Gus, Hanni and I--in front of the Hank Aaron statue outside Miller Park in Milwaukee.
Gus is always happy to be at a ball game--especially on his birthday.
A fourth grader raised his hand Friday and asked,” What happens when you go to Wrigley Field?” We were at Emma Melzer Elementary School, doing the “q&a” part of our presentation. Meltzer School is in Morton Grove, a northern suburb of Chicago. Like most north-siders, the principal -and many of the students – at Melzer are Cub fans. And sometimes Cub fans can’t imagine going to any other park than Wrigley. “You mean, how does Hanni get me to a baseball game?” I asked. After all, I told them, Hanni has been to five different major league parks with me. And as it happened, Mike, Hanni and I were leaving the next morning for Wisconsin – it was our son Gus’ birthday, and we were taking him to a Milwaukee Brewers game.
At all the parks Hanni and I have gone to together (Seattle, St. Louis, Milwaukee plus Wrigley and US Cellular in Chicago) we’ve traveled “sighted guide” – a method you might remember from reading my My Date with Billy Balducci post.
“But a lot of times the people I’m there with are all men,” I said. “So Hanni guides me through the women’s bathroom by herself.” They laughed and laughed at that one. It was a killer!
The question about Wrigley gave me an opportunity to talk about something serious, too. The only time Hanni ever went with me to a game at Wrigley Field, the man taking tickets said he didn’t know if the dog was allowed. I pointed to Hanni’s harness, told him she was a Seeing Eye dog. He sent me to a different gate. The man at the second gate wasn’t sure. He’d have to get a supervisor.
Turns out that a week earlier someone had brought their puppy to Wrigley, claiming the dog was a service dog. The dog misbehaved, and fans sitting nearby complained. After that, the people working the gates were told to scrutinize anyone coming in with a service dog.
“The guy who brought the dog in with them was pretending he had a disability, just so his dog could come along,” I told the kids. “And that’s not right.” I didn’t have to explain ADA law, or how long the Seeing Eye and other pioneering guide dog schools had worked to get access legislation passed, or what backlash means. The kids understood. And they agreed with me. ”
That’s not nice!” one of the kindergartners in front said. She sounded troubled. That’s when I remembered. I hadn’t finished the story. The supervisor finally said we could go in, I assured them. “It just wasn’t right to make Hanni and me wait while everyone else got to walk right in.”
They agreed. After all, we might have missed batting practice. And everyone knows, duh, that batting practice is your best chance to get autographs. Or catch a baseball!
Unfortunately some people will use that as an excuse to have their pet dogs. Or some people thinking that emotional support dog teams have the same rights as service animal teams which they do not. Not to mention that emotional support animals are not specifically task trained. And then we have some service animal teams whether guides, hearing, mobility etc.,that are just poor or inexperience teams and all these factours ways heavy in the publics eyes. To me it wouldn’t matter if somebody came in with a pet or a service dog if that animal was unruly, causing issues then they would have to leave.
At least you didn’t have to wait really long for the supervisor to come and you didn’t miss the bating practice.
I know what you mean. To me there is an obvious distinction between the rights of people with emotional support dogs and those with service animals. My dog isn’t with me to help
me feel comfortable at a restaurant; she is there to allow me to GET to that restaurant in the first place. I physically couldn’t get there without her.
I know how any regulatory line can look arbitrary. And I know emotional support animals provide comfort and stress relief by their mere presence. I Just
worry what backlash will result from unqualified dogs — or as you mention, unruly service dogs — showing up in public places.
Heard that! lol. It is true there will be some backlashing going around. It’s been like this for many years now as place of businesses don’t stop to think about a case to case situation. Personally over 25 + years with my combinational dogs I’ve only had two majour access issues. Mostly due to the fact that people give out misinformation or have misconceptions of what is or isn’t acceptable to gain access. (ie ID and or Certification). I do not back down but keep my cool about myself.
Then these same individuals that are poor or have ESA that would use such papers, and claiming that businesses would have no rights, which is so wrong too. But that’s how misinformation gets around. I was even told by a business owner he didn’t want to be sued because this person had those qualified papers. Again papers do not make up a team. When I told the business and showed them the exact law which they appreciated, they look at service animal teams differently. (case to case as it should be).
Speaking about emotional support animals what muddy up the waters is the fact that the DOT and FHA both use the term Service Animals for these dogs. If they would just say they are Emotional Support animals then people would not try using that term (ie service animal) and they would comprehend that the ADA does not include them into the equation. Of course it is being written into the ADA more specifically now due to all this misinterperation.
All we can do is keep educating the public about what the real facts are. I just saw that there is a online ADA course for business which is free. So that’s something else we could let people know about. lol.
You’re right: education is the key. Do you have a url for that online ADA course for businesses, the one you say is free of charge?I could let people know about it via this blog!
People are so inconsiderate. Way too many people think it’s alright to ruin the reputations of all hardworking service animals by being fake and bringing uncertified animals into places where they are not allowed. I’m a first-time guide dog handler and I’ve already had some difficult situations in public places and it’s absolutely mind boggling to deal with people who are so rude. It’s not like Jim is hurting anyone. Ugh, so many stories as it is…
Hope there wont be too many of these pain-in-the-butt moments in the future, Beth. No one should even have to deal with this stuff in the first place.
Take care,
Sarah & Jim
Sarah, Sorry you’ve already had some hassles getting into public places with Jim. I’m curious: what’s your reaction? What do you say when this happens?
Hi Beth,
I heard about the publisher issue & Tribune post from Mike G. All I can say is that you are truly amazing and an inspiration to us all–you go girl!
Kisses to Hanni, but only on her break. 🙂
I hope you are well.
Jennifer
Good to hear from you, Jennifer! And I love the way you continue following the rules from afar – I will wait until Hanni’s harness is off before giving her those kisses from you.
As for my publisher, I am honestly thankful she requested I take that “Sarah’s Choice” post off my blog here. It motivated me to find a better outlet!
Sorry didn’t get back right away. We had some bad wind storms due to the hurricanes. Sure here’s the url for the online free course.
http://www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm
If you are interested in the ADA Restoration Act of 2009 you could find that at http://pwdsdawareness.freeforums.org as well as other information that’s up to date.
Sarah ~ To correct you here about uncertified. A True Service animal does not have to be certified to accompany a person with a disability. Under the ADA Rules and Regulations including the Restoration Act, Place of Business cannot demand ID’s or Certification papers for the individual to gain access. This is enforced by the Dept. of Justice in their question and answer updated 2008. Being that Service animals do not have legal rights those papers do not mean a thing anyway except on violating ones civil rights. People with disabilities have the legal rights.
I have even seen those with their service animals allow somebody else to take their SD into a store. So you see certification doesn’t wash nor does ID’s because that person wasn’t the one that has disabilities their friend does. Just to correct some misconceptions about certifications.
It ashamed that people with fake service dogs create problems for the real ones.
Yeah, fake service dogs are a problem, but if you ask me it’s the people who fake or exaggerate a DISABILITY who are the real rats.
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