Anthony Cruz depends on his service animal for a life saving-reason: His dog, named Dog, is a service animal who can closely monitor his 58 year-old owner’s blood sugar level, which can crash without notice due to Cruz’s medical condition.

When North Idaho College officials told Cruz he could not bring Dog to classes, Cruz took action.

“I’m not out for money, and I want to make that clear,” Cruz said. “It’s like you telling me to leave my wheelchair at home.”

After registering for classes, Cruz was referred from the Center for New Directions to the Center for Educational Access of the college when he requested several classroom accommodations, including the presence of his service animal and the use of a specialized chair.

Cruz was told his requests would be denied unless he produced an updated physician’s note. Cruz alleges that even after providing one, his request was denied. According to the American Disabilities Act, such medical documentation is not required, but here it was deemed not sufficient by the school, which is improper under law.

Cruz said college officials called him later and told him that both his chair and service dog accommodations had been later approved, but by then his class sessions had already begun and he had missed the first classes, so he declined to attend the college after all.

“I don’t think other people should have to go through what I did, that’s not reasonable accommodation,” Cruz said. “There’s different types of disabilities, there’s the physical you can see and there’s some that you can’t. What I have is something that you can’t see. I wish I could hang my heart out and show the mechanical heart valve that’s in there, but I guess that’s not possible…. A lot of people don’t understand that it’s not that easy to get a dog and slap on a vest and say it’s a service dog, because there is criteria you have to meet,” Cruz said. “First of all, you have to be disabled, and that’s through the definition of social security’s disability. There’s no such thing as partially, or 50 percent disabled. Either you are or you’re not.”

Cruz is in the process of evaluating whether to file a lawsuit, motivated by the desire to pave the way for other disabled persons so that they can hopefully avoid this type of situation.

It is the first day of school for many area students, but in one school district, there was a fight over whether a student’s service dog should be allowed in the classroom.

Getting on the bus today meant so much to 8-year-old Sean Forsyth. After months of uncertainty, he was finally given approval by the school board to allow his service dog in school.

On his first day of third grade, it was a monumental step for the Forsyth family as Sean got on board the school bus with his dog by his side.

Sophia was forced to stay home last school year. Getting permission from the Pine Richland School District became a battle for the Forsyth family that they weren’t willing to back down from.

“In second grade, I really missed her. I thought of her all the time. At school, every single thing. When I was working, while at recess, while at lunch. Thought of her all day,” Sean said.

“We basically said, there’s no reason to keep the dog out of the school. It’s a service animal. It’s providing a service,” B.J. Forsyth said.

Sophia is trained to help Sean, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s, which is a form of autism. The calming effect she brings is why it was so important for Sophia to be with him at school.

“She just gives me kisses every time I’m near her,” Sean said. “She makes me feel better whenever I’m nervous.”

In June, after receiving legal help and providing all the documentation necessary, Sophia finally got the approval the family and Sean were hoping for.

Sean has spent the last few weeks training with Sophia in school and on the bus preparing for today. The family said it feels like they broke down a wall.

“Once they see this is a success, there won’t be that barrier there anymore,” B.J. Forsyth said.

Moving forward, the family said they hope to keep the lines of communication open with the school district and make any modifications necessary.

The Pine-Richland School District issued this statement today:

“The district takes all requests seriously, especially when it’s in the best interest of the child.

To comply with the American Disabilities Act, the family needed to show what specific task the service animal performed.

The family has done so since, which allowed the district to determine that the request fell within those guidelines.”

Cole Hein suffers from a medical condition called apnea. A person with apnea can stop breathing unexpectedly, with very little notice. Cole has needed constant supervision since the day he was born, because of the unexpected apnea attacks which can strike at any time.

In 2005, Bingo, a specially trained Jack Russell terrier, came into Cole’s life and changed his life (and the lives of his family members) forever.

Bingo has watched over Cole, being a constant companion and ever-vigilant service dog. Bingo was there for Cole when Cole was in the hospital for numerous surgeries, and is ever at Cole’s side as his alert companion.

Unfortunately, 13-year-old Bingo is suffering from a life-threatening disease.

But Cole is not going to let Bingo pass on without first giving his friend the kind of support and love that Bingo has shown for Cole.

Cole has created what he calls a “lick it” list for the service dog. Here’s the list from the Facebook page the family has put together to honor Bingo:

1) This is where the Lick It List comes from Cole would like his friends and family to send Bingo dog treats from where ever they live so that Bingo can ‘TASTE” world.

2) Take Bingo for one last “public” outing to Ruckers. It is a place that you go and play video games etc…

3) To walk around the block twice with Bingo but Cole broke it down to 1 block one day and then the 2nd block the next day.

4) A photo shoot with just Bingo and Cole (this has already been arranged)

People everywhere agree that Cole is an amazing boy, with an amazing service animal.

The page says the family is not accepting monetary donations, but asks folks to send treats or make donations to their local shelters. After all, Cole wants to help animals everywhere.

Video below! See the world’s tallest therapy dog. He made a special visit to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, San Diego, CA today.

Bentley stands over four feet tall when on all fours, and he’s even taller than most people when on his back two legs!

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

Recently, disabled veteran Eric J. Sloan and his service dog, Rocky, were refused access to a restaurant because of Rocky’s presence.

“This was the first time anything like this ever happened to me,” said Sloan, 40, who has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “It’s hard to deal with this. It was very insulting.”

Police cited Qui F. Wang, the restaurant owner, with discriminating on account of a service dog. Wang faces a fine.

Sloan’s lawyer said he is planning to file a claim against Wang for violating Sloan’s rights.

Terry “Grizz” Hayhurst  considers his service dog Nia his left hand gal, but both were denied entry to a local library when he was simply trying to attend a public meeting at the Central Arkansas Library System’s main location, but he ended up being arrested — facing a charge of criminal trespass.

“Nia’s been trained specifically as a balance assist dog,” he said. “I got her when she was six weeks old and she’s seven and a half now. She went through about a year and a half of training.

Hayhurst was disabled after a spinal cord injury, and he said it’s difficult to walk without Nia’s assistance. “She helps to balance me out, because my one leg is significantly smaller than the other. Some people don’t understand about service dogs, but I’m in a good position because I’m obviously a cripple.”

According to Roberts, library security officers weren’t sure of Nia’s service dog status or Hayhurst’s disability. “This is a dog on a retractable leash that just looks like my pet dog. The person who has it doesn’t appear to have any obvious disability,” he said. “I think a  reasonable person who looks at those images might conclude this is not a service dog.”

“I told them she was a balance assist dog, which is specifically listed as a service dog use in the ADA,” Hayhurst said. “I answered both questions they were allowed to ask, and I even answered the question of ‘What is your disability?’ even though that’s a complete violation.”

“They wanted to see the dog’s registration — there’s no such thing,” he said. “I tried to show them a copy of the ADA, but they weren’t interested in seeing that information.”

According to Kaitlin Lott, who was attending the meeting Hayhurst was headed to, she can’t remember if security asked what the dog’s tasks were or if Hayhurst answered.

“But I do remember them asking for documentation for the dog, and he told them that wasn’t required under the ADA. Then they asked him what his disability was,” she said. “I can only hope all this is a misunderstanding.”

According to the ADA guidelines, officials are allowed to ask if the animal is a service dog and what tasks it’s been trained to perform. However, officials cannot ask about a person’s disability or require paperwork be provided regarding the dog’s training.

KARK was told by an ADA specialist that if someone refuses to answer the question regarding the dog’s trained tasks, the business or public facility can request the dog be removed from the building. However, according to that specialist on the ADA hotline, a business cannot require the person to leave or deny them services.

Hayhurst believes this is an example of the need for education about the ADA, and he thinks the experience is a misunderstanding, one that may ultimately be worked out in court.

“There’s just a lot of misconception. Frankly, this is something most people don’t have to deal with,” Hayhurst said.

According to Roberts, security is trained on the guidelines of the ADA and anyone who is covered by the law is welcome in the library, including those with service animals.

“If it turns out this animal was a service dog, and we’re not saying it isn’t, but if we were wrong we’ll be the first to apologize,” Roberts said. “We’ll eventually get to the bottom of what it was.”

Loki, a 5-month-old German shepherd, is a service dog helping Kylen, 6,who has mild cerebral palsy, epilepsy and Tourette’s Syndrome.

On July 16, 2012, Kylen’s mother, Kylen and Loki visited a Jo-Ann Superstore when an employee shouted, “Get out! Get out of here with that dog!”

Kylen’s mother said a Facebook posting she made about the incident has drawn more attention than she expected.

“I did not do any of this to get (attention),” she said. “I wanted an apology and for the staff to be educated.”

Company spokeswoman Beth Shivak released a statement addressing the incident on Monday.

“At Jo-Ann, all aspects of customer service are important to us. We are committed to full compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, including the service animal requirements, as indicated by the signage on our doors stating ‘service animals welcome.’

“We sincerely apologize if the reported events happened as described, and will continue to educate our team members with regard to our expectations,” she said.

“I could have called the police. I could have sued. That is not my purpose. My purpose is education. … Ignorance is not an excuse to treat people poorly,” the mom said.

For more, see http://triblive.com/news/2304018-74/roberts-dog-service-loki-animal-kylen-son-ann-incident-store

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Makes CRPD Statement in Senate Record: Emphasizes the importance of moving the CRPD forward to ratification!

As the Senate session closed on Thursday, August 2, Senator Reid made a point to state his support for the bipartisan effort to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Senators Durbin (D-IL), McCain (R-AZ), Kerry (D-MA), Moran (R-KS), Coons (D-DE), Barrasso (R-WY), Harkin (D-IA), and Udall (D-NM) have all joined together to lead the support of the CRPD.  In his statement, Senator Reid acknowledged this tremendous bipartisanship and the importance of ratifying the CRPD:

“This Convention is a another step towards ensuring that all people with a disability, in any country, are treated with dignity and given the right to achieve to their full potential . . . Just like passing the Americans with Disabilities Act, ratifying this Convention is, quite simply, the right thing to do.” Senator Reid, Senate Majority Leader