[Cagdu] FW: service animals

Mon Feb 18 10:17:02 PST 2008

Subject: service animals

Broad service animal law allows pets to be full-time companions Sunday,
February 17, 2008 By Erin Quinn Tribune-Herald staff writer - Waco, TX

If you happen to see a dog, cat, pig or even monkey walking the aisles
of
your favorite store or restaurant, don't be alarmed.

Federal law allows anyone with a disability to leash their pet, say it
helps
them feel better and take it everywhere they go.

Wacoan Rik Espinosa, 53, suffers from panic attacks and takes Kimba, his
13-year-old Labrador mix, to restaurants, on planes and 

in hospitals.

While state law requires service animals to be trained through an
accredited
organization, the wording of the federal Americans with 

Disabilities Act leaves the issue open to interpretation.

In a prepared statement in response to a request from the
Tribune-Herald,
the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs said 

the agency will review the wording of the law and receive public
comment. No
date has been set regarding when that comment period 

might begin.

Groups such as the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners
are
urging the Department of Justice to require more 

training for the animals and to clarify the wording of the law to focus
more
heavily on the animal's ability to perform physical tasks to 

help their handlers.

The group takes issue with handlers who say their animals provide a
therapeutic service just by being near them. Its president, Ed 

Eames, is quick to provide examples of why the group believes the ADA's
definition of a service animal opens the door to potential 

risks to others. 

In one instance, Eames said, a quadriplegic woman in Albuquerque brought
her
monkey into a hospital emergency room. The 

monkey reportedly got loose and yanked the intravenous line out of
another
patient.

In 2000, a woman brought what she claimed was a physical-therapy
potbellied
pig onto a U.S. Airways flight. A year later, another 

woman brought her seeing-eye miniature horse Cuddles onto a Delta Air
Lines
flight.

Each of these examples follows the language of the federal law.

A statement from the Department of Justice sums up the ADA's definition
of a
service animal as: "Any guide dog, signal dog, or 

other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual
with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are 

considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have
been licensed or certified by a state or local government."

Assistance animals don't have to wear an identification vest, although
many
do. Their handlers also don't have to carry any 

certification or a doctor's note.

"There are 54 million people in this country who are disabled," Eames
said.
"Every one of them could claim that their dog or animal 

makes them feel better. Then where are we?"

Espinosa said that according to the wording of the ADA, that attitude
denies
him his civil rights.

Waco resident Rick Armstead agrees. He has diabetes and says he has
taught
his dog, Duke, to paw him and whine when 

Armstead's blood sugar gets too low. He takes his service animal
everywhere.

Questioning looks

Armstead and Espinosa said they get their share of dirty looks and jeers
from people who assume anyone with a service dog should 

look physically disabled, while the two men do not.

Armstead said he has had trouble finding work because he needs Duke at
his
side all the time. And, he said, he spends a good part of 

his day explaining to dubious business and restaurant workers why it's
OK
for him to bring his dog through their doors. 

"I was once called a 'professional suer' by a cop when I was being
denied
access to a swap meet in California," Espinosa said. But, 

he says, "my motto is always: 'education versus litigation.' "

Ro Osoria, manager of Big Daddy's Tattoo Studio on Sanger Avenue, said
Espinosa's dog Kimba wasn't wearing an identification 

vest when her owner walked in with her to get her image tattooed on his
arm.
He wasn't thrilled about letting the dog in his work area.

"Here, you're dealing with blood-borne pathogens," he said. "We need to
keep
a sterile environment. "

According to the ADA, service animals are allowed where the general
public
is allowed. It wouldn't have mattered if people in the 

studio were allergic, under the law's language. Or afraid of dogs.

Osoria said Espinosa told him about his time as a reporter and the
violent
events he covered, and how he has been suffering from 

panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder ever since. He is
unemployed and receives disability payments.

"Once he sat down and explained to people why he has the dog, I started
to
understand him," Osoria said.

Even so, other customers stared at Espinosa and Kimba and asked why the
man
needed the dog. Osoria eventually inked the tattoo 

while Kimba waited in the lobby.

Alan Ren, manager of Chinese Kitchen on North Valley Mills Drive, also
had
reservations about Kimba when handler and dog 

showed up one day.

"Some customers were scared," he said through a translator. "It was a
big
dog, and some customers do not like animals. We opened 

a whole special section for him, but he didn't like it. He just left."

Espinosa said he left in protest because forcing him to eat in a
separate
room was a violation of his civil rights.

"It's really important not to be always directed to the back of the
bus," he
said.

Espinosa's opinions are backed by Joan Esnayra in Virginia.

The 43-year-old founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society said she
started the "psychiatric dog movement" in 1997.

She says she has bipolar disorder and realized that her dog calmed her
by
staring at her.

"From some people's perspective, we're just trying to take our pets
everywhere," she said. "From our perspective, we've stumbled 

on something that works."

Corey Hudson, president of Assistance Dogs International- North America,
is
concerned about assistance animals trained by 

inexperienced people. Esnayra preaches to her organization that the best
training for a psychiatric dog is self-training.

"A dog is bombproof when it's had the right training," Hudson said. "A
properly trained dog sees a bird or a child holding food in 

front of its face, and it doesn't flinch.

"It's the equivalent of going to MIT on the East Coast or Stanford on
the
West Coast when a dog is trained properly to do a task," 

Hudson said. "Those other dogs haven't even gotten through sixth grade."

At Ryan's Family Steakhouse on Franklin Avenue, Espinosa and his wife
ate on
opposite sides of a long, rectangular table that 

seated others. 

Kimba acted like a typical dog. She was being petted and given table
food by
Espinosa's wife for part of the dinner.

Espinosa said Kimba's nose is so keen that she doesn't have to be close
to
him to pick up on an impending panic attack.

"She can be working and be friendly, too," he said.

Espinosa said groups that want to require more training are "in it for
the
money" that comes out of training fees.

"It's 'we got here first, and we want to make the rules,' " he said.
"Well,
that is not inclusive. It is divisive."

Hudson said people such as Espinosa are becoming a problem.

"Handlers are really worried," Hudson said. "Guide dog handlers, in
particular, are particularly cautious of their rights being ruined by 

others."

Espinosa maintained his confidence in his training of Kimba. He will
even
walk through buffet lines without her, commanding her to 

stay underneath the dinner table. 

"I could be gone 10 minutes and she would not move," he said.

The Department of Justice is the only one that can resolve the dispute.
Until it does so, however, the law is left open to interpretation.
Source: 

http://www.wacotrib .com/news/ content/news/ stories/2008/
02/17/02172008wa cserv
icedogs.html? cxtype=rss& cxsvc=7&cxcat= 11
equinn at wacotrib. com
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