A man is being denied his service dog because the townshipwhere he now lives bans the breed his service dog is a mix of. Mind you, the dog is not a pureblood. It's a mutt that just happens to have some of the banned breed in the mix.
Federal ADA law very specifically does not regulate what breeds of dogs are considered suitable service dogs. All breeds of dogs have the ability to be service dogs, even the tiniest ones, like Itzl. Even the so-called "dangerous" breeds like German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Pit Bulldogs, and Dobermans make excellent service dogs. Federal ADA law allows every breed the chance to shine as a service dog, and every service dog has the Federally protected right to accompany their handler almost everywhere (the exceptions are mostly for the protection of the dog - like being barred from X-ray rooms).
But this isn't a case of the dog's safety trumping the man's needs.
It's a blatant case of unreasoning discrimination and unjustified fear.
As a person who's trained many dogs in her life, I know that it isn't the breed of dog that's dangerous, it's the training and treatment the dog receives.
Service dogs, even self-trained service dogs, get a huge amount of socialization and training. They have to be well trained because we depend so heavily on them and we have to be able to trust them with our lives. The breed doesn't matter, it's the training.
Those people in Aurelia, IA need to get over themselves. A far, far better ordinance to pass would be to require every dog, regardless of breed, be trained to the minimum CGC standard. Then, the breed wouldn't matter, the human owning the breed would.
But no - it's so much easier to ban a breed of dog than it is to insist that the human handler/owner be responsible for the dog, the dog's well being, the dog's training, and the dog's behavior.
Contact information for the city of Aurelia, IA:
Dee Keith, Mayor
Jeff Bowen, Mayor Pro-Tem
Cindy Nelson - Councilmember
Justin Schulenberg - Councilmember
Chuck Lindgren - Councilmember
Matt Fredericksen - Councilmember
236 Main Street
Aurelia, IA 51005
Phone: (712) 434-2025
I would hate for the ADA to regulate the breeds of dogs allowed to be service animals, because if that happened, you know Itzl and Xoco would be on the list of "not suitable breeds" simply because they are Chihuahuas and almost everyone associates the big breeds like Retrievers, Shepherds, Rottweiler, Collies, Setters, and Belgian Malinois with service dogs.
The popular hearing dog breeds are the smaller dogs - Papillons, Corgis, Beagles, Miniature Poodles, Pugs, Bulldogs, Terriers, and small mutts. Chihuahuas were once thought untrainable, but the Beverly Hills Chihuahua movies proved that definitively wrong. As does Itzl.
Only small-minded people would condemn an entire breed of dogs based on the mistreatment and mishandling by humans of a few dogs in that breed.
Edited to add: Googie found this petition online.