[Wasagdu] Uber driver injures service dog

[Becky Frankeberger]

Uber Driver Slams Service Dog to Ground After Fight with Owner, Police Say

By  Maya Rajamani January 26, 2016 2:54pm 

Source:
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160126/midtown/uber-driver-slams-service-
dog-ground-after-fight-with-owner-police-say

 

MIDTOWN - An  Uber driver viciously slammed a passenger's service dog onto
the ground after telling her she couldn't have the pooch in his car -
leaving the animal with

a dislocated hip and an injured knee that required surgery, police said.

 

The 30-year-old Manhattan resident had gotten into the cab with her Silky
Terrier in front of 1755 Broadway, near West 56th Street, on Jan. 21 around
7:30

p.m., the NYPD said.

 

When driver Muhammad Qayyum, 23, saw the pup, he told her, "I will not take
your dog in my car," police said.

 

After Qayyum, from Queens, refused to drive the woman and her pooch, he got
out of the car, went to the right back passenger seat and grabbed the dog's

leash from the woman's hand, the NYPD said.

 

Qayyum used the leash to yank the dog out of her lap and threw the animal to
the ground, according to a complaint filed with the Manhattan District
Attorney's

office.

 

The dog suffered a dislocated hip and a knee injury, the DA said. The owner
brought her pet to a veterinarian on West 55th Street in Hell's Kitchen
after

the incident, police said.

 

It was not clear why the woman required the service dog.

 

Qayyum denied slamming the canine to the ground, said an Uber spokeswoman,
who noted that all Uber drivers are required to accommodate service animals.

 

The driver claimed that after the woman refused to show documents proving
the terrier was a service animal, she made "racist, religiously disparaging
slurs"

and punched him in the face several times, the spokeswoman explained.

 

"Any mistreatment of animals is abhorrent and we do not tolerate violent
behavior on the platform," she said.

 

"The driver-partner and rider accounts have been suspended while we
investigate this incident."

 

Qayyum was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and
harming a service animal, the complaint said.

 

He was released without bail and an order of protection has been issued
against him, the DA's office said.

 

Neither an attorney for Qayyum nor the woman who owns the dog responded to
requests for comment.

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