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

Fri May 24 00:17:11 UTC 2013

I agree that something needs to be done but that jail  probably is not the
answer, especially since she has a mental illness.
One point that I would like to make, though, is that it is possible that her
employer did not know about her mental illness.
Finally, I feel that we need to remember that we do not know all of the
facts, and, what we do know, we cannot be 100% sure is true or properly
conveyed as this is just a news article, not a police or other investigative
report.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of L Gwizdak
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 3:53 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Article: Scared Publix customer sprays seeing-eye dog

As far as the woman being afraid of dogs or if that was an appropriate job
for her to be in, the bottom line is that she has NO RIGHT to spray a dog in
the face with chlorine.  That is assault and it can do damage to the
corneas.  It souonded like she took a bottle of Clorox - which is NOT mixed
or diluted with water - and sprayed the dog in the eyes.  What if she
sprayed a person in the eyes with Clorox? An assault on our dogs is an
assault on us.

That woman is still responsible for her actions and needs to be aware of
that fact and take the consequences.  I do not advocate jail.  That will
teach her nothing.  A more positive thing might be to make sure she is on
the correct meds and they work for her.  She also needs to be employed in a
job that is approproate for her illness.  Obviously, she felt intense stress
when she saw the dog and did what she did.  She also needs to be told in no
uncertain terms that service dogs are allowed in any store - grocery or
otherwise - and they will be admitted with their disabled or blind patrons. 
She deals with it appropriately or finds another job where she doesn't have
to interact with the general public.

Lyn and Landon
"Asking who's the man and who's the woman in an LGBT relationship is like
asking which chopstick is the fork" - Unknown
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marsha Drenth" <marsha.drenth at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:57 AM
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.
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