[nagdu] Re Resolution concerning Dog Guides

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Elizabeth,

My off the cuff thought is that I would prefer to make my own judgment there
and have it respected.  Even though you're right, and not every program for
every service dog will teach the importance of responsibility for the safety
of the dog and others when making decisions about whether to use the right
to go someplace like the zoo.

So far, I've gone into the zoo with Mitzi...  To use the restroom by the
gate.  /lol/  So I do know that the zoo here wants to have service dogs
check in at an office of some sort.  I didn't have to once the two guide dog
users in the restroom-seeking group promised upon our very souls that we
wouldn't rampage through the zoo once we'd taken care of business.  /smile/

Other than that, I have no reason to go into the zoo, since I can't see the
animals.  I would go as a social outing if a friend wanted my company, of
course, because then it would be fun.  Would Mitzi go, too?  Er...  She's
enough of an adult now to handle critter distractions pretty well, or else
there are no critters anywhere anymore.  /smile/  Every now and then she'll
do her "kitty prance" as we walk along, but she stays on task.  But a
crowded, super high-stimulus environment chock full of new and exciting
critters would be a pretty big test of her self-control.  /smile/  She
doesn't want to chase them down and kill them, she just wants to play with
them and bond in eternal friendship.  She has been known to get pretty
excited about it. /lol/  She'll still go into wild poodle mode when we're
out on a casual leash walk (sniff and stroll, as we like to call it), but in
harness she sticks to business.  Whew!

Anyway, I digress.  The point is, at least on a first-blush, gut level, I
prefer to be the one to make the judgment either way, and I expect myself to
exercise my responsibility and my knowledge of my dog, etc., to make the
determination.  If I decide wrong, I also expect myself to remove the dog
post haste and do something else.  Or be tossed out on my ear if I don't,
because that's what I deserve.  /grin/

For the record, my inner child thinks it would be fun to take Mitzi to the
zoo so that we could play with the animals and bond with them in eternal
friendship!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Elizabeth Rene
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:36 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Re Resolution concerning Dog Guides

Does the ADA specifically require that service animals be admitted to zoos?

I have always been taught at guide dog school that it is potentially 
traumatic to a guide dog to be taken inside a zoo, and potentially 
distressing to the captive animals  there, too, because of pheromone cues 
not recognizable by humans, there being too many natural predators in one 
place.

I don't know where the zoological or veterinary or humane association 
communities  stand on this issue, but I'm surprised that guide dog access to

zoos found its way into the statutory language of the ADA.

Is denial of access to zoos specifically prohibited, or is denial of zoo 
access to service animals simply not exempted from the bar against 
discrimination re public accommodations?

Guide dog schools teach their graduates to use good judgment for the 
protection of their dogs.  But who's to say what other service animal 
training programs do, or whether every service dog handler gives priority to

his or her dog's well-being?

I support the scope and intent of the resolution, but I wouldn't want to see

criminalized a reasonable restriction on service dog access  grounded on a 
legitimate interest in the animal's safety.

Elizabeth



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