[nagdu] Dogs in grocery stores? Sometimes it's OK

[Ginger Kutsch]

Dogs in grocery stores? Sometimes it's OK

Posted: Sunday, November 6, 2011 9:59 am

By Ellen Sussman Special to the Green Valley News 

 

Consider this scenario: You walk into a local supermarket and see a shopper
with a small dog in a  shopping cart.

 

The dog isn't wearing a "service animal" vest and doesn't appear to be one,
either.

 

The animal draws a lot of stares, some people pet it and chat with the
owner. But you wonder: Should this dog be in a grocery store?

 

The answer is, "Maybe."

 

Service animals are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990. Some help the blind or deaf, others retrieve or assist with other
needs. Several federal and state laws determine the rights of a person to be
accompanied by a service animal.

 

The ADA, whose rules for service animals were published in 1991, states that
a business may not insist on proof of certification before a service animal
is allowed.

 

This limits just how far a store manager can go when a dog walks through the
door.

 

JoEllen Lynn, public affairs director for Fry's Supermarkets, said store
managers may ask a person with an animal two questions: "Is this a service
animal?" and "What tasks has the animal been trained to perform?"

 

"We cannot ask for paperwork or what the person's medical need is," she
said.

 

ADA regulations state that service animals that provide assistance with a
disability are working animals and are different from a personal pet.
Service animals may go anywhere their owner goes regardless of a store's pet
policy.

 

Consumer rights

 

Consumers have a few options if they see an animal in a supermarket or
restaurant.

 

The Pima County Department of Health follows the Arizona State Food Code,
said Laura Oxley, communications director of the Arizona Department of
Health Services.

 

The code prohibits live animals from food establishments but allows
exceptions in certain cases, such as service dogs.

 

Priscilla Urbina, a Pima County Department of Health Sanitation supervisor,
said managers in charge of the food establishment should exclude personal
pets from entering a supermarket. But the manager is limited to the two
questions about service animals.

 

"Excluding service animals from the business or food establishment would
violate a federal law, which offers more protection for individuals with
disabilities and takes priority over local and state laws including the Food
Code," Urbina said.

 

Consumers can ask for an investigation or file a complaint by calling Urbina
at             520-243-7908      .

 

In March, the ADA instituted new rules that crack down on owners who try to
pass off personal pets as service animals - some by using bogus "service
animal" vests ordered online. The new ADA rules limited service animals to
dogs and some trained miniature horses, and were aimed at reining in the
widespread abuse among pet owners. The new rules also clarify definitions
and legal entitlements between service dogs and emotional support dogs.

 

Some not covered

 

Glenda Laird of Handi-Dogs Inc. in Tucson, agrees that service dogs can be
mislabeled.

 

"Only a dog can be a service animal," she told a recent meeting of the Green
Valley Council's Health and Human Services committee. "The dog must be
trained to perform work or a task related to the dog owner's disability."

 

A service dog owner is not required to have personal identification, nor
does a service dog have to have ID, but a service dog with a labeled vest
helps.

 

Some dog owners are misnaming therapy dogs as service dogs, Laird said.
Emotional, lap or therapy dogs are not service dogs under the ADA; they help
their handler to adjust to the world and provide affection and comfort but
do not have legal access to public places like a service dog.

 

But identifying a true service dog by sight isn't easy. Poodles, for
example, have good hearing and make good service dogs for people who are
hard of hearing, Laird said.

 

Accompanying Laird was Marty Fulton and her service dog, Luna. Fulton has a
spinal disorder and wears a neck brace. Luna helps Fulton get up from a
chair, pick things up and does other tasks that qualify her to be a service
dog. Other animals, regardless of size, could be seizure-response dogs.

 

Contact Green Valley freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414 at cox.net.

Source:
http://www.gvnews.com/news/dogs-in-grocery-stores-sometimes-it-s-ok/article_
fe688a8a-0898-11e1-bafa-001cc4c002e0.html