[nagdu] Oxford restaurant refuses veteran's service dog

[Julie J.]

Okay, let me make sure I've got this straight.
The restaurant has had many service dogs in its establishment.  those dogs 
laid under the table, were quiet and unobtrusive. There was not an issue 
with acceptance or access to the restaurant.
The man in question had brought his service dog into the restaurant on 
several prior occasions with no access issues.
However the restaurant owner asked the man to not bring the dog in, after 
noticing a foul smell, the dog eating off the restaurant dishes, socializing 
with other customers and generally not behaving in a manner consistent with 
what is expected of a service dog.

Is that about right?  Because if I'm getting this straight, I think the 
restaurant owner was correct in his refusal of the dog.  Certainly the breed 
of the dog and the lack of understanding of various disabilities played a 
part, but it seems that the behavior was the determining factor for the 
denial, since the man had eaten there numerous times before with the dog.

To me, this isn't a lack of respect of veteran's issue.  It isn't a let's 
trample on the rights of the disabled or even a lack of knowledge issue. 
The behavior of the dog or the handling of the dog was not appropriate to 
the situation.   It looks to me like the man was refused access with his dog 
because of the behavior of the dog.  That's legal.

Julie


-----Original Message----- 
From: Ginger Kutsch
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 10:05 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Oxford restaurant refuses veteran's service dog

Oxford restaurant refuses veteran's service dog

By Kim Ring, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20130827/NEWS/308279884/0/NEWS03



OXFORD -  When Russell Ireland tossed a retired Air Force veteran and his
Jack Russell terrier service dog out of his Big I's restaurant on Saturday,
he had no idea of the trouble he'd unleashed.

But by Monday night, Mr. Ireland was hoarse from answering telephone calls,
many of which included threats from people who promised to burn down his
Main Street restaurant, kill him or run him out of town.

A Facebook page calling for a boycott of his breakfast and lunch diner-style
restaurant had more than 7,000 subscribers within 10 hours. Folks posting
there plan a peaceful demonstration, with service dogs and motorcycles, on
Saturday morning.

The whole ordeal has left Mr. Ireland moving between emotions, defending his
decision and breaking down over the strong reactions people have had.

Mr. Ireland said James Glaser and his small dog had been into the Main
Street restaurant before and he'd been told the dog was a service dog, but
he found it hard to believe.

"It didn't look like a therapy dog," Mr. Ireland said. "It just looked like
a regular mutt."

The dog also didn't act like the handful of other service dogs who have
accompanied vision-impaired or otherwise handicapped people into the eatery,
Mr. Glaser said.

"Most of those dogs? They just lay down on the floor and you don't even know
they're there," he said.

He said that during a prior visit he noticed a bad smell from the dog and
saw it eating from one of the restaurant's plates - things Mr. Glaser said
are untrue.

On Saturday, when his staff told him Mr. Glaser, his wife and the dog were
headed in, Mr. Ireland met them at the door and said the dog wasn't allowed
inside.

Mr. Glaser left the restaurant after what both sides agree was a heated
exchange that may have involved a few expletives from Mr. Ireland and
clearly shouldn't have gone as far as it did.

"I'm not known for being PC," Mr. Ireland said. "I may have sworn at him ...
I made a judgment call about this. I don't think I was wrong."

His friends who gathered daily at the restaurant said Mr. Ireland is
respectful of veterans and they were stunned by what happened.

"I'm upset," Hank LaMountain said. He owns the property on which the
restaurant sits. "Veterans are revered by society, including at Big I's."

Mr. Glaser, a 41-year-old Air Force veteran who attained the rank of master
sergeant, said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in
November 2011 by doctors at a Veterans Administration hospital, the same
month he retired after a 20-year-career.

He said he was angry about having to leave the restaurant because Mr.
Ireland did not understand that his dog provides a calming influence when he
begins having anxiety and needs to be near his side. It's not that Mr.
Glaser hugs the dog because he's feeling stressed, it's that the dog can
predict potential stress-related reactions from his master and will behave
in a way that helps redirect him before things get out of hand.

"The dog will lean on a person or put their paw on him," explained Bart
Sherwood, program director for the Texas-based program Train a Dog Save a
Warrior.

Jack, Mr. Glaser's dog, completed training through the program and was
certified Aug. 9, Mr. Sherwood said.

But even before being certified, Mr. Glaser said, Jack has helped him since
he was rescued from a Florida shelter in December, before Mr. Glaser knew
what a service dog could do for someone with PTSD or similar issues.

"I didn't know what he was doing," Mr. Glaser said. "I met another vet who
had a service dog and he was explaining it to me and I said, 'That's what
Jack's doing.' "

That veteran explained the process of training or obtaining a service dog,
and Mr. Glaser contacted Mr. Sherwood. The organization set up training
sessions in Massachusetts for Mr. Glaser, who is from Nevada, and Jack
because they were spending the summer in a motor home here while Mr.
Glaser's wife worked.

Mr. Sherwood said veterans often have their own dogs trained if that's
deemed the best route.

"They already have a bond," he said.



Other times staff members at Train a Dog Save a Warrior choose a shelter dog
so they can save two lives, Mr. Sherwood explained.

That Jack and many other PTSD service dogs don't look like the Labrador
retrievers or German shepherds that typically serve in such roles may be
part of the reason that people fail to see how they could be providing any
services.

"That's not what people are used to seeing," Mr. Sherwood said, adding that
the calls he's taken about Mr. Glaser's dog are pretty typical and come in
fairly frequently.

"There needs to be more and better education about this," he said.



Mr. Glaser noted that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act mentions
PTSD in the section about service dogs and the conditions they treat. He
said he is working to increase awareness of service dogs that may be working
with veterans whose war wounds aren't visible. He'd also like to see the VA
help with funding the training or the acquisition of dogs for those in need.

In the end, he said, he doesn't want to go back to Big I's and he doesn't
want anyone else to eat there either.

"I made it very clear (when I left the restaurant) that I was going to do
everything I could to stop America from going in there and spending one red
cent," Mr. Glaser said.

Apology served at diner that refused service dog

LESSON LEARNED ABOUT PTSD

By Kim Ring, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF



OXFORD - Big I's restaurant owner Russell Ireland says he has learned his
lesson.

And since James Glaser, an Air Force veteran, thought the owner of Big I's
restaurant on Main Street needed a little education about post-traumatic
stress disorder and the use of service dogs to treat it, everyone involved
should satisfied.

But they're not.



On Tuesday, Mr. Ireland apologized on the radio during WAAF's "Hillman
Morning Show" after some of the hosts questioned him about tossing Mr.
Glaser and Jack, his service dog, out of the restaurant on Saturday. He
apologized again in a telephone interview. He has said he just didn't
believe that the small dog could possibly be a service animal.

Mr. Ireland said Tuesday he's not contrite because of threats on social
media or harassing calls to his business but because he has new
understanding of Mr. Glaser's situation since a few veterans have come in or
called and kindly explained to him some things he didn't know.

"I learned a lot about PTSD since this happened and I'm still learning even
more," he said. "I understand the whole PTSD thing and the dogs a lot better
that I did prior to this."

Joshua Fisher, an employee at Big I's, said he also thought the dog wasn't a
service dog based on things he saw during previous visits.

"We have other customers who won't let us touch the service dogs because it
takes them off the job," Mr. Fisher said. "I ask if I can give the dog a
sausage and they tell me, 'Absolutely not.' But he was letting people pet
this dog; it was acting like a family dog. We didn't know. We'd never seen
this."

Mr. Ireland said he's since learned that some service dogs can be petted and
that PTSD dogs and some seizure-detecting animals can be petted and still
perform their duties.

"I did not know that before," Mr. Ireland said. "But what I've learned is
that it's up to the discretion of the owner."

Whether the dog ate off a restaurant plate, smelled bad or wasn't properly
leashed remains in dispute. Things Mr. Fisher said are more "he said, he
said," and won't likely be resolved.

And Mr. Ireland is still concerned about what he felt was a threat that Mr.
Glaser made regarding bringing in agencies that might fine him. He said he
wouldn't be comfortable with Mr. Glaser dining at the restaurant.

Mr. Glaser said Tuesday afternoon that he hadn't heard an apology and has
had no contact with Mr. Ireland. But if the diner owner learned something
from the experience, he said he is glad.

Still, he and about 600 others plan to rally at Big I's Saturday morning for
a peaceful event to call attention to the use of service dogs by those
suffering from PTSD. A Facebook page calling for a boycott of the restaurant
had more than 26,600 followers by Tuesday evening, and many were visiting
other websites to offer bad reviews of the diner.

Mr. Glaser said on his Facebook page he doesn't want to put Big I's out of
business and stressed that those showing support for him should behave
respectfully because he's taking a path of educating business owners so
others won't undergo similar experiences. He said his own PTSD is triggered
by different things but he becomes most anxious when he sees people in
traditional Muslim dress because of his experiences in Iraq.

"For some people it's helicopters or crowds," he said. "It's whatever causes
the PTSD in the first place."

Those who have PTSD often get physical symptoms such as profuse sweating,
upset stomachs and headaches when a trigger sends them to "that dark place,"
Mr. Glaser explained.

"I use to get mad, yell, break things," he said. Now Jack senses by smelling
chemicals released by the stressed body before an attack and he takes action
to distract his owner.

Jack, a rescue dog that already had skills that other service animals must
be taught, was trained by Train a Dog, Save a Warrior.

Bart Sherwood, the program director for the Texas-based Train a Dog, Save a
Warrior, said calls about service dogs working with people who have
"invisible wounds" are frequent and he agreed that more education of the
general public is needed

Mr. Glaser said he hates being in the situation he's in but also feels that
it's put him in a position to provide more education about service dogs.

"A PTSD veteran commits suicide every 25 hours in the United States," he
said, adding that if the dog can help, it truly can save a life.

He also believes that people will start seeing more and more dogs helping
those with PTSD and other non-visible ailments because PTSD diagnoses aren't
limited to veterans. He's hoping they'll be treated properly and in
accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

He acknowledged that there are websites that are hurting his cause by
providing phony certificates for dogs that make it appear they're service
animals.

Mr. Ireland said he is saddened by the turn of events and admits he doesn't
always express himself in the nicest of ways.

"I know I'm not a very eloquent guy," he said. "But the next time? I will
handle it very differently."

He said he is mulling a few ideas that others have suggested such as a
fundraiser for local veterans to try to make amends.

Mr. Glaser said people have asked him about making donations to help him out
but he doesn't want to raise money from what's happened.

He suggested they donate to a properly registered veterans' charity, maybe
even the Train a Dog, Save a Warrior program, which helped him get Jack
trained.

And he wouldn't mind if donors contributed in honor of Jack because "Jack's
a pretty friggin' awesome little guy ... and the quality of my life is so
much improved (with him)."

Contact Kim Ring at kring at telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimmring.







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