Man pepper-sprayed, Tazed over dog in McDonald's restaurant

The guy claimed it was a service animal; the manager had his doubts. (I was in a Portland Chipotle restaurant over the weekend and a young couple sat next to me with their dog. Employees saw the animal and let it be.) (Wisconsin State Journal)

Comments

[lynn]

the article does not say what made the manager question the man after he (said manager) allowed the dog to stay. and usually, the person using a dog assistant has the papers to prove and maybe a blue cover for the animal.

the manager may have some serious trouble if the "active investigation" proves the man and dog were legit. that disabilities act is a beiotch.

[twerp]

Sounds like all involved are assholes. It sucks when people can't stand up for their rights without getting tased or sprayed anymore. If he's legit, he should sue the restaurant and the pd. Reminds me of segragation...back when cops used firehoses on black people protesting.

[Dick C. Normas]

Why would anyone make their poor dog go in a McDonalds?

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

It sucks when people can't stand up for their rights without getting tased or sprayed anymore.
---------------------------

Briefly following the officer's request (order) to take the discussion outside, could have saved him a tase and or a spray.

Just because you wait for the right time to make your case rather than refusing to cooperate from the get go doesn't mean you didn't stand up for your rights.

If he stepped outside and informed the police that the matter was currently being investigated, I'd think they'd at least check it out.

This is touchy. I think we'd all agree that we don't want to deny people with disabilities. But at the same time, we don't want anyone with a dog to be able to take them anywhere they want unless their disability is legit. And it seems the jury is still out on this guy.

[buddy]

Dog or no dog... you aren't eating then you do not have a right to be there. It said that he finished eating. What was he doing in there? Blogging?

jim romenesko tased my dog at mcdonalds

[Lou Sussler]

"representatives of a business may ask if an animal is a service animal or what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but they cannot require special identification cards for the animal"

Why the hell not? We can't park in a handicapped spot without a special tag or plate, we shouldn't be able to bring our animal into a place of business without being able to prove that it is indeed a service animal.

[RockyMtnMac]

I don't see why the law can't be changed to allow for proof of service animal. Your rights under the disabled act are not in danger if you simply have to carry a license for the service animal you use (the animal to be licensed, not the person).
...a little bit of common sense here would go a long way.

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

you aren't eating then you do not have a right to be there.
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You want to see a melee? Tell all the senior citizens I see in McD's on Sundays they have to leave after they are finished eating.

[KDP]

I vacation in France about once a year (no jokes please) and you will see dogs in restaurants quite often. They are well behaved and can be good conversation starters. In this story the dog comes across as the most behaved of the bunch.

[lynn]

amen about the elderly people being told to leave, semsc.

we have one group here that comes in for breakfast and will stay so long, they get up and order lunch and talk an hour or two more.

[Fat and retired]

"(the animal to be licensed, not the person)."
Sorry, it doesn't work that way, and can't. Think about handicap parking; A handicapped person has the right to use one of "those" parking spots and displays whatever is needed to do so. If you borrow Aunt Ida's car to go shopping, you are not legally allowed to use handicapped parking just because she has the tag. Now you get into a real big mess. How do I prove that I have a handicap that requires (allows?) a service animal AND that the animal I have falls into this category? Is each state going to have a licensing bureau and testing? It's just a dog! Lots of places (go visit Germany) realize that the human customers are much more likely than a dog to cause trouble or carry germs. Frankly I prefer a well mannered dog sitting at the next table then a screaming child.

[sometimesilie]

"You want to see a melee? Tell all the senior citizens I see in McD's on Sundays they have to leave after they are finished eating."

------------------------------------------------

that's aaaaaaaabout the funniest mental image I've ever thought of...

[sometimesilie]

AMEN! F&R

[pnwgal]

*looks around*

Ok...I just gotta...

Don't Tase my dog, bro!

*ahem*

In all seriousness...while I would prefer not to dine with animals (not counting my family), I agree with Fat and Retired. I'd much rather sit next to a well-behaved dog than someone's misbehaving spawn.

In my public-sector work history, I have had occasion to rub elbows with food inspectors. Believe me - a dog in the restaurant is the least digusting thing that's going on there.

[lynn]

lmao at pnwgal!!!

hi sil, welcome back.

[john]

All of you should be ashamed of yourselves...Older generation of people should be given benefit of the doubt in various cases due to age. You dont know, this chap may have had a disability (one of them was eatin at mcdonalds for a start) which wasnt physically apparent. To be peppered and tazered is a joke, where did this go out of control and how..someone really needs to have a word with themselves on this one..We owe alot to the older generation and this is how we repay them..so what that he had his dog is mcd, most of the people that are in there are more minging then dogs anyhow..why are people discussing this, get a grip

[lynn--]

john--i hope you are being sarcastic here. if you will really truly R-E-A_D our posts, you will see the majority of us agree this man and his (possible) assiting dog should be allowed in the mcd's.

except maybe buddy and jim missed him & accidently tazed the dog by mistake in buddy's comment...

i myself am an aknowledged mcd addict & trust me on any day i would prefer a quiet sweet hard working dog to the screeching squawking humans that walk in on 2 legs.

i also take care of the elderly. i have the most respect for them all, love them all for their history, sacrifices and oddities.

and john, we talk about things in here. it is what jim wants us to do. we could sit and drink sweet tea and do table dances, but no one else can see that.

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

All of you should be ashamed of yourselves...Older generation of people should be given benefit of the doubt in various cases due to age. You dont know, this chap may have had a disability (one of them was eatin at mcdonalds for a start) which wasnt physically apparent. To be peppered and tazered is a joke, where did this go out of control and how..someone really needs to have a word with themselves on this one..We owe alot to the older generation and this is how we repay them..so what that he had his dog is mcd, most of the people that are in there are more minging then dogs anyhow..why are people discussing this, get a grip
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Um, the guy was 37. Is that a senior citizen where you are from? Did you read the article or just the posts?

we got our grips, thank you

[john]

fair one, didnt read the full article just read the two liner...have now read the full article and i think he should have co-operated with the police, why argue for the sake of arguing..hes not an oap hes not even a middle aged man..possibly he had a social disability, you never know..sorry for being a little or tad sarcastic...cant help myself sometimes

[stopeatingmysesamecake]

No harm no foul, john

It takes a while to get used to the posts here.

[dobie]

Another news article claims that the dog slept through the whole thing. I have to wonder how effective that dog can be at detecting seizures.

[RockyMtnMac]

and in an unrelated matter... Where the heck is GMan?

[RockyMtnMac]

and AngrySockMonkey?

[Sheila]

Does the state, city, or county have a law or ordinance that requires REAL service dogs to wear some identifier? Does the state, etc., issue a card indicating the bearer has the right to a service dog? Just claiming, "This is my service dog because...." isn't enough. Whip out the card, show it, end of story. Everyone's happy. The dog owner is not hassled, the cops don't waste their time, the manager may not be happy, but he has no grounds for complaint.

[Tank]

And most important! If we can't see lynn doing table dances here, where exactly CAN WE? ANd how much do I pay to get in?!?

[john]

i agree with the above...table dancing sounds good..however, im not that good at it...

[Kelly]

There's no rule about identification or certification. Personally, I couldn't care less about dogs being in public, but it runs into a messy issue. So, people can have a service animal to help them deal with stress. What about people who are deathly afraid of dogs? They exist too. AND if you are going to allow dogs for that purpose, what about people who just NEED their snake to calm them down? If you allow the dog, you have to allow the snake, or pig, or whatever. Again, I couldn't care less about snakes or pigs either, but lots of people do. It's a can of worms. There should be an approved training program that any service animal goes through to ensure the animal itself is calm enough to be in a crowd (there's currently not a program like this) and the owner of the animal should be required to carry identification. Otherwise, everyone will be carrying snakes.

[RockyMtnMac]

Dammit John! Now what am I going to do with all these $1's?

[raycee]

What exactly is this dog going to do if he has a seizure? Hold his tongue? I think I would rather swallow it.

[john]

i think mcdonalds is going to have to seriously consider policy on dogs....wont be snakes on a plane, it'll be snakes in maccy deees....this is a can of worms, very much agreed

[Navy Chief]

@RMM - Hey, the spend just as well as any other denomination. Send some my way if you're at a loss...

[RockyMtnMac]

Start dancing Navy Chief...and I'll start tucking!
;P

[Bluntfacts]

Excellent. Another McDonalds story. If they keep this up, they will easily overtake Chuck E. Cheese for mention on OS&RR.

[dobie]

"What exactly is this dog going to do if he has a seizure? Hold his tongue? I think I would rather swallow it."

On an educational note, seizure dogs somehow pick up that their person is pending a seizure and they let that person know. This gives the human time to get to a safer location, rather than having a seizure on an escalator or while crossing train tracks.

[Charles Brobst]

This is such great publicity for McD's!
Management there are such inhuman pricks.
The food and sanitation are atrocious!
I wouldn't eat there if my life depended on it.

[lynn]

@ john--as semsc said--no harm no foul. i re read my own post and came down on you abit too hard.
sarcasm--i like that in a man...:)

@tank--sugar, i am not so sure my dancing would be very entertaining...rmm and twerp and reno-yes. but if i feed you all enough beer, i may pass. :)

[USMerc]

Aw, Lynn...You forget....You are a goddess!!! All of us would pay to see you dance!!!

[ReginaFilangee]

Service dogs DO have to go through an official training program, so there would be no problem in requiring them to wear (or the person to produce) a card identifying them as being qualified for that.

And yes, these dogs can be taught to alert a patient shortly before he/she is going to have a seizure, giving the person enough time to either go to a safer location, make sure companions know, and even take medication in order to sometimes head it off.

[ReginaFilangee]

Oops....I forgot the main point I wanted to make: that these dogs can "pick up" an impending seizure even while they (the dogs) are asleep.

[ReginaFilangee]

Oops....I forgot the main point I wanted to make: that these dogs can "pick up" an impending seizure even while they (the dogs) are asleep.

[lynn]

i would dance for you , merc.

these service dogs amaze me--as do the dogs trained in find and rescue. i read a book recently about the dogs used at ground zero after sept. 11. the dogs would begin to be upset if they could not find someone. so other volunteers would get in some rubble for the dogs to "find". the dogs were daily dealing with burnt pads, debris in their eyes, dehydration, not to mention all the unsafe areas with their human partner. heroes just like the leo, ff and emt.