Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room

Doctor bars guide dog from waiting room

A guide dog for a visually impaired Bensalem man was kicked out of a local doctor’s office, but the doctor said she had the right to do so.

But, according to a lawyer and advocate for the disabled, the Lower Southampton doctor’s actions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“You cannot exclude service animals except in very specific situations,” said Rocco Iaculla, an attorney with the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania. “Unless the animal is out of control or not housebroken or someone nearby has a severe allergic reaction, you must permit them in any area that the public is permitted. It has to be more than someone feeling uncomfortable with an animal present.”

Dr. Priya Punjabi argues that it is her right to determine who enters the property and that a large animal could scare or upset her patients.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/bensalem/doctor-bars-guide-dog-from-waiting-room/article_2bb1009f-5a51-5350-bb2f-6783c4767b5a.html

Everytime I read one of these stories where dogs cause friction with people, the person who doesn't like the animal tends to have a non-european name. It seems like there is just a cultural difference between how the western world feels around dogs, especially large dogs, and how the non-western world does.

This is about the doctor knowingly breaking the law after being informed about it.

The only reason I mentioned it is because the doctor herself does have a noneuropean name and remarked about being afraid of dogs. That and my natural curiosity as someone who owns several dogs, some rather large, who notices most people off put by them tend not to have been raised in a strictly western environment.

from what I have heard and experienced. My niece married into an Indian family and my sister says that the new in-laws are quite iffy about dogs and that my sister's dog will need to stay at the boarding kennel when they come to visit.

who have had little contact with animals are often not comfortable even around indoor trained animals. Not sure if that would be reflect non european names, but I am just saying it is related to experience.

There's no excuse here for this doctor's behavior.

People have sympathy for those who are challenged and they like animals, especially service animals that are so dutiful and loyal.

The doctor will have her regrets well before and long after the law is done with her.

The doctor should probably think about making her waiting room larger to accommodate people. If it's so small a large guide dog takes up significant floor space, as she relates in the article, then a couple of wheelchairs aren't going to fit either.

Whether she knows it or not, the doc is telegraphing the idea that she doesn't want disabled patients.

Also, I have always been afraid of large dogs until very recently. But, I have never been afraid of a working dog. Ever. One of my friends from college had a very LARGE dog, what seemed to me an outssized spaniel, mastiff sized, that he named Brutus. I even liked Brutus. Everybody did.

She was informed of the law and knowingly chose to break it. Her "phobia" isn't an excuse; neither is her floor space.

http://www.nagdu.org/laws/usa/pennsylvania.txt

ENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania Statutes, P.L. 208, Act 72, 8/67 amended 6/72, Sections 1 through 11; Penalty - Title 18, Section 1, 1980 Pennsylvania statutes guarantee a blind person the legal right to be accompanied by a dog guide in all accommodations, which are made available for public use. The statutes further guarantee equal housing accommodation to dog guide users in both the rental and purchase of housing. Public accommodations under Pennsylvania law and regulations include restaurants, hotels, places of resort and amusement, and public transportation. (Sect. 3) Housing includes rental, and leased residential property, as well as negotiations covering the purchase of property. (Sect. 3) Violation: Enforcement of the above enumerated rights is available through the state's commission on human rights, and a person who practices unlawful discrimination is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both. (Sect. 11, Title 18, Sect. 1)

It took me years to overcome a fear of dogs, but never once did a guide dog make me nervous.

they could say no if they wanted to. The patients in the waiting room love it. :)

I adore dogs and am not personally fond of people that don't like them, but the law is the law and that's got nothing to do with personal preference. I would prefer to be able to take my friendly dog everywhere but I'm not permitted to do that either.