<html><body><font face="Helvetica">First let the police department look into it, maybe things can be salved without a lawsuit. <br>Is it their responsibility to take a service animal to the vet, way didn't the restaurant call a cab and take the dog. <br>I don't know what is the right thing. <br>Barb<br><br>Sent from Xfinity Connect Mobile App<br><br><br>------ Original Message ------<br><br>From: Timothy J. Meloy via nagdu<br>To: Ginger Kutsch, NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users<br>Sent: July 10, 2014 at 4:11 PM<br>Subject: Re: [nagdu] Blind Woman Says Law Enforcement Offered No Help to Her Dying Service Dog<br><br>Wow unbelievable. I'm conscionable actually. Had guides are extensions of us. Has to be grounds for a lawsuit in there somewhere.<br>T.J.<br><br>> On Jul 10, 2014, at 2:44 PM, Ginger Kutsch via nagdu <nagdu@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br>> <br>> Blind Woman Says Law Enforcement Offered No Help to Her Dying Service Dog <br>> <br>> NBC 6 South Florida<br>> <br>> http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Blind-Woman-Says-Law-Enforcement-Offered-<br>> No-Help-to-Her-Dying-Service-Dog-266498871.html<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> A blind South Florida woman said in her time of need, Miami-Dade Police and<br>> 911 turned their back on her and because of that, the service animal who<br>> took her everywhere is dead.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> Nancy Alfonso said she was dining at a restaurant in Doral with another<br>> woman who also had her dog, when Alfonso's dog became violently ill. Nancy<br>> said the dog, named Kiroo, was in good health until he started vomiting<br>> inside the restaurant.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> Alfonso said she was begging for help to rush the dog to the vet, which was<br>> about a mile away. However, the women said a police officer who was at the<br>> scene and a 911 operator didn't lift a finger to help.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> "He (Kiroo) needed help and inside the restaurant was the police," Alfonso<br>> said. "He (officer) came out at the door and he said, "Ah, it's a dog" and<br>> he went inside too. Nobody helped us."<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> The manager at the restaurant told NBC 6 the dog was lying on the pavement<br>> and a uniformed Miami-Dade Police officer was eating inside.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> "Luz asked the police, 'You don't have a service dog with you too? What if<br>> this happened to your dog," Nancy said. "And he said we'll take to our car.<br>> And you cannot take this animal who is a guide dog for a blind person? You<br>> don't care about a blind person?"<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> The manager said he called 911 and told them it was a service dog in<br>> trouble.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> "They were no help at all," Nancy said.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> Nancy and her friend estimated that 45 minutes passed before a Good<br>> Samaritan drove Kiroo to the Doral Centre Animal Hospital. Unfortunately for<br>> Kiroo, it was too late.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> Miami-Dade Police said there is nothing in their policy that directs an<br>> officer to transport an animal. A disability expert NBC 6 spoke to said the<br>> situation falls into a gray area and a law enforcement officer may have more<br>> of a duty to take action than the 911 operator.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> MDPD said before they can even investigate the incident further, they need<br>> to confirm that it was a MDPD officer on the scene and an official complaint<br>> about what happened would need to be filed and none of that has happened.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> Nancy said she hopes her story will help prevent the incident from happening<br>> again.<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> "To bring people more conscious that the dog is of course not a human being,<br>> but the dog is a service animal and we are human. We are human. Blind, but<br>> we are human," Nancy said. "And the police department also has service<br>> animals."<br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> nagdu mailing list<br>> nagdu@nfbnet.org<br>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org<br>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:<br>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tmeloy%40fuse.net<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>nagdu mailing list<br>nagdu@nfbnet.org<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org<br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/barbandzoe%40comcast.net<br></font></body></html>