[Njagdu] Video contradicts veteran's claim about service dog

[Ginger Kutsch]

Video contradicts veteran's claim about service dog

By Therese Apel, The Clarion-Ledger 

April 8, 2016

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/07/veteran-service-dog-remov
ed-restaurant/82722902/

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Furr says his dog is not aggressive. The 8-year-old yellow labrador named
Blanca was just protecting him, he said.

 

"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."

 

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.

The women then immediately leave the bar.

 

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.

 

Several employees also saw the interaction, Carter said.

 

"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."

 

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.

 

"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."

 

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

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.

 

 

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