy, many years he has been the driver, anyway she tries to get on but
her dog starts to growl and bark at my dog.  Maxx moved closer to me not
wanting anything to do with this dog.

I asked her what type of dog is that, she said a pit bull, no I said meaning
what kind of service animal is it.  She said he was just a service animal
and that she has the paperwork to prove it. I said what job does the dog do
for you, I didn't say what disability she has.  She said he is her comfort
animal.  I said 1, Comfort animals are not considered Service Animals and
fall under the ADA. 2. In the State of NY, especially Suffolk County NY, and
some other parts of NY to even have a pit bull, and that I am blind and a
graduate of GDF I said which school, and I pulled out my ID from GDF, I do
not need to carry paperwork around with me and never should she. From my
searching I have found that especially in the state of NY there is no
service animal training schools that train pit bulls. I asked her where she
got her dog, she said NY.

The driver asked her to please leave if she could not control her dog.

A few months later she tried to get on another bus and the driver let her
on.

The driver and I spoke the other day since I had to go somewhere, that she
tried to get on again on his bus, and he said he wouldn't allow the dog on
the bus.

The driver wants to know how far are they allowed to go to stop this.

To many people are trying this in Suffolk County.

Yes we get IDs and I don't know what the big deal is about giving ID, I
think that helps a lot, especially in the case that it is not always obvious
to lets say in this situation to tell if someone is disabled and needs a
dog, I mean if a person is blind it is not always noticeable, not everyone
uses dark glasses, or has a dog with a harness with the schools name on it,
or a person in a wheelchair, and with more children and adult with seizures
or autism or other disabilities how is one to know.  You can't ask what the
disability you have, you can't force a person to show ID.  What is the
answer?

The biggest compliment you can pay me is to recommend my services!

Cheryl Echevarria 
http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
1-866-580-5574
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>

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