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So a guy walks into a bar with a butt-biting emotional-support dog ...
By adamg on Tue, 10/03/2017 - 12:00pm
On the evening of July 20, a man who said he was a Marine walked into Game On on Lansdowne Street with what he said was an emotional-support dog. By the time he left, police and bar managers said, he slapped one woman in the face, punched a bouncer twice and unleashed his now snarling dog on the crowd, urging it to bite everybody.
In the end, the dog bit just one person, the manager, whom it chomped in the buttocks when he attempted to grab its leash, police and the manager said.
According to police and the bar, the man was talking to two women at the bar, when he became argumentative, to the point of slapping one of them. A bouncer moved in to get him out, at which point the man punched the bouncer in the chest and the chin, after which "he yelled at the dog to bite people in the bar," Officer James Lydon testified. The manager was then bit.
Game On declined to press charges and the man did not show up for the hearing. The board decides Thursday whether to take any action, but board Chairwoman Christine Pulgini doubted it would. The manager has gotten whatever shots he needed, bar attorney Dennis Quilty said.
"I'm just wondering if the emotional support dog needs an emotional support dog," he added.
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Comments
No charges?
Can't the police or the women who were slapped file charges, if the bar won't? Shouldn't someone do something to get this dog away from this violent individual? And if he is a Marine (which I doubt,) shouldn't the service be informed of this attack?
Only if he is an active duty
Only if he is an active duty Marine (which I doubt).
no more esas
Too many people using the ESA "accommodation" and trying to pass of their untrained pet as a service animal. im sick of seeing dogs in grocery stores, take out joints, cvs etc. service animals are trained not to slobber all over the food or piss on the floor. ESAs arent. Now i await all of the snowflake backlash for my post.
No backlash from me....
... and I'm a dog lover who takes his dog all over the place... to places where the dog is legally allowed to be or is invited in by the property owner...
Lookup MA Bill H.2277
This bill under consideration would clamp down on fake service animals. I hope it moves forward.
This bill makes no mention of
emotional support animals, only service animals. And as this guy never claimed his pet was a service animal, the bill is not applicable to this type of situation.
It would make it legal to deny non-service animals
"emotional support" animals are animals wearing vests, and often little more. They are not trained to handle human environments the same way that service animals do.
But businesses can find trouble if they deny such untrained animals from their premises.
The bill clarifies the difference between a trained and certified animal and a pet with a $10 vest.
Funny. Nothing I see in the language
says anything about requiring people with legitimate service animals to get a vest. And if this pointless legislation passes, then expect a flurry of lawsuits. Because requiring a disabled person to put a identification vest on their animal is no different than asking a person if they are really disabled.
Given that ADA already allows business owners to eject a service animal that is disruptive, there is no need for this legislation.
Whoosh
People put vests on pets to make them look official.
You don't get out much.
Except that the bill makes no mention
of any requirement for a legitimate service animal to wear a vest. Or is that like Question 2 - a "minor " detail to be worked out later?
Other way around
People put vests on their non-service dogs to make them look "official".
I'm fine if the animals take out joints
as long as they don't smoke them indoors. I don't see the problem with them carrying around their CVs, though, especially with all the debate around this.
Get it neutered
The guy, not the dog.
This guy
Sounds like a lowlife. It would be nice if someone pressed charges so this incident goes on his record.
Another person who doesn't
Another person who doesn't deserve a dog or any pet. There's a lady who hangs out at North Station and Haymarket regularly all day with a poor pitbull mix who wears a muzzle. She's always high or drunk and pays no attention to the dog. One day I saw her passed out in the station in 90 degree weather. The dog was still wearing its muzzle at 5:30 p.m. and it was growling at everyone walking by. I called the Transit Police and they already knew her very well. People like this should not have dogs. Next time I'm calling the animal rescue league. They don't know how to take care of them and love them.
Dangling modifier alert
Considering that this was a drunk at a T station
I'm thankful that the modifier is the only thing that's dangling.
Well, think of how worse the
Well, think of how worse the scene would be if he didn't have some emotional support via his dog.
Which emotion?
Maybe what we don't know is this dog supported his rage issues.
Emotional support animals are
Emotional support animals are not a thing. Stop accommodating them.
Agree. This dog trend has
Agree. This dog trend has gone way too far.
Yes
In particular, none of the regulations that require the accommodation of service animals apply to emotional support animals.
Aside.... Yes, the article mentions "dog" and "support", so it was accompanied by ads for the harnesses used to support the hindquarters of dogs with arthritis or other joint complaints.
There are laws giving a right
There are laws giving a right to have an emotional support animal in housing and on planes.
In other public places, the ADA applies, and it only covers service animals.
Not quite
They are a 'thing', but most people don't realize that they are separate from ADA service animals, and that you are free to ban emotional support or therapy animals in a way that you can't ban service animals. Generally the only protections they receive are in regards to renting - in many places, landlords can't exclude residents from having a therapy or support animal to fulfill a psychiatric need. But they can be disallowed from bars, stores, or other business locations freely.
Part of the problem is that the ADA prohibits certain questioning or examination of someone's service animal, so many business have historically not bothered rather than risk a violation. But with how people abuse this confusion, I imagine you'll see more and more businesses making the effort.
It is a thing!
I am just not sure you have to allow them into a bar...
People with disabilities are allowed to keep “service animals”, such as dogs that help the blind, deaf, mobility impaired, or even those with a mental impairment; but “emotional support animals” do not fit into this category. “Service animals” are trained for specific tasks that aid the disabled, while “emotional support animals” are not. Nevertheless, the law states that people who have disabilities must be allowed to have an emotional support animal, if there is psychiatric documentation to show that the animal helps ameliorate the disability. This is considered “reasonable accomodation.” Massachusetts court cases are following this trend.
https://blog.mass.gov/masslawlib/misc/emotional-support-animals-and-serv...
ESAs are not task trained like service dogs are. In fact little training at all is required so long as the animal is reasonably well behaved by pet standards. This means the animal is fully toilet trained and has no bad habits that would disturb neighbors such is frequent or lengthy episodes of barking. The animal should not pose a danger to other tenants or to workmen. But there is no requirement for fancy heeling or mitigating tasks since emotional support animals are not generally taken anywhere pets would not ordinarily go without permission (the exception being to fly in the cabin of an aircraft, even if the airline does not ordinarily accept pets).
http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/ESA
Its a super grey area
This is a super grey area.
Bob's point below is exactly that. There's a big difference between a service dog and a ESA. A service dog is trained and has to meet guidlines to be a service animal in terms of service, temperament, and other things. A ESA does not, so often the pet becomes more of a nuisance than helpful (as a service dog usually is).
The problem being is.. while service dogs are suppose to wear vests to identify them, many do not.. and many people who have an "ESA" buy the red vests online so people won't ask questions. (and I use the term "ESA" lightly here for folks who buy vests online.. you're just committing fraud in my opinion)
And most store and restaurant owners don't want to approach anyone and ask to verify if the dog is a ESA or a service dog. Because legally, you can't do that. And I feel sorry for the owner who did, and it was a service dog, not a ESA. Lawsuits would pile up very quickly. This is why most shop keepers won't do anything about it.. fear of lawsuits.
Why did they decline to press
Why did they decline to press charges?
Not a story.
Emotional support man bites dog. That's a story.
Wait, did he just march in
Wait, did he just march in and announce he was a Marine? I am so curious about when in the course of these events he felt he needed to share his credentials.
source
I'd love to have the original source for this story. I'll be writing to my reps in regards to the bill mentioned above, and I'd like to cite this story.
The original source
Is the guy who runs this website and goes to the Licensing Board every week.
SUPPORT DOG
If Police Officer did not witness the slap(assault) he cannot file charges. The slapee
Can seek a criminal complaint in the BMC clerks office.
Not true.....
The officer cannot arrest, but he can summons or request a probable cause hearimg.
Some people wouldn't recognize an illegitimate service dog
... if it bit them in the ass!
Needs an anger-management dog
Needs an anger-management dog.