[nagdu] Victim or Advocate?

[Marion Gwizdala]

Doug,
    I appreciate your message. I would like to share an experience I had 
with a police officer working extra duty. Some friends of mine and I went to 
the dog track, I with my guide dog. This police officer advised me that I 
could not bring my dog into the facility because "it would distract the 
other dogs on the track". Though it sounds reasonable, it is illogical. 
Racing dogs are trained to chase the little rabbit (Rusty) and there are 
seven other dogs racing along side. Furthermore, there are hundreds, perhaps 
thousands, of screaming gamblers in the stands. To believe that one dog 
would cause a distraction is unreasonable.
    After I presented these arguments to the police officer, I invoked 
Florida law. (Florida has criminal remedies for discrimination.) I was told 
that law did not apply in this case, as the facility was a para mutual. I 
called the watch Commander and spent 30 minutes trying to convince him this 
was a violation of the law. He eventually contacted the race track whose 
manager told him service dogs were allowed. It just so happened that an 
inspector from the Department of Agriculture which regulates dog and horse 
racing facilities was on-site doing an inspection!
    The end result was that all of the members of my party were given free 
admission and two free drinks. Unfortunately, no winning tickets, though! 
The police officer was suspended for five days without pay.
    There are those places that believe the law does not apply in their 
circumstances and may have what sounds like very reasonable justifications 
for this belief. An informed consumer is the best advocate. This is the 
reason NAGDU has our hotline and strives to educate others about their 
rights and responsibilities.

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at shaw.ca>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?


> Mostly correct; service animal control is very often the real issue.  We 
> need to understand that there are situations where the dog, even if it's 
> name is Feefee, can be a disturbance and possibly more than a little upset 
> to other animals.  Sounds like that fishy place might have been one of 
> those situations.  If the dog were not in the water with the displayed 
> (tortured) creatures, then there is no issue and the keepers of the 
> aquatic paradise are way beyond the pale.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sheila Leigland" <sleigland at bresnan.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 3:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>
>
>> Hi cindy unfortunately I wrote that post before checking it out thorougly 
>> because I'm in agreement with you and marion about all of this. The only 
>> thing I was speaking to was that a handler is responsible for his or her 
>> dog's behavior which I thought that was what doug was speaking about. I 
>> appoligize or the misunderstanding. I don't want service dogs barred from 
>> anywhere the public is allowed. In some ways it bothers me that churches 
>> are for example exempted from the law because the public is allowed in 
>> them. To me it doesn't make sense.
>>
>> Sheila Leiglan d
>>
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