[nagdu] Paraplegic's service dog attacked in Santa Cruz

Criminal Justice Major orleans24 at comcast.net
Wed May 16 02:43:01 UTC 2012


Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 11:35 AM
Subject: Paraplegic's service dog attacked in Santa Cruz
Paraplegic's service dog attacked in Santa Cruz
By KIMBERLY WHITE - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted:   05/14/2012 06:46:29 PM PDT
SANTA CRUZ - An unprovoked dog attack is bad enough. But it's especially egregious when the victim happens to be a service dog for a paraplegic.
Santa Cruz resident Tammie Van Sant has been paralyzed from the chest down, confined to a wheelchair, since an auto accident in 2005. Robby II, a
friendly, white Labrador retriever mix, entered her life four years later, serving as both her faithful companion and assistant. Robbie performs duties such as
opening and closing doors, turning lights off and on, even punching elevator buttons.
Late in the afternoon on May 8, the duo was cruising along Beach Street, near the Ideal Bar & Grill, when they came upon another dog laying on the
sidewalk next to a bench. Assuming it was either on a leash or tethered, they 
continued past.
Suddenly, the leash wrapped around Van Sant's forearm went taut, violently yanking her wheelchair back.
"The dog leaped at Robby and tackled him into the street," where they were narrowly missed by a passing Metro bus, she said. 
"By the time I'd turned around, the guys had grabbed their dog and walked back to their bench," she recalled. "And as they walked by me, I said, 'Are
you kidding me?' They didn't even try to get my dog and they didn't even try to help me. They just grabbed their dog, and the guy said, 'Oh, I'm sorry about that.'"
Fortunately, a passerby did stop to help, and Van Sant and Robby II returned home safely. Two days later, however, a dark, inch-long bruise remained just above her wrist, caused when the leash was forcefully yanked from her arm. 
"It makes me nervous about going out, and I'm afraid that it will affect Robby's ability to go out," she said. "There's "no way I can protect him."
But she has little recourse, since she never identified the other dog's owner. Robby II has been attacked previously, but Van Sant said she was told police officers couldn't do anything unless she'd been bitten.
Santa Cruz Police Department spokesman Zach Friend said Thursday the municipal code prohibits dogs from "harassing, threatening or injuring persons," and that she should have immediately reported the incident to the police.
"One thing we could do, at a minimum, is to take an incident report" that could be used if any medical issues arise, Friend said. 
A section of the California civil code also calls for a $250 fine for the injury or death of a service dog
www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusca_civil_54_55_2.htm
"People need to restrain their dogs, that's why there's leash laws, for public safety," said Melanie Sobel, general manager of the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. "It's just very unfortunate that things like this happen."
Santa Rosa attorney Ben Karpilow, who specializes in disability law, said he recently heard of a case where a blind woman's dog was attacked in San Francisco and "never recovered psychologically."
"They had to retire it," he said. "It can be very traumatic for a dog and sometimes, it can't work again."
That's exactly what Van Sant and the local representative from Canine Companions for Independence, which matched her up with Robby, fear in the long term.
He seems fine now, she said, but "if he gets attacked too many times - he's not going to do me any good if he's watching the surroundings and not paying attention. And it makes me afraid to go out, because right now, I'm watching everybody's feet looking for a dog, and if I see one trying to scoot over, and then the dog senses my fear, too - it's not good."
Source:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_20623000/paraplegics-service-dog-attacked-santa-cruz


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