[nfbwatlk] To Service Dogs and Other Threats to Air Quality, the Clover School District Says No Thanks, Seattle Weekly, November 3 2009

[Nightingale, Noel]

Link:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/11/begun_the_canine_wars_have_tac.php

Text:
To Service Dogs and Other Threats to Air Quality, the Clover School District Says No Thanks
By Vernal Coleman in Animals, Education, Environment
Tuesday, Nov. 3 2009

Clover school district bans teachers from training service dogs on campus. In related news, the terrorists win.

Take note, Seattle environmentalists: Your green bona fides have been trumped.

Don't believe it? Witness today's news that, citing environmental concerns, the Clover School District in fair Pierce County will no longer allow district employees to bring their service dogs in training to campus.

District Superintendent Debbie LeBeau told the News Tribune that the reasons behind her decision were threefold: the dogs were a potential liability, possible distraction to the children and a "threat to air quality."

This on the heels of yesterday's chuckle session over that Seattle Times report on the New Zealand study that postulates that the trusty Fido lounging in your backyard might have just as big a carbon footprint as the SUV in your garage.

But carbon imprint doesn't necessarily entail degradation of air quality, unless of course LeBeau is talking generally about smell. Still, it indicates a growing unease with pets and their potential negative impact on the environment. To invoke a now well worn conceptual argument, could this be the tipping point in an all out race between Seattle and everybody else to solve what Caleb called our "canine conundrum?" It depends on what happens after tonight's elections.

So, your move Mr. Mayor, whoever the hell that ends up being.