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Veteran must surrender emotional support dog
Orlando Sentinel ^ | December 23, 2017 | Mary Shanklin

Posted on 12/23/2017 4:19:56 PM PST by billorites

Seventy-year-old Robert L. Brady has until Jan. 11 to give up Bane, the mixed-breed sidekick that his psychologist deemed as an emotional support dog.

His Conway-area condominium association won an arbitration order Dec. 12 requiring the Vietnam veteran to surrender the 4-year-old dog because it exceeds the community’s 35-pound weight limit for pets. Bane weighs about 41 pounds. The canine now faces an uncertain future even as assistance dogs have gained greater access to communities, restaurants and shops.

“The reason I don't want to lose him is that he keeps my mind off the war and everything. He's just a wonderful companion,” said the widower, who retired last year from working as a theme-park bus driver. “My life would be lost without a good companion and that's why I'm doing all I can to keep from having to get rid of him.” Bane Bane's fate is uncertain since he exceeds community weight limits but is deemed an emotional support dog. (Orlando Sentinel)

Brady’s attorney, Jonathan Paul, said the association discriminated by looking only at the dog’s weight without considering the disabled military veteran’s documented need for an emotional support animal. He said they are also seeking guidance under federal fair housing laws aimed at protecting housing rights of disabled residents.

Homeowner and condo associations are among those grappling with the boundary lines for emotional support dogs. Unlike service dogs trained to assist disabled people with daily tasks, emotional support animals don’t require training. They can be any species and require no certification to assist owners who have psychological disabilities, according to a June article published by the National Institutes of Health. In Florida, one association lawyer is seeking legislation to further clarify issues related to emotional support animals.

(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hoa; ptsd; veterans; workingdogs
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1 posted on 12/23/2017 4:19:56 PM PST by billorites
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To: billorites

He should be allowed to keep his dog. What does the dog’s size matter? As long as he’s obedient and doesn’t jump on or bark at neighbors, he shouldn’t be banned. Some people are a little too eager to run other people’s lives.


2 posted on 12/23/2017 4:23:20 PM PST by American Quilter (When does the wall start going up?)
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To: billorites

Homeowner and condo associations = little Hitlers


3 posted on 12/23/2017 4:25:49 PM PST by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 billion dollars.)
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To: billorites

Couldn’t he just get some therapy for the dog?


4 posted on 12/23/2017 4:26:13 PM PST by TigersEye (0bama. The Legacy is a lie. The lie is the Legacy.)
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To: billorites

condominium associations are typically run by wanna be nazis....

I can tell how many times when I visited my grandfather in palm beach Florida I had to endure their idiotic BS like parking my truck in the parking lot, them complaining about his grand kids swimming in the community pool, walking on the sidewalk, etc.


5 posted on 12/23/2017 4:29:00 PM PST by Popman (My sin was great, Your love was greater  What could separate us now…)
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To: billorites

Infringing on the Americans with Disabilities Act.


6 posted on 12/23/2017 4:30:32 PM PST by wastedyears (US out of the UN, UN out of the US.)
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To: American Quilter

He needs to appeal, maybe go to the local housing authority. The condo association is in violation of federal fair housing laws.


7 posted on 12/23/2017 4:30:43 PM PST by muggs
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To: Fresh Wind

Homeowner and condo associations = little Hitlers
...
Orlando liberal anti-Trump anti-US haters.


8 posted on 12/23/2017 4:30:59 PM PST by CincyRichieRich (Hurtling deplorable!)
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To: billorites

Disgusting freakin’ animals. The HOA, not the dog. This so utterly cruel and ridiculous.


9 posted on 12/23/2017 4:32:33 PM PST by EinNYC
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To: TigersEye

Maybe he can help it loose a few pounds?

I’d live on the streets or in a tent before some public tyrant tried to intimidate me out of MY dog!


10 posted on 12/23/2017 4:33:06 PM PST by PrairieLady2
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To: wastedyears

You are 100% correct.


11 posted on 12/23/2017 4:33:07 PM PST by muggs
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To: billorites

6 pounds. Give him some Exlax and he might pass


12 posted on 12/23/2017 4:34:02 PM PST by Sybeck1
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To: PrairieLady2

Ditto.


13 posted on 12/23/2017 4:35:39 PM PST by mrsmel (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: billorites
Obey the rules or get out. “Therapy dog” 🙄
14 posted on 12/23/2017 4:39:06 PM PST by BackRoads775
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To: billorites
I've been locked in a huge dispute...lawyers and everything...with my condominium board.In my state at least condo boards have...or at least think they have...enormous power.

I wonder if this man can enlist the help of a national veterans assistance organizations to take this to the Federal courts.

15 posted on 12/23/2017 4:41:47 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Remember: All Cultures Are Equal!)
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To: PrairieLady2

I’m not sure how an emotional dog could be a lot of support to anyone but I don’t think that’s a reason to kick it out in the cold on Christmas.


16 posted on 12/23/2017 4:44:10 PM PST by TigersEye (0bama. The Legacy is a lie. The lie is the Legacy.)
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To: billorites

Maybe the association won’t last until January 11. One reason I would never live in a deed restricted neighborhood.


17 posted on 12/23/2017 4:49:55 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: billorites

Put the dog on a diet to lose 6 pounds and he is legal!


18 posted on 12/23/2017 4:50:22 PM PST by tired&retired (Blessings)
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To: billorites

The Americans with disabilities act should apply here. He could also start attending college courses and seek support through the IDEA act. As a last resort perhaps Trump properties could purchase the property in toto and all the snowflakes would move, to be replaced by MAGA supporters. Better neighbors, more freedom, better parties! Prayers up for a vet that gave his best so we could live free and give our best. Sounds like these neighbors need prayers also.


19 posted on 12/23/2017 4:51:38 PM PST by Billyv (Freedom isn't Free! Get off the sidelines!)
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To: billorites
“The reason I don't want to lose him is that he keeps my mind off the war and everything. He's just a wonderful companion,”

Then that is not a service dog, that is a pet. I’d love to have a cat but can’t under my lease (well I could but would be required to pay an extra $300 pet deposit, an extra $35 a month in rent and also have someone from the leasing office “interview” my cat for things like friendliness and IIRC there is also a spay/neuter and declawing requirement.) Should I be able to thumb my nose at that by claiming my cat is an "emotional support" animal.

And so let’s say I did all that, and let’s say that if I did have a cat, I would also like to take my cat to work with me to keep my mind off my a-hole boss and co-workers and all of life's stresses and difficulties. Should I be able to do that?

said the widower, who retired last year from working as a theme-park bus driver.

So was his dog allowed to go to work with him as he drove the bus? Probably not. And also if he was able to work as a bus driver, just how disabled is he?

that his psychologist deemed as an emotional support dog.

And the psychologist is qualified to determine this dog is “an emotional support dog” how?

Sure, I get the old man, a widower and a veteran is lonely and that the dog brings him companionship and comfort and the dog isn’t all that above the weight restriction, but then again, who’s to say that if I lived there, couldn’t I then claim my 150 pound and perhaps aggressive Cane Corso is my emotional support animal. What about my emotional support rooster, my emotional support pig, python, lynx, wolf, chimpanzee?

The emotional support animal is mostly always a scam, a way for someone how wants to take their pet with them everywhere and break all sorts of rules by claiming it as some sort of “support animal”.

20 posted on 12/23/2017 4:53:05 PM PST by MD Expat in PA
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