GR Bar Hosted Service Dog Training Session For Business Owners
According to WZZM 13, The Holiday Bar in Grand Rapids continues to prove they are not the incident that happened on Friday, November 10.
That night, they mistakenly asked a veteran and his service dog to leave the Westside establishment; which violates Americans with Disabilities Act.
Since November 10th, the bar has apologized, as well as donated over $2,000 to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Saturday, they continued their commitment to educating themselves and others business owners with a training seminar on service dogs and what you’re allowed and not allowed ask.
Wzzm13 reports that Saturday’s training session was put on by A Pleasant Dog owner, Jenn Gavin and local attorney, Nicholas Vander Veen.
It looks like these training seminars need to happen more often all over the country, Saturdays session alone brought in attendees from as far as Mackinac Island.
For the record, Jenn Gavin, of A Pleasant Dog told WZZM13 the two questions you can ask are:
"You can ask two questions: is that a service dog trained to mitigate your disability?" Gavin said. "What is it trained to do? You can't ask for certification. You can't ask why it's not wearing a vest.
Also, it should be noted that Kent Co. Prosecutors said on January 4th that the bar wouldn’t be charged because the dog in question wasn’t on a leash which is part of the same Americans with Disabilities Act:
Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.
WZZM13 says the dog’s owner still contests that, saying that since the dog is trained to retrieve items, a leash would hinder that action.