[nagdu] Guide dog dragged from SkyTrain suffered serious injuries

[Ginger Kutsch]

Guide dog dragged from SkyTrain suffered 'serious injuries'
 Passengers on the platform jumped into the track to rescue the
dog
 By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun October 3, 2010   
http://tinyurl.com/277d3uj
 

Iris Thompson's guide dog, Palm, in recovery. The 5-year-old
labrador had a shattered nose, cracked ribs, and a punctured lung
after being dragged by a moving SkyTrain at Lougheed Station on
Thursday. People on the platform watched in horror after the
doors closed on the dog's leash, and the dog was dragged into a
pole at the end of the platform. Palm then fell into the tracks.
 
Photograph by: Screengrab, Global BCA blind woman's guide dog who
was seriously injured after being dragged by the SkyTrain will
recover but likely will not be able to work with the blind again,
a TransLink spokesman said on Sunday.
 
Ken Hardie said the incident happened around 10:30 a.m. Thursday
when the SkyTrain stopped at the Lougheed Station platform and
for some unknown reason the dog disembarked the train while the
woman did not. 
 
Riders watched in horror as the door closed and the dog started
running along the platform to keep up with the train before she
fell and was dragged along the platform.
"It was terribly traumatic," said Hardie. "The poor dog was
pulled off the platform and onto the track. In the process the
dog struck a post."
The leash was thin, he said, and it snapped just as the train
left the station.
Hardie said there are automatic sensors that cause the train to
stop if someone or something is on the tracks at the station but
because the dog didn't hit the tracks until just beyond the
platform, they didn't go off.
People immediately called SkyTrain security and the train was
stopped, said Hardie, adding that concerned citizens then jumped
onto the tracks to fetch the badly injured dog.
They heaved the dog off the tracks and sat comforting her while
they waited for help to arrive.
The dog's owner got off at the next stop and was helped home by
SkyTrain employees. Staff also took the dog to the veterinarian. 
Hardie said the dog suffered a broken nose among other "serious
injuries" but said he is expected to survive.
"It may not work again as a guide dog but we don't know if that's
due to its actions of leaving the train too early or because of
the injuries." 
The woman has filed an incident report, but Hardie could not say
whether she was seeking compensation from TransLink.
He said a full review will be conducted, which may include an
additional investigation with a provincial safety regulator to
see whether the system worked properly.
ticrawford at vancouversun.com
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