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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>Subject:</B> A Guide Dog
With Clout Calls It a Day - New York Times<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<P><BR>The New York Times<BR><BR>April 20, 2008<BR>Murray Hill<BR><BR>A Guide
Dog With Clout Calls It a Day<BR>By ALEX MINDLIN<BR><BR>THE retirement party,
held in a back room at the<BR>Church of St. Agnes on East 43rd Street, had all
the<BR>elements typical of such gatherings: teary<BR>photographs,<BR>a table
piled with small gifts, even two cakes topped<BR>with the words “Happy
Retirement,” although the<BR>retiree was not allowed to taste them.<BR><BR>That
did not appear to bother the guest of honor, a<BR>squirmy, 11-year-old
snow-white Lab named Ruger who,<BR>on Thursday afternoon, was snapping up chunks
of<BR>diced chicken tossed at him by an admirer.<BR><BR>Ruger is a guide dog,
and for the past nine years, he<BR>has guided Kevin Coughlin, a 46-year-old
resident of<BR>Murray Hill, around the city. Mr. Coughlin, who<BR>lost his sight
in 1997 as a result of a genetic<BR>condition, has waged several high-profile
fights to<BR>require businesses in the city to open their doors<BR>to guide
dogs, as they are required to do by law.<BR><BR>Mr. Coughlin has twice filed
complaints with the<BR>Taxi and Limousine Commission<BR>against cabbies who he
said had refused to allow Ruger<BR>into their taxis.<BR><BR>In 2002, Mr.
Coughlin filed a discrimination complaint<BR>with the city against a coffee shop
from which he said<BR>Ruger had been ejected. In that year, he also<BR>let a
news producer with a hidden camera trail him as<BR>he and Ruger were turned away
from various businesses.<BR>(“No dog,” said the tout outside a restaurant<BR>on
First Avenue. “Maybe somebody no like dogs.”)<BR><BR>But Ruger is not as spry as
he was. After nearly a<BR>decade of trotting around the city, Ruger
has<BR>developed arthritis. “He has more trouble with stairs<BR>now,”<BR>Mr.
Coughlin explained, rubbing the dog’s back<BR>distractedly. Two days after the
party, Mr. Coughlin<BR>and a friend planned to drive Ruger to his new home,<BR>a
30-acre spread with three ponds in Orange County,<BR>north of New York, where
friends of Mr. Coughlin’s<BR>live.<BR><BR>“It’s enormously difficult,” Mr.
Coughlin said of the<BR>move. “We have a very intimate relationship,
because<BR>it’s virtually 24/7. We’ve been in so many places,<BR>and done so
many things.”<BR><BR>At the party, which drew 40 or 50 guests,
the<BR>conversation naturally turned to Ruger stories.<BR><BR>“Do you know the
story about Ruger being attacked by a<BR>swan in East Hampton?” someone asked.
Adam Brecht, a<BR>friend and occasional traveling companion of<BR>Mr.
Coughlin’s, recalled their stay at the Excelsior<BR>hotel in Rome. “Ruger loved
it,” Mr. Brecht said. “He<BR>had a ‘forward my mail to the Excelsior’ sort<BR>of
attitude.’ ”<BR><BR>As the stories unfolded, their subject lapped<BR>obliviously
at a bowl of water. It was 6:30 p.m.,<BR>almost time to go, and the top of
Ruger’s head was<BR>stained<BR>with lipstick kisses.<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/nyregion/thecity/20dog.html?_r=1&ref=thecity&oref=slogin">http://www.nytimes.<WBR>com/2008/<WBR>04/20/nyregion/<WBR>thecity/20dog.<WBR>html?_r=1&<WBR>ref=thecity&<WBR>oref=slogin</A><BR><BR>Copyright
2008<BR>The New York Times
Company<BR><BR>____________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_________<WBR>_<BR>Be
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