On Wednesday, July 20, I had a shocking experience at a local Chinese restaurant that I’m sharing here in hopes that it may raise awareness about the laws concerning guide and service animals, and to shed some light on the blatant misconduct that is still all too common among business owners regarding the reception of a person accompanied by a service animal.
Yuba City, CA and surrounding areas are the places that have been by far the most rampant with service dog denials that I’ve frequented. I don’t visit restaurants very often, and yet I’ve experienced at least five separate instances of service dog denials or lack of awareness in the past 3 months, which is far too many. Some restaurant owners were very polite and receptive to gentle education on the rights of a guide/service dog team, but there have been a few who were blatantly rood to us and showed no consideration whatsoever. There have been two such experiences, and I’ll hi light the most recent first as it was the most severe.
Wednesday night, my boyfriend and I walk into the Chinese Garden in Yuba City, he with his white cain, and I was accompanied by my Seeing Eye dog, Arwyn. We requested a table for two, and the manager said that before we could be seated, she’d need to see some documentation for my dog. I politely informed her that showing any sort of identification for my guide dog is not required under the ADA, (Americans With Disabilities Act), but she insisted that the local health department authorized her to ask for certification. Not being completely sure of the laws in California, I showed her the graduation card I’d received from the seeing eye, and when we were seated, I checked in with some other local handlers and red through the guide and service dog laws outlined in the ADA. Once I was positive of my rights, I requested to speak with her and politely explained that her refusal to accept a person with a guide or service dog into her establishment due to the handler choosing not to present identification for their dog is a crime in the state of California. Furthermore, no questions should be asked of a handler who has a dog whose job is clearly apparent, as is the case with a person accompanied by a guide dog. She then reiterated her point about being authorized to do so by the local health department, because “dogs need to be healthy and clean to enter a Chinese restaurant”. She stated also that she doesn’t know everybody and their dogs, and how should she be expected to know which dogs are for which purpose? She followed up by claiming that if she didn’t request certification, then everybody would bring their dogs in and expect service. When I explained to her that the ADA and local state laws trump the word of the local health department on matters of disability rights, She finished by rudely informing me that she has the right to refuse service to whomever she wants on whatever grounds she sees fit. I shrugged, and The conversation ended there.
I’d like to take a moment to address all of these points individually.
1: The local health department has little to no bearing on the regulation of service animals and the rights of their handlers. Also, presenting certification for a dog provided by any organization is no guarantee of the dog’s level of training, nor their level of health and cleanliness, all of which are maintained largely by the handler, even in the case of dogs received from a specialized training program. There are no across-the-board standards that are acceptable for all service dogs, except that they should be expected to maintain good behaviour in public. Identification is no guarantee of this.
2: Needing certification due to one’s lack of ability to recognize genuine guide or service dog teams is simply a lack of education, or the continued presence of blatant ignorance, whichever you prefer. Especially in the case of a clearly well-behaved guide dog that wears very specialized equipment, the extra hassle should not be necessary. The other person I walked in with was clearly blind, as well, so I shouldn’t think it would take much to infer the purpose of my dog and validate her legitimacy. Any handler who requires the use of a service dog is responsible for maintaining an impeccable standard of behaviour on the part of the dog in public spaces, and any handler who does not do this either has a fake service animal, or should be removed from the premises for disruptiveness and negligence. In the case that a member of staff is unable to identify the reason for the dog, they are allowed to ask only two questions:
A: Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
B: What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
3: refusing service to a person because they are accompanied by a service animal is a criminal offence in the state of California and is grounds for legal action. Religious or cultural aversions, fear of dogs, allergies ETC are not valid reasons to deny a dog and handler team access to public spaces, whether they are food establishments, stores, doctor’s offices, public transport, or anywhere members of the public are permitted. Both the Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 and laws put in place by the state of California protect the rights of people who are accompanied by guide or service dogs. The ADA implicitly states that no certification is needed for a guide or service dog team to be granted access to all public places, and any violation of the ADA is a violation of the state laws, as well. I’ll attach relevant links for further reading at the bottom of this post.
A few months prior, I was faced with a very similar situation at the Taste Of India Bombay Lounge in Yuba City. I was at first told that I was unable to dine there because of my dog, and when I explained that it was unlawful to refuse us entry, the waitress tried to have us seated away from the other patrons because the dog might “bother them”. I blatantly refused this and chose my own seat. I was served, and the rest of the meal went without incident. She even remarked how well-behaved my dog was at the end, but the immediate discrimination hurts, a lot. I’m a normal person with a dog as my eyes, and it’s not like I’m the first one. The Seeing Eye has been around for almost 100 years, and the concept of guide dogs has been around for even longer.
My primary goal is always to educate, but I do think that there should be recourse for business owners who continue to discriminate, even when presented with the laws directly. I will be reaching out to the local health department for comment, as well as searching out local media outlets in an attempt to educate people on proper etiquette surrounding guide and service animals and to expose the ones who don’t want to learn. Not everyone likes dogs, but anyone who chooses to open a business to the public should do so with the understanding that guide and service dogs are a part of our society now, and are far more wide-spread than they once were. I believe that service dog etiquette should be a part of any employee’s training, especially if they are to have direct contact with the public on a daily basis. I’m sure this won’t be the last time, but I hope that the more stories like mine are shared, the easier life will get for guide and service dog handlers everywhere. The food has been great in America, but this isn’t the kind of welcome one would hope to receive when coming to live here. I’m hoping we can all do better. Included is a picture of a guide dog in harness for anyone who might be unfamiliar with the gear. This is one of the most traditional harnesses for guide work and is generally a good indicator of a true working team.
Relevant Links:
California Laws
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/ca-assistance-animal-california-assistance-animalguide-dog-laws
Service Animals Under The ADA
Random Acts Of Blindness 