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Veteran must surrender emotional support dog
Orlando Sentinel ^ | December 23, 2017 | Mary Shanklin

Posted on 12/23/2017 4:19:56 PM PST by billorites

Seventy-year-old Robert L. Brady has until Jan. 11 to give up Bane, the mixed-breed sidekick that his psychologist deemed as an emotional support dog.

His Conway-area condominium association won an arbitration order Dec. 12 requiring the Vietnam veteran to surrender the 4-year-old dog because it exceeds the community’s 35-pound weight limit for pets. Bane weighs about 41 pounds. The canine now faces an uncertain future even as assistance dogs have gained greater access to communities, restaurants and shops.

“The reason I don't want to lose him is that he keeps my mind off the war and everything. He's just a wonderful companion,” said the widower, who retired last year from working as a theme-park bus driver. “My life would be lost without a good companion and that's why I'm doing all I can to keep from having to get rid of him.” Bane Bane's fate is uncertain since he exceeds community weight limits but is deemed an emotional support dog. (Orlando Sentinel)

Brady’s attorney, Jonathan Paul, said the association discriminated by looking only at the dog’s weight without considering the disabled military veteran’s documented need for an emotional support animal. He said they are also seeking guidance under federal fair housing laws aimed at protecting housing rights of disabled residents.

Homeowner and condo associations are among those grappling with the boundary lines for emotional support dogs. Unlike service dogs trained to assist disabled people with daily tasks, emotional support animals don’t require training. They can be any species and require no certification to assist owners who have psychological disabilities, according to a June article published by the National Institutes of Health. In Florida, one association lawyer is seeking legislation to further clarify issues related to emotional support animals.

(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hoa; ptsd; veterans; workingdogs
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To: Redwood71

Rules are rules.


41 posted on 12/23/2017 5:31:38 PM PST by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: Fresh Wind

“For those who think that tyranny is dead, they need only to observe a homeowners association to disabuse them of that notion!”
Source, unknown


42 posted on 12/23/2017 5:33:51 PM PST by BatGuano (You don't think I'd go into combat with loose change in my pocket, do ya?)
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To: billorites

Not a fan of ‘emotional support animals’. Limit things to real service dogs.


43 posted on 12/23/2017 5:46:43 PM PST by PAR35
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To: billorites

Condo commandos are power hungry under achievers. Their position has the only influence and sense of accomplishment that they have in their pathetic lives. They like to make orthers as miserable as they are personally. Otherwise, they are very unhappy, unfulfilled people.


44 posted on 12/23/2017 6:00:15 PM PST by Sasparilla ( I'm Not Tired of Winning.)
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To: MD Expat in PA

A common theme in my industry is the passenger who is allergic to a pet on an airplane and cannot be moved. The person who is toting the emotional support animal is usually not the one who gets off..


45 posted on 12/23/2017 6:01:40 PM PST by cardinal4 ("Sat stonefaced while the building burned..")
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To: billorites

Sad and outrageous.


46 posted on 12/23/2017 6:01:56 PM PST by doug from upland (Why the hell isn't Hillary Rodham Clinton in prison yet?)
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To: Fresh Wind

Most likely run by North Eastern Heathen Liberals.


47 posted on 12/23/2017 6:23:39 PM PST by carmen2017
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To: billorites; All
A better excerpt would have included these key facts buried in the article. It's not his dog. It is his adult children's dog. He took the dog in when the place where the grown kids live booted the dog over a year ago.

"The situation is complicated because Brady’s adult children resided in a nearby Orange Tree Village condo and kept the dog there until they were cited more than a year ago by the association, the (condo's) attorney added."

48 posted on 12/23/2017 6:26:46 PM PST by kristinn (Serving ten to life in paradise)
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To: billorites
Even many of the neighbors who buy into these things become control freaks. My buddy that lived in one for a few years nicked named most of his neighbors. He told me about the lieutenant, the sergeant, the lifer, the warden, the snitch, and a few others I forgot. ☺
49 posted on 12/23/2017 6:28:00 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: billorites

Depends on the type of dog. But if he knew the rules before hand he needs to put the dog on a diet.


50 posted on 12/23/2017 6:28:14 PM PST by stockpirate (I've been blocked on FB for posting true stories about Mueller & sex claims aginst Trump)
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To: billorites

It should not be hard to show that the dog is an service dog under ADA. I believe the psychologist erred in ignorance when calling the dog an emotional support dog. Many people do not realize there is a difference. If the dog assists with an actual recognized disability changing the designation should not be hard.


51 posted on 12/23/2017 6:45:37 PM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: wastedyears

No. They are not. Emotional support dogs are not protected under ADA. I don’t remember how it works with the Fair Housing Act. The condo is probably subject to FHA. Not sure about any state version.


52 posted on 12/23/2017 6:48:16 PM PST by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: PrairieLady2

“I’d live on the streets or in a tent before some public tyrant tried to intimidate me out of MY dog!”

Been there - done that. The dogs lived with my Husband and I until they were too old to live longer. It was worth the sacrifice.


53 posted on 12/23/2017 6:56:34 PM PST by Tomato lover (very grateful to be alive)
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To: Fresh Wind

What do you call a homeowner association??

Roommates!


54 posted on 12/23/2017 7:01:29 PM PST by TheNext (Fake Elections have no BALLOT PICTURES!)
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To: tired&retired

Yes. The Hillary way does work.
Dig up dirt on your boss and they become agreeable.


55 posted on 12/23/2017 7:08:03 PM PST by TheNext (Fake Elections have no BALLOT PICTURES!)
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To: billorites

HOA’s seem to be out of control with busy bodies on these boards with to much time on their hands so they make up these inane and stupid regulations. They really are an abomination.


56 posted on 12/23/2017 7:14:52 PM PST by Captain Peter Blood
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To: cardinal4

On a plane. , People with health issues should always come first! Pets belong in heated cargo in a crate with drugs, if necessary, period.


57 posted on 12/23/2017 7:18:19 PM PST by acapesket (all happy now?)
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To: wastedyears

More likely the Fair Housing Act. I was told by a HOA, prior to purchase that I wasn’t allowed a 6 foot fence for my autistic child escape artist. If I had wanted to lawyer up I could have easily won, with recent case precidence. I chose not to buy there because who wants to live surrounded by @$$holes.


58 posted on 12/23/2017 7:19:40 PM PST by USNBandit (Sarcasm engaged at all times)
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To: billorites

I hate HOA and have been free of one for the past 4 years. I am proud to say that I took every opportunity to piss them off by ignoring their letters about my yard or extra car parked out front.

It pays to be the neighborhood weirdo. No one wants to mess with you beyond a threat.


59 posted on 12/23/2017 7:20:13 PM PST by Rebelbase (The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.-- H.L. Mencken)
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To: billorites

It doesn’t make any difference to me whether they let him keep the dog or not. I live all the way across the country. I don’t make Florida law. But we live in a world where “rules” are stretched all the time whether someone gets hurt or not. We are competitive with an organization that lives off the re-interpretation of laws for their own needs all the time. I believe in following the laws if for nothing else than pride in myself, personal honesty, or living up to the expectations of family, friends and my God.

There was nothing in hiding on this situation. He signed the contract. He knew of the rule within it when he penned it.

He has three options at this point, try to get the rule changed at the lowest level, give up the animal for a smaller one within the weight limit as stated as the dog requires no training, or move. Otherwise he is breaching the contract as no law enforcement will declare it unconscionable since it directly violates the laws and determinations as to position along with his signing it thus accepting it’s terms as he is more than 18 years old.

Unconscionability is a sgined doctrine in a contract law that describes terms that are so extremely unjust, or overwhelmingly one-sided in favor of the party who has the superior bargaining power, that they are contrary to good conscience. An entry in a contract for the size of an animal not a disability animal, but nothing more than a pet, doesn’t reach the levels required for extreme unjustness.

rwood


60 posted on 12/23/2017 7:45:19 PM PST by Redwood71
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