[nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog

Wed Sep 21 18:41:29 UTC 2011

Marion and Larry,

Okay, I'll admit, when I think there even might be an overdrawn
challenge, a small and absurd part of my imagination does turn my small
poodle guide in to a ginormous guard poodle...  with a taste for bully
flesh! This somehow helps what I like to call my mind deal with the
emotional responses to the challenge and my awareness of my
vulnerability if this is the person who's going to go too far... While
the rational and social parts of my mind are just communicating and
educating like there is no tomorrow! /lol/ Knowing that the possibility
exists that this will be the one I can't just talk my way through is
very motivating for me. The fact that it is happening at all is
absolutely infuriating, so... That overactive imagination of mine just
hangs out in the background throwing big aggressive poodles at the
person, generally while I am performing some pretty amazingly effective
ninja moves of my own! /lol/ I shouldn't admit to that, should I? All
the graciousness and courtesy I may appear to be using at the time as if
I am just that kin of girl is nothing but facade, I assure you. So it's
probably a good thing I was born into a middling sized female body
instead of a big strong manly won. 
I'd get myself into trouble every time I turned around!

Just kidding. If I were truly the sort to use strength and violence for
conflict resolution with something I'm really mad at, my small poodle
would not be the calm, happy personality and guide she is. She would be
a neurotic, snotty poodle who would throw me under the bus the first
chance she got, I'm sure. /smile/ Owner-training, I discovered, is very
good practice for staying calm and cool when your scared and angry to
within an inch of your life. Well, we all know that even the best of
working guides can inspire that special feeling every now and then. I'm
sure this is good for us in a deeper spiritual sense. /grin/

Tami

On Wed, 2011-09-21 at 10:47 -0400, Marion Gwizdala wrote: 
> Larry,
>     Unfortunately, this power-hungry control freak had a gun! What would he 
> have done with it if the dog had attacked him?
> 
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry D. Keeler" <lkeeler at comcast.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:36 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide 
> dog
> 
> 
> > Like I told the other list, its a shame are dogs don't bite!  That's just 
> > nuts!
> > ----- 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, September 21, 2011 9:53 AM
> > Subject: [nagdu] Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide 
> > dog
> >
> >
> >> Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over guide dog
> >>
> >> By David Ibata
> >>
> >> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> >>
> >> http://www.ajc.com/news/social-security-guard-faces-1185244.html
> >>
> >> Melissa McMann, who is visually impaired, recalls minor incidents in 
> >> which
> >> people challenged her about her guide dog, but nothing like what happened
> >> last week with a security guard at a Social Security Administration 
> >> office
> >> in Winder.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "Usually, once we educate people and explain the purpose of the dog, 
> >> that's
> >> all it takes to get people to understand why the dog is there and he's 
> >> not
> >> just a regular, run-of-the-mill dog," the Winder resident said of Hurbie,
> >> her 5-year-old yellow Labrador.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "We have never run into an incident like this where it escalated so
> >> quickly," she said in a telephone interview with the AJC. "My arm is 
> >> still
> >> bruised, and I still have pain to my shoulder, but otherwise I'm doing 
> >> OK."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The guard, Leroy Huff, faces a charge of simple battery after he 
> >> allegedly
> >> grabbed the 38-year-old McMann and tried to remove her from the office.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The Athens man told Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday that he was aware a
> >> warrant was pending for his arrest and would turn himself in. He said he 
> >> was
> >> following orders and his training, but did not want to comment further
> >> because of the continuing investigation.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for Huff's employer, Paragon
> >> Security Services. Paragon provides contract security to the Federal
> >> Protective Service of the Department of Homeland Security.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Patti Patterson, regional spokeswoman for the Social Security
> >> Administration, told Channel 2 in an email, "Service animals are allowed 
> >> in
> >> Social Security field offices. We have apologized to Ms. McMann for the
> >> unfortunate incident that occurred with the contract security guard in 
> >> our
> >> Winder field office."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The matter has been referred to the Federal Protective Service "for
> >> appropriate action," Patterson said.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The incident began Thursday afternoon when McMann and her husband,
> >> Christopher, went to the Social Security office at 37 S. Center St. to
> >> complete some paperwork for their youngest daughter, who they adopted 
> >> from
> >> Thailand.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> According to a Winder Police Department report, as the couple was seated
> >> waiting to be called, Huff, an armed security guard, came up and told 
> >> them
> >> dogs were not allowed in the facility.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> When the couple explained that the Labrador was a service dog and legally
> >> allowed to there, the officer demanded to see papers to prove it - even
> >> though the dog had a guide harness and a sign attached to the harness
> >> stating it was "a working dog for the blind," the police report said.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The McManns said they did not have such paperwork and continued to 
> >> protest
> >> that the dog was a permitted animal. At this point, the police report 
> >> says,
> >> Huff "proceeded to grab (the woman) and attempted to forcefully remove 
> >> her
> >> from the building." The husband objected and called the police on his 
> >> cell
> >> phone.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Huff told a Winder police officer that the woman had failed to obey him. 
> >> He
> >> admitted she had not tried to resist him physically. When asked why he 
> >> did
> >> not call the police, "Huff informed me that he did not have to call the
> >> police. He told me he was a federal officer and was not required to 
> >> involve
> >> the police," the officer wrote in his report.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The officer contacted Paragon, which referred him to the Federal 
> >> Protective
> >> Service. An official there said Huff was not a federal officer and in 
> >> this
> >> situation should have called Winder police, his supervisor or the federal
> >> agency.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The McManns, meanwhile, went to their primary care physician and then to 
> >> a
> >> hospital emergency room, where a doctor treated her for a bruised right 
> >> arm
> >> and determined her shoulder may have been dislocated, police said.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Melissa McMann said she has retinitis pigmentosa or RP, a condition that 
> >> has
> >> left her with little functional sight. Hurbie is her second service dog;
> >> she's had the animals for 10 years. They're trained by the Florida-based
> >> Southeastern Guide Dogs.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "It was something we were not expecting, especially in a federal 
> >> building,"
> >> she said. "It was a frightening incident, and obviously we feel (Huff) 
> >> went
> >> too far.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> "All that we're looking for at this point is for the security company 
> >> that
> >> has the contract with Social Security to understand the importance of
> >> educating all of the people that work for them as to the laws regarding
> >> service dogs and also with regard to not placing their hands on people - 
> >> you
> >> just can't go placing your hands on people."
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> nagdu mailing list
> >> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> >> nagdu:
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/lkeeler%40comcast.net
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nagdu mailing list
> > nagdu at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> > nagdu:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/blind411%40verizon.net 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast.net