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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Video contradicts veteran's claim about service dog<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>By Therese Apel, The Clarion-Ledger <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>April 8, 2016<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/07/veteran-service-dog-removed-restaurant/82722902/<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Security video footage and bar employee testimony contradicts a veteran's claim that he was asked to leave after a woman caused an altercation with his service dog.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Carl Ray Furr Jr. said he and his dog were at Scrooge's Restaurant and Pub in Jackson, where he says he has been a patron for nearly 30 years, when another woman with a service dog asked him if she could approach. Furr said he told the lady that she should keep her distance since she had a dog as well. Furr claims the woman came too close anyway, and the dogs snarled and growled at each other for about five seconds.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>According to Furr's story, the lady, who was not identified, was on her way out and left the restaurant. Furr said he was then asked to leave as well.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>However, video shown to The Clarion-Ledger by managers at Scrooge's seems to show something different. Witnesses say Furr called the lady over. In the video, Furr can be seen talking to the lady's friend. The friend then goes and brings the woman, who is elderly and reportedly blind, over to where he sat. She had her guide dog with her at the time.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Furr says his dog is not aggressive. The 8-year-old yellow labrador named Blanca was just protecting him, he said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"She’s growling at another dog. If she had gone after someone then I can understand that, but that wasn’t the case," he said, adding that the incident was "five seconds and that's it."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>In the video, one minute and two seconds after the women stop by Furr's chair, he can be seen getting out of the chair. The dogs are not visible, but he can be seen going to the end of the bar, at least five feet away, and he and the woman can be seen in what appears to be the act of separating the dogs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The women then immediately leave the bar.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Scrooge's owner Chris Carter confirmed that Furr has been coming into the bar for years. When told that Furr had said the disagreement occurred because the bar is under new management, Carter stated that he has worked and managed the bar for eight years, but bought the bar late last year.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Several employees also saw the interaction, Carter said.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"It was seen by several employees and everyone in the bar area," he said. "The dog was an obstruction during a very busy time during lunch and people were tripping over the dog and he wouldn’t move the dog, and actually got a little terse when we asked him to move the dog, and once again it’s a safety issue."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Carter said Scrooge's supports veterans and their service dogs, as well as any other disabled people and their service dogs, as evidenced by the fact that the other customer in the situation comes in every week.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>"The lady is blind and brings her service dog in here every single Monday and has done it for a long time, and we’ve never had a problem," he said. "Any of our other disabled customers, we do everything we can to accommodate them. We had to handle it the way we did for the safety of our customers and my employees."<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Furr also said Blanca was a bomb dog for five years before being injured in Iraq. Furr provided what appeared to be Blanca's service dog identification card. "Access required by federal law," it says in red. A plastic tag he also keeps in his wallet gives a 1-800 number people can call if they have a question<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>about her legitimacy as a service dog. When called by The Clarion-Ledger, the 1-800 number calls the Americans With Disabilities Act information line.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>