[nagdu] Service dogs turn out for Iowa Court of Appeals hearing on trainers' rights

Thu Sep 12 12:40:14 UTC 2013

Service dogs turn out for Iowa Court of Appeals hearing on trainers' rights 

The Des Moines Register 

by Grant Rodgers 

Source:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130911/NEWS/130911029/Service-dog
s-turn-out-Iowa-Court-Appeals-hearing-trainers-rights?nclick_check=1

The Iowa Court of Appeals went to the dogs on Wednesday when several service
dogs showed their support in a case being argued over the rights of their
trainers.

The dogs and their human companions attended the hearing in a case being
pursued by Nicole Shumate, founder and executive director of Paws & Effect.
The organization trains and places service and therapy dogs with veterans,
many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and children with
disabilities.

In 2011, Shumate, 41, filed a lawsuit against the Drake University Law
School alleging university officials created a hostile learning environment
as she brought a service dog she was training into her classes. The
university didn't welcome her having the dog in class, though people with
service dogs and trainers are allowed under Iowa law to have the dogs in
public places, she said.

The Polk County District Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2012, and Shumate
appealed the decision. The lawsuit, she hopes, will shine a spotlight on the
issues people with service dogs face, she said on Wednesday. 

"In a large part, it's this awareness," she said. "It's being able to say
there's this law out there in the books and there are people who are going
to be detrimentally affected if that law doesn't offer protection."

In afternoon arguments, Shumate's attorney outlined for judges the unclear
legal situation for dog trainers in Iowa. Shumate first attempted to take
the case through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, but the commission
couldn't review the case because she is not disabled.

In his arguments for the university, Andrew Bracken, an attorney with Des
Moines firm Ahlers & Cooney, said though the Iowa Legislature has protected
the trainers' rights in the Iowa Code, the law never outlined civil remedies
for the trainers.

Under Iowa law, denying the rights of a service dog's trainer is a simple
misdemeanor, he said. That doesn't, however, mean Shumate can pursue the
case in civil court, he said.

"It can be enforced by the law enforcement.but that does not necessarily
imply that there are remedies in the form of civil damages," he said. "A lot
of what this case is really about is not what the law says, but what the
plaintiff would like the law to say.that's a legislative question."

But looking at the law, it's clear that the intent of the legislature was to
ensure rights for the disabled, as well as trainers, said Felicia Bertin
Rocha, Shumate's attorney. 

"We don't believe the criminal remedy excludes another remedy," she said.
"We don't believe that the legislature wanted disparate treatment and
disparate remedies for the disabled and for those raising animals for the
disabled."

As the supporters and their service dogs gathered outside of the Iowa
Judicial Building, Shumate said she's not necessarily interested in money in
pursuing the civil case. She's hopeful that the issue could go to a trial if
the appeals court reverses the dismissal.

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