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

Wed Feb 19 19:30:13 UTC 2014

Hi Doug,

	ON ANOTHER LIST WHERE i SAW THIS, i WONDERED WHAT THE Iq of these
people is?  It's not like  a guide dog has never been seen--if only on
TV-[--despite others assertions to the contrary.
Darla & Happy Huck

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Doug Parisian
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 9:39 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Canada: MVSH denies blind senior to reside with guide
dog

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/sun0
> 801/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

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