[nagdu] Blind Woman Says Law Enforcement Offered No Help to Her Dying Service Dog

[Ginger Kutsch]

Blind Woman Says Law Enforcement Offered No Help to Her Dying Service Dog 

NBC 6 South Florida

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Blind-Woman-Says-Law-Enforcement-Offered-
No-Help-to-Her-Dying-Service-Dog-266498871.html

 

A blind South Florida woman said in her time of need, Miami-Dade Police and
911 turned their back on her and because of that, the service animal who
took her everywhere is dead.

 

Nancy Alfonso said she was dining at a restaurant in Doral with another
woman who also had her dog, when Alfonso's dog became violently ill. Nancy
said the dog, named Kiroo, was in good health until he started vomiting
inside the restaurant.

 

Alfonso said she was begging for help to rush the dog to the vet, which was
about a mile away. However, the women said a police officer who was at the
scene and a 911 operator didn't lift a finger to help.

 

"He (Kiroo) needed help and inside the restaurant was the police," Alfonso
said. "He (officer) came out at the door and he said, "Ah, it's a dog" and
he went inside too. Nobody helped us."

 

The manager at the restaurant told NBC 6 the dog was lying on the pavement
and a uniformed Miami-Dade Police officer was eating inside.

 

"Luz asked the police, 'You don't have a service dog with you too? What if
this happened to your dog," Nancy said. "And he said we'll take to our car.
And you cannot take this animal who is a guide dog for a blind person? You
don't care about a blind person?"

 

The manager said he called 911 and told them it was a service dog in
trouble.

 

"They were no help at all," Nancy said.

 

Nancy and her friend estimated that 45 minutes passed before a Good
Samaritan drove Kiroo to the Doral Centre Animal Hospital. Unfortunately for
Kiroo, it was too late.

 

Miami-Dade Police said there is nothing in their policy that directs an
officer to transport an animal. A disability expert NBC 6 spoke to said the
situation falls into a gray area and a law enforcement officer may have more
of a duty to take action than the 911 operator.

 

MDPD said before they can even investigate the incident further, they need
to confirm that it was a MDPD officer on the scene and an official complaint
about what happened would need to be filed and none of that has happened.

 

Nancy said she hopes her story will help prevent the incident from happening
again.

 

"To bring people more conscious that the dog is of course not a human being,
but the dog is a service animal and we are human. We are human. Blind, but
we are human," Nancy said. "And the police department also has service
animals."