[nagdu] Guide dogs attacked in Portland

Sun Feb 21 19:48:38 UTC 2010

Hay hello Pat, how are you doing?  Brew and I are doing OK.  We have had a 
really light winter but very cold most of the time.  I got this article on 
one of my email lists and thought you might be interested in seeing it.  I 
have been pretty busy with NFB stuff.  I was in Washington just a couple 
days before they got all the snow.  Came home on Wednesday and I think all 
the snow came that Saturday.  I'm glad I didn't get stuck there.  Any way 
take care.

Julie Phillipson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 7:29 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Guide dogs attacked in Portland

> Guide dogs for blind people attacked in Portland
> By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
> February 16, 2010, 4:19PM
> Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian
> http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/02/guide_dogs_f
> or_blind_people_at.html
> During his training as a guide dog, Ellery, a black Lab, was
> attacked this month in downtown Portland by another dog,
> apparently owned by a homeless youth. Guide dog trainers have run
> into an increasing number of aggressive street dogs in recent
> months.Crystal Lange  was training a guide dog near Pioneer
> Courthouse Square in downtown Portland when her black Lab was
> attacked by a street dog.
>
> Lange, a two-year apprentice trainer with Guide Dogs for the
> Blind, said she put her body between her dog, Ellery,  and the
> street dog until the owner retrieved it.
>
> "It was pretty frightening," Lange said.
>
> The attack was the second this month on a guide dog in Portland
> by a dog on the street -- alarming officials with the nonprofit
> dog-training group, which opened a satellite office near
> Southwest Yamhill Street and Third Avenue in April.
>
> "We saw this train wreck coming," said Jim Dugan,  a training
> supervisor at Guide Dogs for the Blind.
>
> Trainers have run across a number of snapping and growling dogs
> owned by homeless youths since the agency opened the new office.
> In September, after trainers reported several encounters, Dugan
> sent a letter to Mayor Sam Adams and all the commissioners.
>
> "When we are preparing blind students for a life of independence
> and freedom," he wrote, "their greatest fear is an unprovoked dog
> attack."
>
> He asked the mayor to "work with us to resolve this dangerous
> problem."
>
> The nonprofit did not receive a response -- from anyone.
>
> Roy Kaufmann,  Adams' spokesman, said his office has no record of
> receiving the letter but is concerned about the issue.
>
> "I think this is deeply troubling," Kaufmann said. "This is an
> organization that we value. It's another strong example of why we
> need to move forward with a sidewalk management plan."
>
> A draft plan is in the works to replace the sit-lie ordinance
> which was tossed out by a judge in June.
>
> In the meantime, officials agreed to set up a meeting with the
> nonprofit, bringing together law enforcement, animal control and
> downtown business leaders perhaps by the end of this week.
>
> Dugan said the problem could have been addressed before a dog was
> attacked.
>
> "We wrote this letter, saying 'this is our concern,' and they
> avoided it until now it's on our doorstep."
>
> Right after the attack on Ellery, Dugan and Lange tried to file a
> report at Central Precinct. Dugan was told to call emergency
> dispatchers, who told him to call animal control.
>
> Dugan wanted an officer to respond, citing an Oregon law which
> treats attacks against service animals more seriously than other
> animal attacks.
>
> "Most of the time where there's an animal-to-animal contact, it's
> an animal-control issue," he said. "But it's my feeling that when
> it's a service dog involved in an incident like this, it deserves
> a police officer at the scene."
>
> Eventually Dugan, a reserve deputy with the Clackamas County
> Sheriff's Office, was able to file a report after pressing a
> Central Precinct sergeant. But by that time, about two hours
> later, the two youths, who appeared to be homeless, had moved on
> with their two dogs.
>
> "We had expected a quick response but unfortunately that was not
> the case," Dugan said.
>
> Ellery was checked by a veterinarian and appears to be in good
> shape. But the nonprofit is watching the dog closely.
>
> "Even if the dog is not horribly bitten," said Brad Hibbard,
> training director for the nonprofit, "it's very easy for that dog
> to become aggressive to other dogs."
>
> Or it could become frightened and refuse to pass other dogs on
> the street.
>
> Either case would mean a loss of $60,000 -- the cost of training
> a guide dog.
>
> The growing number of dogs downtown creates not only problems for
> trainers but also for the blind, said Cheryl Vincent, another
> training supervisor.
>
> "If a person is not able to walk down the sidewalk because of an
> aggressive dog, that impedes their access," she said. "There are
> laws on the books that protect guide dogs specifically from
> attacks. We're not interested in changing laws, just enforcing
> leash and (pet) licensing laws" that already exist.
>
> Officials at the nonprofit hope the city and county agree to give
> service animal attacks a higher priority --without demonizing the
> homeless kids.
>
> "We want a solution, but don't want to be adversarial about it,"
> Hibbard said.
>
> -- Michael Russell and Lynne Terry
>
>  Guide dogs for blind people attacked in Portland
> By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
> February 16, 2010, 4:19PM
> Faith Cathcart/The Oregonian
> http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/02/guide_dogs_f
> or_blind_people_at.html
> During his training as a guide dog, Ellery, a black Lab, was
> attacked this month in downtown Portland by another dog,
> apparently owned by a homeless youth. Guide dog trainers have run
> into an increasing number of aggressive street dogs in recent
> months.Crystal Lange  was training a guide dog near Pioneer
> Courthouse Square in downtown Portland when her black Lab was
> attacked by a street dog.
>
> Lange, a two-year apprentice trainer with Guide Dogs for the
> Blind, said she put her body between her dog, Ellery,  and the
> street dog until the owner retrieved it.
>
> "It was pretty frightening," Lange said.
>
> The attack was the second this month on a guide dog in Portland
> by a dog on the street -- alarming officials with the nonprofit
> dog-training group, which opened a satellite office near
> Southwest Yamhill Street and Third Avenue in April.
>
> "We saw this train wreck coming," said Jim Dugan,  a training
> supervisor at Guide Dogs for the Blind.
>
> Trainers have run across a number of snapping and growling dogs
> owned by homeless youths since the agency opened the new office.
> In September, after trainers reported several encounters, Dugan
> sent a letter to Mayor Sam Adams and all the commissioners.
>
> "When we are preparing blind students for a life of independence
> and freedom," he wrote, "their greatest fear is an unprovoked dog
> attack."
>
> He asked the mayor to "work with us to resolve this dangerous
> problem."
>
> The nonprofit did not receive a response -- from anyone.
>
> Roy Kaufmann,  Adams' spokesman, said his office has no record of
> receiving the letter but is concerned about the issue.
>
> "I think this is deeply troubling," Kaufmann said. "This is an
> organization that we value. It's another strong example of why we
> need to move forward with a sidewalk management plan."
>
> A draft plan is in the works to replace the sit-lie ordinance
> which was tossed out by a judge in June.
>
> In the meantime, officials agreed to set up a meeting with the
> nonprofit, bringing together law enforcement, animal control and
> downtown business leaders perhaps by the end of this week.
>
> Dugan said the problem could have been addressed before a dog was
> attacked.
>
> "We wrote this letter, saying 'this is our concern,' and they
> avoided it until now it's on our doorstep."
>
> Right after the attack on Ellery, Dugan and Lange tried to file a
> report at Central Precinct. Dugan was told to call emergency
> dispatchers, who told him to call animal control.
>
> Dugan wanted an officer to respond, citing an Oregon law which
> treats attacks against service animals more seriously than other
> animal attacks.
>
> "Most of the time where there's an animal-to-animal contact, it's
> an animal-control issue," he said. "But it's my feeling that when
> it's a service dog involved in an incident like this, it deserves
> a police officer at the scene."
>
> Eventually Dugan, a reserve deputy with the Clackamas County
> Sheriff's Office, was able to file a report after pressing a
> Central Precinct sergeant. But by that time, about two hours
> later, the two youths, who appeared to be homeless, had moved on
> with their two dogs.
>
> "We had expected a quick response but unfortunately that was not
> the case," Dugan said.
>
> Ellery was checked by a veterinarian and appears to be in good
> shape. But the nonprofit is watching the dog closely.
>
> "Even if the dog is not horribly bitten," said Brad Hibbard,
> training director for the nonprofit, "it's very easy for that dog
> to become aggressive to other dogs."
>
> Or it could become frightened and refuse to pass other dogs on
> the street.
>
> Either case would mean a loss of $60,000 -- the cost of training
> a guide dog.
>
> The growing number of dogs downtown creates not only problems for
> trainers but also for the blind, said Cheryl Vincent, another
> training supervisor.
>
> "If a person is not able to walk down the sidewalk because of an
> aggressive dog, that impedes their access," she said. "There are
> laws on the books that protect guide dogs specifically from
> attacks. We're not interested in changing laws, just enforcing
> leash and (pet) licensing laws" that already exist.
>
> Officials at the nonprofit hope the city and county agree to give
> service animal attacks a higher priority --without demonizing the
> homeless kids.
>
> "We want a solution, but don't want to be adversarial about it,"
> Hibbard said.
>
> -- Michael Russell and Lynne Terry
>
>
>
>
>
> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> Morristown, NJ
>
>
>
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