Denver, County Colorado Service Dog Battleand other comments

[Criminal Justice Major Extraordinaire]

Hi, all,

Here is what is currently taking place in Denver County Colorado as far as service dogs: what is ligidiment or not ligidiment as a service dog.

All of this was talked abount on 9news around the end of last year.

http://www.9news.com

www.9news.com

When I went to take Odie to the vet on December 31, 2013, I ran into the sargent officer of Animal Control, Sargent Paul.

I wanted to confirm a story which I heard on the news in reference of service dogs , that I heard the city and county of Denver is coming down tougher with the law.

Officer Paul confirmed that yes, the law in reference of service dogs is getting hard for several reasons.

We have people still trying to claim their dog is a service dog and when asked about what tasks the the dog performs and how or what way does it help.

The individual isn't able to prove their dog is in service.

They also start to become defensive.

I could be wrong on this one, but from what I have read on most of the service dog schools web sites, a vest, informational card and photo ID are must.

The dog also must be properly socialized and important canine citizenship tests before the end of training.

The part I'm about to tell you is true from what happens next in this post.

There were four incidents which took place in Denver, colorado where someone claimed their American bull Dog is a service dog and disgustingly, the dog bit four individuals, causing those people to end up having to be taken by paramedics to the emergency room for treatment.

The subject of these four biting incidents has now been under investigation given that when they were asked that if the American bull dog is a real service dog, in what ways does he'she help and what tasks does it perform.

The officer of animal control informed me in person that the handler couldn't even pull papers out on the dog and the handler's statement was they couldn't prove where the dog came from.

Another good reason why it's a good idea to have information on what school your dog is trained at and an ID card.

As far as I know the person's dog that has done biting four times is in serious hot water with the law.

I imagine that the dog will be put down as of result for the four biting incidents and it wouldn't surprise me if the American bull dog breed may be considered to be apart of the dangerous dog breed band list.

These types of incidents as the AC officer quoted that this is all caused by humans for not properly training our canines proper behavioral manners.

She also told me that a well-behaved service dog would not behave in this type of manner one big as they are not supposed to be known for biting an individual out of the blue.

The second part of this has to do with the fake service dog scams that continuously is reaching high peak.

When my friend Amanda Dreher and I were having a phone conversation on this, she informed me  that the school her hearing dog Louie was trained from International Hearing Dogs put out an email to all of their hearing dog teams to be aware that they must have the photo ID of their dogs and be prepared to pull out the photo ID if they start to run into problems with accessibility.

Amanda told me that she'd rather have someone question her in regards of Louie and what he was trained for upon the tasks and help he provides.

Going back to Denver Animal Controlll.

I did ask officer Paul some questions on how Animal Control is able to identify what is a service dog or not in their eyes.

Officer Paul told me the way Animal Control is able to figure out a properly trained service dog and fake one by overseeing the behavior of each canine.

She told me that an actual service dog that has gone through an organization who takes the time and effort to put in to the dog's training is a qualified service dog.

When I asked question #2 on when can they pick up that the dog isn't acting as a proper trained service dog.

Officer Paul let me know that if they see the dog isn't trained correctly and they start charging at a working dog team and the owner doesn't put a stop to it, there's already signs indicating the dog isn't a service dog but an il-behaved pet.

The third question I asked was in part of owner-trained service dogs if people decided to go the route of owner training, how would AC recognize owner trained service dogs.

Officer Paul stated that it would be best and recommended that owner trained service dogs must have a guide dog harness or vest on with a harness sign or the vest having patches on either side,stating the dog's work purpose.

Since the American bull dog biting incidents and more and more people are failing to understand that pulling scams with the service dog ordinance is ruining it for those that like to be partnered up with a working dog, they have no idea what it is doing to those who really do need to have a service dog with them at all times.

I'm not sure on how other states handle this, but I know here in Denver, Colorado that if your service dog does bite an individual if he/she happens to be defending his/herself, the handler, by law, must report the incident immediately.

If user fails to report the incident, it can be a huge, hefty fine that automatically comes out of the person's pocket.

Another law in the state of Colorado is all pet/service dogs must be vaccinated for rabies.

Failure to have the canine vaccinated for rabies is illegal and if a dog who injures a person during a biting incident sends the victim to the hospital for automatic rabies treatment.

During intense stuff like this, all that can be hoped for is the dog biting victim walks away with no rabies.

When Freedom David Berry almost attacked someone at Westwood College nine years ago when a man was trying to help me by holding the door for a building, I immediately contacted Animal Control the following business day and made them aware of what happened and asked what further actions did I need to take.

They recommended I contact the guide dog school Freedom was trained at and get further assistance from a trainer.

I was very lucky during that case as he had all of his shots up to date, mainly the rabies one.

Eventually, the heart breaking decision had to be made that Freedom needed to be retired.

That's when I ended up with Odie the same time.

I can understand how some guide dog handlers feel when having that partner beside them and what it feels when that four-legged furry individual isn't there.

I've been there plenty of times when I've had to leave my worker behind.

The lady in the story which I posted to the list yesterday has a good reason for feeling vulnerable, but I wasn't there to witness her situation or know about it in person.

The part of the article I sent where the person of the attacking dogs's claims were that the first dog became defensive of his little daughter there or that he loves dogs and wouldn't want to see anyone's guide dog get hurt, that was enough to wake up the angwish monster inside of me.

If he truly was a support of guide or other assistance dogs, then why didn't he put a stop to his dogs' unexceptable behavior before the attack happened?

Maybe on the inside of him,  he might care, but the reading of comments may feel it's just a bunch of excuses is what gets me most.

I could be uncertain here, but it just seems that in each article I read, I feel as if I'm coming after one or more unexceptable answers from person after individual.

I, definitely, don't find that when a guide/assistance dog handler's partner is attacked, I don't see anything such as an unexceptable saying coming from them and after reading their part a few times, I don't find anything wrong with their statements.

It's the pet dog owner's statements that really get to me the most.

Now back to part of vulnerable...

I confess that since Odie is now a medical alert response service dog, I find myself vulnerable when he isn't with me, more because of not knowing when a convulsive grand mal seizure may strike.

Although I do have the capability of being able to feel when one might be coming on, there's times when one can hit really fast without any warning.

When Odie is beside me, he's able to let me know twenty-thirty minutes in advance if a convulsive grand mal is coming on.

He picks up on them by his strong, sense of smell.

Although I can't visually see him looking at me straight in my eyes, I automatically put my hand on his head to feel what is going on.

His head will be pointed toward me.

I check to see that his nose is facing in my direction along with his eyes.

His eyes will feel mor narrow then what they would be when he is alerting.

Normally, Odie's eyes are fully relaxed and opened wide.

When he goes into alert mode, they become narrow.

I also admit at times when I've not listened to him, he will become more persistant and begin to push me down toward the floor.

My next project I need to look into is figuring out where I can go to have a photo identification done for Odie is I should ever be questioned about his ability of being a service dotg.

Although it would be great that I can attempt to get this done, I know for sure that it won't stop people from trying to pull a scam.

If I can find the ordinance of service dogs for the state of Colorado, I will post the link for it.

Sorry for such a long email.

Just had to really get all of this off of my chest.

Sincerely:

Bibi and son Odie