[nagdu] Article: Scared Publix customer sprays seeing-eye dog

Thu May 23 20:15:17 UTC 2013

I thought the article said she was a customer. Regardless, I don't care if she's got a mental disability, her actions posed a direct physical threat not only to the dog but to its handler. She needs to be taken off the streets, at least. 
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY

On May 23, 2013, at 4:06 PM, "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com> wrote:

> Using the argument that mental health is a disability, and she presumably
> has a real mental health issue, then why was she working in an environment
> that could trigger her to act aggressively. It'd be like if a blind person
> drove a bus, it could probably be done, but not safely, and if a blind
> person did attempt it, and hurt someone or damagd property as a result, then
> the blind person should face whatever penalties anybody else would face if
> they drove a bus and caused damage. 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marsha Drenth
> Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 1:57 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Article: Scared Publix customer sprays seeing-eye dog
> 
> All,
> this is another one of those cases where it should be decided who should be
> accommendated. Just like Marion posted about a week or so ago, a person who
> has an allergy to dogs, has to figure it out themselves, its their
> responsibility. Is a blind persons needs more important than a persons with
> a mental health issue? or is it the other way around? Its a very sad case.
> What the store clerk did was horrible, what her punishment should be I am
> not sure. But if she had any assistance in being placed in that job, whom
> ever was helping her should have gotten that information that she was afraid
> of dogs, before placing her in a potential location that would have service
> animals involved. I mean it could have been a a person who is physically
> impaired come in with a service animal, the clerk could have done the same
> thing. The clerk was afraid of dogs, it doesn't matter about the who has the
> dog, its a dog, no matter what disability. Mental health is now considered a
> disability. I am not sure there is a right or wrong in this case. 
> 
> Marsha drenth
> Sent with my IPhone 
> 
> On May 23, 2013, at 11:12 AM, "Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire"
> <orleans24 at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>> I hope this owman that did this ends up serving time in jail and has to
> pay the $5000.00 fine.
>> Wht this customer service representative di was unbelievable.
>> I don't care if she has a mental illness, but what she did to the guide
> dog is very unexceptable and unexcusable!!!
>> This makes me very angry and mad!!!
>> *Disgusted and upset*
>> I do hope that the guide dog has not suffered any trauma from this
> incident.
>> Bibi and son Odie
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 8:09 PM
>> Subject: Article: Scared Publix customer sprays seeing-eye dog Scared 
>> Publix customer sprays seeing-eye dog with bleach Sunrise resident 
>> cited for animal cruelty A seeing-eye dog had bleach squirted in its 
>> eyes at a Publix grocery store when a 67-year-old woman intentionally 
>> sprayed the animal in an unprovoked attack, a police report says.
>> The 5-year-old yellow Labrador retriever appeared uninjured, the 
>> report said, but Patricia Lawler, of Sunrise, was cited for animal 
>> cruelty and given a notice to appear after the 4:15 p.m. Saturday incident
> at the store at 10155 W. Oakland Park Blvd.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Lawler told police she "thought it was a vicious animal" and feared it 
>> would be a danger to other customers, so she grabbed a spray bottle of 
>> Clorox cleaner off a shelf and sprayed the animal in the eyes and back.
>> "I realize now it was a mistake," Lawler said when reached by 
>> telephone Monday. "I have a fear of dogs. It was just a big dog with a big
> head. I was just afraid."
>> Lawler said she takes medication for schizoaffective disorder, and 
>> paranoia is one the symptoms associated with her mental illness.
>> The dog's owner, Ronda Carin Shore, 45, also of Sunrise, told police 
>> she is blind and keeps the canine with her at all times. It was 
>> wearing a service-dog vest, an assist handle and a placard, the report 
>> said.
>> Shore declined to comment Monday.
>> Although the dog wasn't exhibiting aggressive behavior, Lawler said 
>> she got scared when she saw it and asked Shore to leave the store with 
>> the dog. When that didn't produce results, she said she resorted to the
> spray bleach to get rid of the animal.
>> "I was afraid the dog would go wild, or some small child would get 
>> bitten, or somebody would get hurt," Lawler said. "I guess I 
>> overreacted. But I still feel like a dog doesn't belong in a place like a
> grocery store."
>> If convicted of the first-degree misdemeanor, Lawler faces up to a 
>> year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/marsha.drenth%40gma
>> il.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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/pickrellrebecca%40gmail.c
> om
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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/buddy%40brannan.name