Posted on 07/21/2011 11:43:22 AM PDT by rawhide
A Marietta McDonald's manager is accused of punching a mother who brought a service dog and autistic children into the restaurant.
A Cobb County warrant charges Tiffany Denise Allen with simple battery, simple assault fear and disorderly conduct.
According to the warrant, Jennifer Schwenker entered the Marietta McDonald's located at 1291 Bells Ferry Road with her children and service dog on July 12.
Allen, off-duty at the time, became irate that the dog was in the restaurant, the warrant says.
Schwenker explained to Allen the dog's purpose and told the manager the dog was legally allowed to be inside the establishment.
Allen continued to berate Schwenker, following her around the restaurant and even into a bathroom. During the incident, one of Schwenker's twins disappeared. The mother threw her cup to the ground and ran outside to look for her child, the warrant says.
Allen believed the cup was thrown at her and followed the mother into the parking lot, where she is accused of hitting her in the face.
Surveillance video shows several McDonald's employees holding Allen back, according to the warrant.
The warrant for Allen's arrest was signed July 15. She is not listed as having been in custody at the Cobb County jail.
An owner of the McDonald's, who did not want to be named, declined an interview but did say Allen no longer works at the restaurant.
The problem is that everything qualifies as a “service animal” these days. It’s impossible to ban dogs, birds, horses, or whatever from any public establishment because the owner can get some ditzy doctor to sign a letter claiming that the animal/amphibian/bird/whatever somehow helps that person.
Actually, under new regs that came into effect on March 15 of this year, only dogs, and perhaps in some cases miniature horses, can be service animals.
He is trained, and is used to children. He ignores them. We walk by a child care center playground every day. He does not bark, except one little yip if someone comes to the door, and is elevator trained.
There are quite a few handicapped elderly in our assisted living facility, and he is very accepting of being petted, but does not run up to people. He prefers to stay right by our side when in public.
For my husband’s stability, I am going to get one of those pet strollers for him to push as his Parkinson’s increases. I think this will keep him mobile a lot longer than his walker.
Think again. You can apparently order the service dog vests and people can and do use them to fly their non service dogs inside the cabin of airplanes and other places:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-04-08/news/fl-hk-fake-service-dogs-20110405_1_service-dogs-service-animals-guide-dog
I’ve actually seen very ill mannered dogs at the airport being passed off as service dogs. It’s really high time that they got a handle on this whole mess. If the law requires places to accept these dogs (and I’m sorry, pigs? forget it) then it’s fair to require basic obedience and that the dog be certified in some way. It’s also fair to require the owner to carry something to prove the dog is certified if the dog is going to be in a place that normally is restricted to pets. It has gotten past ridiculous.
“It is expensively illegal for a dog to wear the service dog garb if they are not a service animal and anyone who would fake that would be crazy to try.”
That “service dog garb” is sold over the internet to anyone who pays their money. It is not required, nor does it prove anything.
The reality is that there is far greater risk for a service provider in challenging the service dog status than there is for someone caught faking it.
I’m actually (though a dog-respector) always ambivalent about these “service dog” stories. (See other comments.)
However, from what I see here, the fault is largely with the McD fruitcake. She went off her rocker. She doesn’t even have a heart - a kid is missing possibly to get run over, and you have to go beat the woman up in front of her kids? Because of a coffee toss?
I can see the “mother” doing all those things you dismiss.
Sad but probably true. LOL!!
Havanese are one of the best breeds for anxiety disorders, imo. Love them.
If taking your doggy helps your husband, then you do IT! Prayers for your husband and for you. Being a caretaker is not an easy task at all even when it involves someone we deeply love. Please take care of yourself as well. I know, I know.. easier said than done but you need a bit of time as well. Prayers!
Then how would someone know that a service dog is a service dog?
Most people do not know that there is a big difference between a service dog and a therapy dog, although service dogs can be therapy dogs for the handicapped person.
People are not supposed to approach service dogs, and are not supposed to try to pet them. The advantage of having a service dog vest with the proper patches is that one patch says “Please do not pet me, I am working”
Owners of service dogs can carry cards to hand to others explaining that the dog is working, and to leave them alone. This would be very helpful to people like my husband, who is losing vocal cord control, and is now very hard to hear and understand.
If you are so out of control from distraction that you can’t restrain yourself from tossing a potentially dangerous object the direction of another person (the example given by allmendream was a coffee, and everyone knows the danger of McD’s coffee!), please stay at home or separate from your child in public until you can learn to overcome endangering others.
I’m very supportive of parents of, and caregivers for, persons with autism, but the condition doesn’t provide an excuse to endanger others.
Agreed. They seem far too loosie-goosie.
I was reading a German Shepherd Review from last month, including an article by a woman who claims to need her GS for her “panic attacks”.
The worst part of this is that she cries that her kind of problem can’t have a “trainer” like a mere Seeing-Eye Dog, which is so much simpler, you know.
She declares her type of handicap needs personal “training” and conditioning so the dog can hone in on the particular person’s issues and behaviors.
Fine. But it seems to me that is rife for fraud - every pet owner can buy a “SD” blanket and claim their dog is for keeping them “calm” or what have you.
They at least need an organization from which at least “judges” in that specialty can test the dog and owner and verify if it’s doing what is expected and is truly useful. They should give a cert which is more valid than any ol’ cert from any ol’ person.
You’d fit right in out here. I can’t tell you how many people seem to take their little dogs in those little covered strollers everywhere. I don’t particularly care, if they would leave them inside the stroller with the cover zipped, altho most of them don’t. I’m surprised we don’t have more kids bitten (maybe we do and no one talks about it) since most of the little dogs seem yappy and snippy with strangers. For the record, I love dogs and I don’t dislike small dogs, I simply don’t understand this new trend in which people think their dogs cannot spend one second alone at home.
Most of these small dogs seem quite stressed out in crowded stores, shaking and barking and cowering away from nosey children who try to approach them.
Your case seems a little different. BTW have you looked into some sort of service dog organization? Surely there is something like that (similar to Therapy Dog orgs)?
I meant to ping you to my reply, but goofed and left you off. Sorry.
Here’s what I can’t figure out:
Let’s say a gangbanger walks into a McDonald’s with a pit bull. When queried by the manager, he tells him that the pit bull is a “service animal” for his son who has “autzhiemersism”. Who is to say the dog has to leave? What if the dig bites someone or kills someone’s purse service dog? McDonald’s is liable because they allowed the dog in the restaurant (and they have the deep pockets).
It seems to me that if your dog is “working”, it should have some form of identification.
You must have a messy floor if you think this is acceptable behavior. How about setting the coffee cup on a table or placing it in a waste container instead of throwing it on the floor?
I’m glad to hear that. I was unaware there was a change.
No service dog should be ill-mannered! If a “so-called” service dog is acting up, then I completely agree with you. That should be a violation of the “service-dog” law, and major fines should be imposed on the owner.
That said, I have no experience with autism, and may be way off base. I wouldn’t take a service dog into McDonald’s with children in tow ~ even if one of my children was autistic.
I would use the drive~up window, and weather permitting, eat outside in a quiet place with the dog.
Sometimes people do not use common sense. There are places that my husband and I do not go, because we would inconvenience others. Just because we have “rights” doesn’t mean we have no responsibility to consider the needs of others.
The manager had no reason to attack this woman, but perhaps this woman used poor judgement as well.
“So if I imagine my dog is a service dog, then it is a service dog. Sounds like a fail to me.”
I imagined my German Shepherd is a registered Schutzhund titlist.
The SV judges disagreed.
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