August 2, 2010
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Disability Dog Banned
The dog of a disabled veteran has been banned from a supermarket after the dog defecated in an aisle.
The disabled veteran needs the dog for balance and to reach for “low-lying items.” The dog defecated in the aisle and the disabled veteran cleaned up the mess.
A spokesman for the store said they needed to protect the public’s health. Here is the link: Link
Should the disability dog be banned from the supermarket for defecating on the floor?
Comments (50)
No. Kids barf in aisles and don’t get banned.
I don’t think so. Needs the dog, and it isn’t like he left it there. He cleaned it up.
No
No. I think the risk is low most of the time, and he cleaned up the mess properly. I do not thnk dogs should be routinely allowed in grocery stores, but dogs who help their owners with disabilities should always be allowed despite an occasional mistake.
They should have one employee watch the dog outside while another employee helps the veteran do his shopping.
Or they should just let the dog crap.
No, I love to buy my groceries where dogs shit.
If it’s a working dog and he has papers and cleaned up the mess I don’t see why they should be able to bann the dog.
It depends, is is a Wal*Mart?
If it becomes a habit or is not properly certified, yes, but otherwise no. Disabled people need their service dogs.
And why the heck wasn’t the dog on a leash? Sounds like the owner was being dumb. It’s not normal for dogs to poop indoors. Mine isn’t even an inside dog and he won’t go in the garage or crate or hotel rooms or anything.
Is there not a leash law? If there is, the dog’s owner was violating the law. Otherwise, I think having disability rights to having a dog in a grocery store, restaurant, etc overrides whether the dog poops. Dogs poop. If the dogs are legal via disability and no other law is violated, the ban is probably illegal. But this is a weird story. Even though dogs poop, I’ve never heard of a trained guide dog doing this.
A service dog is trained not to poop in the aisle but who knows maybe he was having stomach problems that day?
Genuinely curious: if she can’t reach low-lying items, how come she was able to clean up the dog’s mess? I assume it was lying on the floor, which is low. Also, why was the dog not on a leash? Aren’t disability dogs usually supposed to be kept on a leash? And usually better trained than to poop indoors? How does that work?
No. An assistance dog wouldn’t do that unless something were wrong. The dog probably REALLY had to go.
No. Maybe the dog really had to go. If the owner cleaned it up properly, I don’t see the problem.
No. Maybe it was the food they sell that did it to the dog….lol…
Not if this person has papers proving its a help dog. Like someone else said, little kids barf in stores all the time. Aslong as it got cleaned up and wasnt something the dog did EVERY time it was in said store, they shouldnt be allowed to ban it.
It should be sent to a reeducation camp…
Obviously not. Who hasn’t ever had a puppy do the same thing in the kitchen?
awesome picture
That’s messed up. People need those disability dogs! We wouldn’t have dogs like that if they didn’t! wth.
ahh there’s two sides for me
1 its what the dog was trained for and its alot of help for the vetarn; they don’t kick out babies with dirty dipers, or the 5 year old who barfed- they just clean it all with the same mop
2 if that happened everytime they went to the store, then maybe so…and then there’s the whole “be considerate to people with allergies”
@joyouswind - This. LAWL!
If a particular guide-dog is seriously misbehaving, then yes, I think it could be fairly kicked out of the store.
The OP’s highlighted instance is a bit more questionable, but I also think Walmart acted within bounds. Dog-poop was probably a chance occurance, and the same dog in the same visit was probably unlikely to defecate again. But as a show to the other customers and as punishment for misbheavior, yeah, it wasn’t unfair.
After reading the extended article here: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/08/02/news/metro/doc4c563cf9ad476360379790.txt
I’m more unsure as to what I think. On one hand, yes, this woman cannot shop without the dog, is legally allowed to have that dog, and took responsibility for its messes; on the other hand, I can see where the store is coming from, particularly as the dog wasn’t on a leash and defecated “several times.” I don’t feel that’s proper service dog behavior. =/
No, unless it’s a repeated offended, like it poos every time it goes there. But seriously, there are accidents. Let the dog go.
Well the one dog sure should
First time warning, if it happens often….then take action. He cleaned it up.
oh my God you always have such hard decisions… haha I say give the dog another chance!
Not on a leash + defecated in multiple places = not a properly trained service dog. The store responded appropriately in this instance.
GOD NO! I mean, my mom works in retail, little kids have actually crapped on the floor at the store she works at before… I’m sure things like that happen, but they don’t ban young KIDS for such things. At least not to my knowledge. I mean, really, he needs the dog. And all living things have the potential for such accidents, even the best trained dogs sometimes just have to “go”. It didn’t kill anyone. The mess got cleaned up. The issue should be over there. He needs that dog. Like, if the store will provide personal assistance while he’s there for his whole visit and do the tasks the dog would help him perform, then yeah, maybe… but they’re not gonna do that. And that’s discrimination. Because now what is he supposed to do?
No
@SKANLYN - lol
thats really nasty, ive had a major accident in a supermarket where my fingernail got ripped off with blood everywhere and they told my mom to take me outside
bodily fluids from any animal is safety concern especially around food
The owner had the common courtesey to clean up his dog’s mess. I’ve seen parents let their children run wild and knock over displays, breaking jars and just leaving the mess behind. Same difference. Give the canine’s a break. They’re doing their job.
no… a person of any age could have a “mishap” due to illness or whatever that could potentially leak out… and they wouldn’t be banned.
No.. so what, are they going to ban EVERY aid dog now? Jesus.
No.
No.
Dog shit is nasty but this dog isn’t a Paris Hilton purse poodle- get over it and let the dog do his job.
The Hartford Courant has always done a terrible job and reports all the wrong facts to begin with- my family gets that paper regularly. We were appalled when they listed my homeless brother who does NOT live with us as a sex offender at our address. Point is – that paper is consistently unreliable.
I will wait until I hear something more concrete from other news sources to make a deduction. The Courant is not reputable.
No. Maybe the dog was just giving his opinion of the store. =P
A resounding no. Children vomit and defecate on the floor from time to time, that’s cleaned up with a bit o’ bleach in a spray bottle. Clean enough to eat off of, if you like a bleachy aftertaste.
I don’t think so.
When I worked at a Wal*Mart, we had people that pooped in our aisles every so often. None of them ever got banned.
@joyouswind - Exactly!
I don’t think the dog should have been banned from the store. Disability dogs are trained not to poop all over the place, so the dog must have REALLY had to go. Besides, the owner cleaned it up properly. @joyouswind - That’s a good point. They don’t ban kids from supermarkets when they barf on the aisles. Most of the time, the parents won’t even clean it up like this veteran cleaned up after the dog.
@imasilentheart - ”She” cleaned it up. Re-read the article. It said the vet was a “she.”
@MsTerree - Big fucking woop that I got the gender wrong. It isn’t the end of the world.
Not at all. People make worse messes when they get sick, shot, or spill something in an aisle.
Unless the dog was going on a crapping spree, there’s no reason to let a disabled man go without his four-legged helper.
that’s terrible! the dog can’t help that it had to go. parents CAN help that their kids are bratty and loud in the store but they aren’t banned from being let back in. so why ban the dog that’s helping a vet? I come from a military area, one where we actually respect those who fight overseas, unlike the ignorant workers at this shop
No. The man needs the dog, and he cleaned up the mess. Sometimes animals (and humans) have accidents. If a kid throws up on the floor, are they going to be banned?
@imasilentheart - ???