[nagdu] Fwd: [Gduc-friends] Interesting Article

Dan Weiner dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net
Sat Jul 4 14:00:44 UTC 2015


Very interesting and very sad.
I remember hearing about a few airlines that require muzzling for guide dogs
, I think it was Air Turkey  and whatever it's called, Malaysia Air, etc.
but that was when I looked in to flights on those airlines back fifteen
years ago I thnik it's pretty ironic  because I bet no guide dogs were ever
on those air lines but it's just some rule someone made up.
.  I was going to comment that yes, airlines apparently in other countries
state this requirement and they should look on their site--lol, but then in
the article it clearly states near the end that   the party in question  did
look and there was no such policy so it's obviously an arbitrary action on
the part of flight personnel.

It is rather astonishing and a bit disturbing to realize that really we
don't have much of a leg to stand on depending where we go  in the world and
until there are some international regulations and standards even after so
many decades of guide dog use throughout the world this type of nonsense
will still keep happening. We are still in the pioneer stages of this
movement.  Then again, we have so much to worry about on the ground  here in
our own country with access issues, stray dogs and so forth that it's no
wonder nothing has been done on the international level. And probably
internationally blind guide dog users are too mousy to do anything about it.
I'm sure half of the blind people in other countries (at least my experience
tells me this) will, when presented with an issue like this make excuses for
the airline. Also the guide dog programs will shrug their shoulders and
probably end up making some non-committal comment.  After all, promoting
guide dog teams ability to travel internationally won't do anything to fill
up their classes and get doner money.  Of course, looking at it from another
perspective, promoting the ability of their graduating teams to travel
independently with their dogs internationally would be a selling point but
they probably don't think of it that way.
Come to think of it, blind folks in this country can be like that too,
whenever I've had taxi cab issues and talked about it on lists or in person,
many people were supportive but there were also a few telling me how they
never have problems and it must be something I did--lol
Oh, and also I think Aeroflot the Russian air line might have had a muzzling
requirement though when I took them two times in 1995 no one said anything.

Yes, friends, travel at your own risk. Anywhere, any time, someone can come
up with some idiocy and make your life miserable.

I'm impressed, I managed to criticize blind people, guide dog schools,
attitudes, and generally express my scorn and frustration in a few short
sentences in one post--lol


Rant over.




Yours sincerely,

Dan W and the Parker Dog wishing all in the USA happy 4th of July


.


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Dierckens
via nagdu
Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2015 9:17 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Matthew Dierckens
Subject: [nagdu] Fwd: [Gduc-friends] Interesting Article

Hi all,
I received this article last night. This is just awful!

God bless.
Matthew Dierckens
Certified Assistive Technology Specialist Macintosh, Windows and IOS
Trainer U.S. number: 573-401-1018 Personal Email: matt.dierckens at me.com

Begin forwarded message:
Amal Haddad and Nayla Farrah were kicked off their flight after they refused
to muzzle their guide dogs, Nina and E.V. 

By: Ethan Lou <http://www.thestar.com/authors.lou_ethan.html> Staff
Reporter, Published on Fri Jul 03 2015


A trip to Stockholm on Canada Day for two blind Toronto women ended up a
"humiliating" experience - reduced to tears, booted from their flight at
Pearson and escorted out by police - because a flight crew insisted their
guide dogs needed to be muzzled.

Amal Haddad and Nayla Farrah - who were flying with the Farrah's 11-year-old
daughter - did not have muzzles for the dogs. They don't even own them.

"We travel every year and that was the first time the stewardess asked us to
muzzle our dogs," Haddad, a civil servant, said.

"We did it with Air France; we did it with Air Canada, Alaska Airlines,
WestJet, Middle East Airlines . Lufthansa," she said.

But on Wednesday Haddad and Farrah were flying Jet Airways to Sweden via
Brussels.

Once they boarded the plane a flight attendant said there was an issue with
the dogs. 

"There was no common ground for communications - either you muzzle or you
leave the plane," said Haddad.

The two refused and police were called, though Haddad said the officers were
only "mirroring" the airline's stance. 

"A policeman tells two ladies . 'You evacuate now or we put handcuffs on
you' - because we didn't have muzzles?" she said. 

Haddad said the airline scheduled them for another flight the next day and
paid for their stay that night at the airport hotel. 

That flight, though, was with a different airline, Austrian Airlines, which
Haddad said is she "99.9 per cent" sure will not force dogs, Nina and E.V.,
to be muzzled. 

A Peel Regional Police spokesman said a flight's captain has "final
authority" over who flies, and officers were on scene only "for the purposes
of keeping the peace." 

Transport Canada spokeswoman Roxane Marchand said the agency itself does not
require service animals to be muzzled, but encouraged passengers to check
their carrier's individual policies before flying. 

"As a rule of thumb, the animal can remain with you in the aircraft cabin
provided it has been trained by a professional service animal institution to
assist a person, is properly harnessed and remains under your control,"
Marchand said. 

Nina and E.V. had those harnesses and Haddad said they were both trained.

Whether Haddad's experience was a one-off incident or the result of Jet
Airways' service animal policy is yet unclear. 

Haddad said she planned the trip more than six months ago, looking up the
airline's policy and getting a representative to guide her through the
website. According to Haddad, nowhere did it say that guide dogs have to be
muzzled.

"Once we're back, we're filing a complaint with the Canadian Transportation
Agency," she said.

Jet Airways did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 
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