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

[Applebutter Hill]

Hi All,
I saw this on GDF-talk today also. These women apparently did their research
and the company didn't say anything about muzzles. I hope they do complain.
I remember that when I got my first guide dog from GDF in '71, they gave us
muzzles as part of our equipment and told us that sometimes airlines or
other public transportation might ask for us to use them. I carried the
stupid thing around for years, but never once was I asked to put it on him.
Donna & Hunter


-----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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