[nagdu] New animal rules pending for TriMet transit agency

[Ginger Kutsch]

New animal rules pending for TriMet transit agency 
Associated Press  Thursday, January 20, 2011  
 
The days when uncaged cats, monkeys, snakes and chickens can ride
TriMet buses and trains as "service animals" (it happens more
than you might think) are numbered.
 
But guide horses? Well, those will be good to go under new
conduct rules Oregon's largest transit agency is expected to
approve next week.
 
Yep. You read that right. Guide horses.
 
TriMet says it's just following the lead of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which will narrow the definition of service
animals in March to dogs and miniature horses trained to be
guides for people who are blind or deaf.
 
Already frustrated with riders who appear to be taking advantage
of the ADA to bring assorted pets on public transit, bus and MAX
drivers are now worried that they'll be forced to haul around
what they see as livestock.
 
"What's the definition of miniature?" said Willy Moore, a Line 38
bus driver. "Is Roy Rogers going to come on board with a little
Shetland pony?"
 
Actually, trainers and advocates for the disabled say miniature
horses are no taller than most guide dogs. They're also highly
trainable, even when it comes to dropping, ahem, garden material.
 
What's more, TriMet and federal officials who administer the ADA
say the stricter rules will clearly define what can be
legitimately treated as a service animal.
 
That has been a problem in recent years. Federal authorities say
they understand why everyone from bus drivers to supermarket
managers have increasingly rolled their eyes at what people
insist are service animals.
 
John Dineen, spokesman for the Northwest Americans with
Disabilities Act Center in Seattle, said the list has strayed
into the realm of the far-fetched, which isn't good for the law's
image.
 
Dineen brought up the 2009 case of a southwest Washington
resident who walked into a restaurant with his pet boa
constrictor. The man claimed he needed the snake because it
alerted him to pending seizures by giving him a hug.
 
"Animals such as reptiles and primates seem to have a tenuous
link to service animals," Dineen said.
 
OK, so people with "guide snakes" are no longer protected. But
why would someone choose Tiny Trigger over Rover?
 
Alexandra Kurland, a Delmar, N.Y., horse trainer and author of
"Clicker Training for Your Horse," said guide horses have several
advantages.
 
For starters, miniature horses usually live past 30. Kurland said
horses also have excellent vision, are herd animals that do well
in crowds and are considered less threatening than large dogs.
 
"In terms of actual skills of guiding, they are very suitable to
the work," she said. "They tend to be mindful of their footing.
Horses are very naturally attuned to stopping, and they're
extremely alert to changes in elevation."
 
That's not to say people are abandoning their guide dogs en masse
for horses.
 
Although some, including the North Carolina-based Guide Horse
Foundation, consider horses the service animal of the future,
they're still extremely rare in that role.
 
Kurland, who has trained only one, said there are two big
drawbacks. One is cost. Since no guide horse schools have popped
up, breeding and training miniature horses remains a highly
specialized service, costing about $60,000 per animal.
 
Also, Kurland said, they're grazing animals. "They need to
relieve themselves more frequently than dogs."
 
TriMet gets at least one customer complaint a week about animals
on buses and MAX. Operators say they have seen riders bring
everything from an orangutan to birds on board, but never a
horse.
 
Starting in March, TriMet riders would have to put all critters
not approved as service animals in carriers. TriMet says guide
horse owners will need to get advance approval.
 
Portland consistently rates high nationally for its
dog-friendliness. But Jeff Guardalabene, a psychologist who takes
TriMet from Northeast Portland to Forest Grove daily, said he is
concerned about aggressive dogs that clearly aren't trained to be
service animals.
 
Earlier this week, he tweeted a photo of a puppy, a rope around
its neck, playfully biting at a MAX passenger.
 
"It's cute," Guardalabene said, "but I'm thinking, 'What might
happen if a child runs by at the wrong time?' The fewer wild
cards on trains and buses, the better, I think."
 
Two years ago, TriMet suspended the owner of a Rottweiler mix
that attacked and killed a Pomeranian service dog on a bus. But
under the ADA, the agency's options for turning away dogs they
suspect as pets are limited.
 
Service dogs don't have to be licensed or certified for a
specific task. They don't need a special collar or vest. The
owners need only claim it's a service animal.
 
Legally, Dineen said, bus drivers can ask only two questions: "Is
that a service animal?" and "What service does it perform?"
 
Moore said he might as well not even ask on his bus route.
 
"Anyone with a pet can go, 'Wink, wink, wink _ this is a service
animal,'" he said. "It's pretty much don't ask, don't tell."
 
___
 
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
<http://www.oregonlive.com/>