By Michelle Ashworth
February 13, 2009
Reedsport, Ore.--The family of a diabetic Oregon girl is being told to choose between their child's special service dog and their home. The family was overjoyed when they received a diabetic alert service dog, but now their landlords are forcing them to give up the animal or move out.
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Comments
Family Forced to Give Up Service Dog
I am grateful to KEZI for reporting on stories like this. Please let us know if this outrageous criminal of a landlord continues with eviction proceedings. The landlord should be ashamed of themselves! Aren't they breaking Federal Law??? I would love to see a lawyer step forward to help this family file a discrimination law suit.
thank you
thank you for the story. both my daughter and my granddaughter also have a diabetic alert service dog, so i know fully well what a life-saver these dogs can be. It is OUTRAGEOUS that this family is being asked to move based on the dog, which serves as a vital tool to help the family manage thier daughter's disease. Please provide follow ups to this story so that we might know how the issue is resolved. I can't believe that this landlord is heartless enough to treat the family this way - or that the landlord is so ill-informed of federal laws!
Service dogs
No matter what the landlord thinks, but, as a person with a hearing impairment and a Cochlear Implant, a dog certified as a service dog is exactly what they are a SERVICE DOGS, they are federally protected by the federal law under the ADA and I believe a Diabetic Service dog is federally protected within the ADA as well, I would tend to bet there is a basis for a discrimination lawsuit in this story? I am not an attorney, but, I would hate to be in the landlords shoes saying he or she made an honest mistake and still having to pay the high price of defending themselves in court and losing the battle all together!
Inaccuracies in the story
Dear all,
This landlord has not violated the federal law because service dogs in training are not covered by the ADA. The law only protects task trained full fledged service dogs. They may be violating Oregon State Law (http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusorguidedoglaws.htm) which protects service dogs in training. At ten weeks old this dog is a puppy in training and the family may need to provide proof that the dog is in formal training and/or connected with an organization helping them train the dog. Letters from doctors only say the person can benefit from a dog, they are not dog trainers and cannot vouch for the dog meeting the standards set by the ADA (http://www.ada.gov/reg3a.html#Anchor-36104). This story serious lacks pertinent information; I, for one, am disappointed. Since, they do have a doctors letter for need they may also be covered under the Fair Housing act as an emotional support animal while in training http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/infosheets/fhinfosheet6.html.
Melissa Mitchell and SD Shiloh
http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com
reply
I believe that people of all ages should have the right to benefit from animal companionship, as long as this is managed responsibly. So we’re encouraging all housing and residential care providers to develop clear and carefully considered pet policies.
marire sani