[Nfbf-l] outragious assault on guide dog

[Toni King]

Hello Kirk,
The Lighthouse of the Big Bend's dog guide group along with the Greater 
Tallahassee chapter of the NFB, the Tallahassee Council of the blind 
and the local Lyon's club is holding a White Cane Day event right down 
town at Lake Ella to do just that. There will be blind and visually 
impaired folks walking around the lake all day, educating and informing 
the public about the White Cane Law, dog guides etc.

Anyone in Tally on October the 15th should come on by.
Take Care,
Toni
Original message:
> This  just shows you how many of our sighted population doesn't know the law
> in reference to this topic! We have to do better in bringing awareness to
> this fact! We will be having our members here in  Jacksonville talking to
> the people downtown in front of City Hall and the media to let them know the
> proper way to approach a person with a working guide dog, and our members
> with the service dogs will be chatting with them to give them a much needed
> education on guide users and what they are all about! We also have
> literature for them to take as well! Let's get this going all over America!
> Your friend in the cause, Kirk


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patricia A. Lipovsky" <plipovsky at cfl.rr.com>
> To: "NFBF List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:24 AM
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] outrages assault on guide dog



> Social Security guard faces arrest in fracas over service dog  | ajc.com

> By

> David Ibata

> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

> Melissa McMann, who is visually impaired, recalls minor incidents in which
> people challenged her about her service dog, but nothing like what happened
> last

> week with a security guard at a Social Security Administration office in
> Winder.

> Enlarge photo

> A security guard at a Social Security office faces charges after he's
> accused of trying to forcibly remove Melissa McMann, who is visually
> impaired, from

> the building because she had her service dog with her.

> Manuel Bojorquez, Channel 2 Action News A security guard at a Social
> Security office faces charges after he's accused of trying to forcibly
> remove Melissa

> McMann, who is visually impaired, from the building because she had her
> service dog with her.

> "Usually, once we educate people and explain the purpose of the dog, that's
> all it takes to get people to understand why the dog is there and he's not
> just

> a regular, run-of-the-mill dog," the Winder resident said of Hurbie, her
> 5-year-old yellow Labrador.

> "We have never run into an incident like this where it escalated so
> quickly," she said in a telephone interview with the AJC. "My arm is still
> bruised,

> and I still have pain to my shoulder, but otherwise I'm doing OK."

> The guard, Leroy Huff, faces a charge of simple battery after he allegedly
> grabbed the 38-year-old McMann and tried to remove her from the office.

> The Athens man told

> Channel 2 Action News

> on Tuesday that he was aware a warrant was pending for his arrest and would
> turn himself in. He said he was following orders and his training, but did
> not

> want to comment further because of the continuing investigation.

> Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for Huff's employer, Paragon
> Security Services. Paragon provides contract security to the Federal
> Protective

> Service of the Department of Homeland Security.

> Patti Patterson, regional spokeswoman for the Social Security
> Administration, told Channel 2 in an email, "Service animals are allowed in
> Social Security

> field offices. We have apologized to Ms. McMann for the unfortunate incident
> that occurred with the contract security guard in our Winder field office."

> The matter has been referred to the Federal Protective Service "for
> appropriate action," Patterson said.

> The incident began Thursday afternoon when McMann and her husband,
> Christopher, went to the Social Security office at 37 S. Center St. to
> complete some

> paperwork for their youngest daughter, who they adopted from Thailand.

> According to a Winder Police Department report, as the couple was seated
> waiting to be called, Huff, an armed security guard, came up and told them
> dogs

> were not allowed in the facility.

> When the couple explained that the Labrador was a service dog and legally
> allowed to there, the officer demanded to see papers to prove it - even
> though

> the dog had a guide harness and a sign attached to the harness stating it
> was "a working dog for the blind," the police report said.

> The McManns said they did not have such paperwork and continued to protest
> that the dog was a permitted animal. At this point, the police report says,
> Huff

> "proceeded to grab (the woman) and attempted to forcefully remove her from
> the building." The husband objected and called the police on his cell phone.

> Huff told a Winder police officer that the woman had failed to obey him. He
> admitted she had not tried to resist him physically. When asked why he did
> not

> call the police, "Huff informed me that he did not have to call the police.
> He told me he was a federal officer and was not required to involve the
> police,"

> the officer wrote in his report.

> The officer contacted Paragon, which referred him to the Federal Protective
> Service. An official there said Huff was not a federal officer and in this
> situation

> should have called Winder police, his supervisor or the federal agency.

> The McManns, meanwhile, went to their primary care physician and then to a
> hospital emergency room, where a doctor treated her for a bruised right arm
> and

> determined her shoulder may have been dislocated, police said.

> Melissa McMann said she has retinitis pigmentosa or RP, a condition that has
> left her with little functional sight. Hurbie is her second service dog;
> she's

> had the animals for 10 years. They're trained by the Florida-based

> Southeastern Guide Dogs.

> "It was something we were not expecting, especially in a federal building,"
> she said. "It was a frightening incident, and obviously we feel (Huff) went

> too far.

> "All that we're looking for at this point is for the security company that
> has the contract with Social Security to understand the importance of
> educating

> all of the people that work for them as to the laws regarding service dogs
> and also with regard to not placing their hands on people - you just can't
> go

> placing your hands on people."

> http://www.ajc.com/news/social-security-guard-faces-1185244.html

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