Assistance Dog Barred From Eatery

[RadarJuniorDog]

the dog wasn't wearing a jacket from what i read.

Does that mean i can take any old dog where ever i want and claim its an assistance dog and scream discrimination when they don't belive me? or is there some sort of laminated ID that the person carried, identifying the dog as an official assistance dog?

admitted his wife asked Ms Hawkes to leave the dog, which had an assistance dog jacket, outside and said he had not known it was illegal to bar the dog from the premises,

look at the confict in rules-

this impinges on the person with the working dog in the enjoyment of her rights but no penalty except the negatives of exposure in this forum, to the Restaurant owner,

but a driver going down a hill in a car 4Km over speed limit- but without causing any danger or even embarrasment according to the traffic cop can't be given a warning but must be given a on the spot for $200+

Have we as society's members let our rule makers loose sight of what is important on a human level!

Edited December 31, 2010 by RadarJuniorDog

[Danielle]

No offense intended, but if you are coming to this country to start a business, learn the language and the law! I'm sorry but I'm so sick of hearing excuses from ppl who refuse to educate themselves. Ignorance is no excuse.

Saw something on tv a week ago with someone from a culturally different background who had opened up a fast food joint. Health inspectors were appalled at the filthy conditions of the kitchen and temporarily shut the place down. The mans excuse was that this is how it's done in his country and his shop would be considered clean back home. Sorry buddy but you aren't back home...abide by our laws or don't have a shop! Simple!

I cannot imagine a westerner being allowed to get away with things like this in the east, so why allow it over here? This country and it's laws need to harden up. And this goes for anyone, Aussie or not, abide by the bloody laws.

Hope this woman sues the pants off these ppl.

[abed]

I thought "assistance dogs" essentially referred to guide dogs for the blind by legislation..........does it actually expand to other areas of assistance???

[Tarmons]

Yes.... there are Assistance Dogs for the Deaf, for Quadraplegics and Paraplegics, anyone disabled and or confined to a wheelchair, Sophie Delisio the little girl badly burned in the Pre-School fire had an Assistance Dog. A friend of mine who is confined to a wheelchair and has a prothesis, has an Assistance Dog who is also trained to give the alert when an epileptic fit is coming on.

There is no excuse for what happened at that Restaurant. The dog had its ID, its owner was confined to a wheelchair. Cultural difference or not -it's the Law.

I hope they are given a hefty fine.

[Danielle]

Assistance dogs are also for ppl with epilepsy. You don't have to be confined to a wheelchair to have an assistance dog. One of the dogs here is a fully trained therapy dog and we can take her anywhere. Took her to the airport to see off a family member and they tried stopping us. Pulled out the dogs ID and was allowed straight thru. Even took her to the restaurant upstairs. Point is, it is part of her training, we need to take her to crowded public places to expose her to different situations. So even a therapy dog is allowed anywhere but a restaurants kitchen, same goes for assistance dogs.

[Baby Dragon]

Just wanted to clarify - the law covers assistance dogs for public access, but not therapy dogs...

It can be a bit confusing sometimes

An assistance dog is a dog individually trained to assist somebody with their disability, and trained to behave appropriately in public. Eg mobility assistance dog for somebody in a wheelchair, guide dog, seizure alert dog etc. There are certain criteria the assistance dogs need to meet, and once they've met them, they can be covered under laws that enable them to accompany their disabled handler to shopping centres, restaurants, hotels etc.

A therapy dog is a dog trained to help many people in places like hospitals, schools, aged care facilities etc. Their jobs vary from bringing comfort and joy to people in hospital, to helping children gain confidence to read, to helping in rehabilitation sessions, to bringing joy to people in aged care facilities etc. They have access to places they do their therapy work in only if the places have given permission/requested for the dog to be there. They are only allowed places where there has been permission given for them to be there. They're not covered by laws for public access like assistance dogs are.

Edited January 16, 2011 by Baby Dragon

[Toolz]

i think its really rude when owners of business's dont allow assistance dogs into their establishments.. they all deserve a smack in the head and a HUGE fine...

[CassandBel]

ID is the important bit because anyone can buy a vest off the net. I'd have a few cards in different languages stating the act under which you are allowed entry.

I don't think WA has this yet, but in QLD we can get government issued ID cards, they're great and have law info and penalties etc on the back of the card. We also get the government issued patch to go on the dog's vest. This is only a new thing that recently came in.

WA Assistance Dogs do receive a letter from the Government which is (should be) carried by the handler at all times. Melanie does have one of these letters.

[Dxenion]

WA Assistance Dogs do receive a letter from the Government which is (should be) carried by the handler at all times. Melanie does have one of these letters.

Can you tell us more about this letter ie which Government Dept she got it from etc.

We were advised by a WA based assistance dog organisation that this letter is only required for puppy trainers so they could access shopping centres etc for training. We were told that they needed the letter because they didn't have a disability and that the letter is not available for a bona fide assistance dog user as the DDA covers them.

[CassandBel]

WA Assistance Dogs do receive a letter from the Government which is (should be) carried by the handler at all times. Melanie does have one of these letters.

Can you tell us more about this letter ie which Government Dept she got it from etc.

We were advised by a WA based assistance dog organisation that this letter is only required for puppy trainers so they could access shopping centres etc for training. We were told that they needed the letter because they didn't have a disability and that the letter is not available for a bona fide assistance dog user as the DDA covers them.

The letter issued has names of all dogs and handlers covered by the organisation. It isn't an individual letter for each dog and handler.

Which organisation were you speaking with? Do you have an assistance dog?

[Dxenion]

WA Assistance Dogs do receive a letter from the Government which is (should be) carried by the handler at all times. Melanie does have one of these letters.

Can you tell us more about this letter ie which Government Dept she got it from etc.

We were advised by a WA based assistance dog organisation that this letter is only required for puppy trainers so they could access shopping centres etc for training. We were told that they needed the letter because they didn't have a disability and that the letter is not available for a bona fide assistance dog user as the DDA covers them.

The letter issued has names of all dogs and handlers covered by the organisation. It isn't an individual letter for each dog and handler.

Which organisation were you speaking with? Do you have an assistance dog?

We were speaking with a WA organisation (will PM the name if you like).

We have come across a few service providers that have stated that they require a Letter of Authority from the Local Government minister authorising the dog as an assistance animal. Problem is, no one we've spoken to in either the WA local government or state government knows which department issues the letter. Would it be possible to find out which government department issued the organisation the letter for Melanie to carry? We may be able to chase it up from there.

Another concern is that although a service provider can ask for evidence that the animal is trained and meets behaviour and hygiene standards, the DDA doesn't specify what form that evidence must take for owner trained assistance dogs. Some service providers are reading the DDA Section 9 and applying the evidentiary requirements for dogs accredited by interstate/ territory law or accredited by an animal training organisation to animals that are owner trained. In cases where it is not possible to produce the evidence they ask for, persons with owner trained ADs are being refused access.

A chat with the Human Rights Commission confirmed that if a service provider asks for evidence that is not possible for the person with an owner trained dog to provide (the PAT certification for non permanent WA residents or certification from an accredited AD training organisation in WA are two I can think of), it could possibly be classed as discrimination against persons with owner trained assistance dogs. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) who set policy for flying with ADs within Australia are now looking at possibly revising their policy after this was brought to their attention. A national companion animal course provider also requires unattainable evidence from persons with owner trained ADs before attending their course and we are working with them to see what alternative evidence can be provided.

Someone could point out to service providers that they cannot ask for evidence that is not possible to provide, but it is difficult to have this 'discussion' when you are standing out the front of a resturaunt where other patrons are looking at you with undisguised interest. Sometimes you just don't feel like being the centre of attention. You could go everywhere armed with a copy of the DDA and the Australian Food Standard 3.2.2 (just in case) but at some point the desire to dine at Resturaunt XYZ dissipates when it takes a herculean effort just to get in the front door. Yes, a complaint to the Human Rights Commission will help the service provider see the error of their ways but it doesn't help at the time. Something like a Letter of Authority from the WA Government would make it easier to gain smooth access at the time. Actually, national accreditation would vastly improve ease of access for owner trained ADs but we'll start with baby steps.

We've spoken with another WA based organisation to find out where they get letters for their puppy carers from and they are chasing up the information for us. Will post the results here.