[nagdu] Canada: MVSH denies blind senior to reside with guide dog

[Doug Parisian]

This pathetic organization has gone way below stupidity.  Damn, I wonder 
if a little crowd harassing would bring about a fast cure to this 
nursing prison?  Just a thought.  This is the absolutee definition of 
just plain dumb.

On 19/02/2014 9:04 AM, Ginger Kutsch wrote:
> Canada: MVSH denies blind senior to reside with guide dog
>
> Tuesday, Feb 18, 2014
>
> http://www.sundreroundup.ca/article/20140218/SUN0801/302189976/-1/sun0801/mv
> sh-denies-blind-senior-to-reside-with-guide-dogBY PATRICIA RILEY
>
>   
>
>   
>
> An 82-year-old blind resident of Sundre has been denied a request for his
> guide dog to reside with him at the Foothills Lodge, after he applied to
> rent a unit there in recent weeks.
>
>   
>
> Jack Mortimer doesn't go anywhere without his guide dog, a black lab named
> Rufus, who he has owned for 10 years. The dog is a certified Seeing Eye dog
> trained through the International Guide Dog Federation.
>
>   
>
> "If I drop something on the floor I have to rub my hand around on the floor
> to find it," said Mortimer, adding he can only see a few feet in front of
> him.
>
>   
>
> Mortimer applied for a room at the lodge, owned and operated by Mountain
> View Seniors' Housing (MVSH), because he is in need of assistance at his
> age.
>
>   
>
> MVSH officials say there is currently no policy in place to allow guide dogs
> to reside in any of their buildings but they will be looking into it. But
> for now, the ruling stands.
>
>   
>
> "Currently we have no policy about Seeing Eye dogs. We do have a policy
> about pets.at this time we don't have a policy on any other animals other
> than pets," said Sam Smalldon, MVSH chief administrative officer.
>
>   
>
> "We're not ignoring it. We just don't have a policy at the moment and before
> we say yes we need to make sure we know we have a policy."
>
>   
>
> According to Cheryl Chichak, public affairs officer with Alberta Human
> Services, as long as the guide dog is trained by a school that is certified
> by the International Guide Dog Federation, the dog should be able to reside
> anywhere.
>
>   
>
> She said a person who violates the Alberta Blind Persons' Rights Act could
> be fined up to $3,000.
>
>   
>
> Section 5 (2) of the act reads as follows:
>
>   
>
> "No person, directly or indirectly, alone or with another, by himself or
> herself or by the interposition of another, shall (a) deny to any person
> occupancy of any self-contained dwelling unit, or (b) discriminate against
> any person with respect to any term or condition of occupancy of any
> self-contained dwelling unit, for the reason that the person is a blind
> person keeping or customarily accompanied by a guide dog."
>
>   
>
> Mortimer and his neighbour Betty Thomas went to the lodge roughly three
> weeks ago to apply for a unit there.
>
>   
>
> About a week later, Mortimer received a letter from Michele Langmead,
> admissions counsellor at Foothills Lodge, stating that Mortimer was
> accepted, but not Rufus.
>
>   
>
> "If you wish to make alternate living arrangements for the care of your dog
> then you would be able to move into the lodge when a suite becomes
> available. Your dog would be able to visit you at the lodge for short
> periods of time as long as you were able to manage his care during his
> visits," the letter states.
>
>   
>
> Thomas, who is also 82, has been helping Mortimer with meals and other
> necessities, but is also having a hard time at her age. They both currently
> reside at Pioneer Place.
>
>   
>
> "Everything seemed to be fine when we went over there. We told the girl,
> Michele -- she wrote the letter -- that he was a guide dog and that Jack
> would be bringing him in with him. And she never said anything. She didn't
> say he wasn't allowed to be in there at all," said Thomas.
>
>   
>
> "It was really strange. I couldn't even have believed that she wrote that
> letter. It just shocked both of us right out of our minds when we got that
> letter because it was just really upsetting," she said.
>
>   
>
> "He has never been anywhere without that dog for all those years."
>
>   
>
> She added that Mortimer is becoming forgetful, and Rufus has arthritis and
> requires medicine.
>
>   
>
> "Now I take Jack his medicine because he forgets that he's taken them," she
> said.
>
>   
>
> "Jack goes for walks with him every day and that dog knows Sundre. Even when
> he is taking him for walks he will push Jack's legs so that he will get off
> the ice and off the snow.
>
>   
>
> "He has started to want to sleep on Jack's bed. He is such a wonderful dog.
> He sleeps right on the bed, up on his pillow. And if Jack has to get up in
> the night the dog is right up there. He goes with him to the bathroom and
> everywhere with him."
>
>   
>
> She said she would never reside at the Foothills Lodge after this incident.
>
>   
>
> "My dog, heaven sakes, I mean he is part of my life," said Mortimer.
>
>   
>
> "It just gives you an unwanted feeling. And I wouldn't go there now for one
> million dollars.
>
>   
>
> "I just couldn't face it. I don't understand. Life goes on I guess. And
> there will always be people like that out there trying to hurt you and take
> advantage of you it seems."
>
>   
>
> MVSH board chair Bruce Beattie said staff members at the lodge would care
> for Mortimer, and Rufus would be able to visit him there.
>
>   
>
> "We can look after the individual. He doesn't need the dog 24 hours a day
> because that's what our staff is there for," said Beattie.
>
>   
>
> "In the past we've had issues with people who have had live-in pets and they
> have created some problems with the lodges."
>
>   
>
> He said the issue is going to be brought to a board meeting to establish a
> policy regarding guide dogs.
>
>   
>
> "We haven't dealt with that because we simply haven't had a request prior to
> this," he said.
>
>   
>
> "But we know there is evidence that there are certainly positive issues for
> seniors, well for anybody for that matter, to have a pet around."
>
>   
>
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-- 
Doug Parisian
4-951 westminster ave
Winnipeg MB Canada
R3G 1B7
1-204-227-8877
eggmann at mymts.net