ohmidog!

A disabled Canadian says he was kicked out of a McDonald’s in Alberta by a manager who said his service dog smelled bad.

“Your dog stinks and everybody is writing letters to me,” John Dignard says he was told by the manager. “I’m tired of it and I want you to leave.”

Dignard, who suffered a brain injury when he was struck by a car at age five, says he relies on the dog, named Eve, to help him with his sense of direction, and to overcome moments of confusion and memory lapse.

He says he showed the manager a government-issued certification for the dog and told him that he could not be denied service.

“I’ll pay the fine … I don’t care. I want you and the dog never to come back here no more,” Dignard says the manager of the restaurant, in Wetaskiwin, replied.

 CBC News reported that two McDonald’s employees supported Dignard’s account, but the owner of the McDonald’s, D.J. Sharma, said that Dignard was never asked to leave.

“The customer and his service animal have always been welcome in the restaurant and at no time were they refused service or asked to leave,” Sharma said in a written statement.

“We reached out to the customer after receiving numerous customer complaints regarding the individual’s behaviour and the well-being of his service animal. After approaching the customer, they voluntarily left the restaurant.”

Dignard says he is planning to complain to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, and won’t return to the McDonald’s.

“I’m not going to spend my money at McDonald’s if they cannot respect my disability…Change your attitude towards service dogs. “They’re not pets. They’re working dogs.”

(Photo: CBC News)

Grace is now Maggie again.

The loyal black Lab, who was videotaped as she guarded  the body of a yellow Lab killed by a car in Southern California, will be reunited with her family.

Maggie’s family stepped forward Monday, according to CBS in Los Angeles.

Dubbed Grace by Los Angeles County animal control, the dog had been in a  Baldwin Park shelter since last week when she was spotted on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puenta standing guard over a dog killed by a hit and run driver.

Animal Care and Control Capt. Aaron Reyes says Maggie’s family was at the shelter looking for her at the same time animal control officers were getting the dogs out of the street.

Reyes said Maggie has since been spayed and microchipped, and that dozens have offered to adopt her. Instead, she’ll be going home today after shelter workers inspect her home.

A good Samaritan saw the incident in La Puente last Wednesday, put traffic cones around the dog so she wouldn’t be struck and called animal control. He also took the photos and video of Maggie keeping vigil by the deceased dog’s side.

Up until the family came forward, it appeared he was going to adopt the dog, which had no identification tag and no microchip.

On Monday, though, the original family came forward. Now that they have, they’ll get their dog back, but will also be issued citations for having an unregistered dog, and for allowing the animal to run loose, animal control officials said.

No new information has surfaced on the dog who died.

The hunting dog that a baggage handler refused to load aboard a plane in Reno because of her concerns about his health is back with his owner in Texas and doing fine, animal control officers say.

The dog’s owner, who has not been publicly identified, will not face charges, said animal control officers in Corpus Christi. Officers there checked on the dog, a pointer named Tex, and talked to his owner last week, according to the Corpus Christi Caller.

The owner told them he thought the baggage handler had over-reacted.

Lynn Jones refused to put the dog on an airplane bound for Texas on Nov. 12 because he appeared emaciated, had cuts and sores on his body and paws and seemed listless.

Her supervisor at Reno-Tahoe International Airport fired her, but her employer, Saint Louis-based Airport Terminal Services, rehired her last week after reviewing the incident.

The dog was seized and turned over to Washoe County animal control and treated by a Reno veterinarian. Four days later, Tex was shipped back to Texas, according to the Reno Gazette Journal

The Reno veterinarian who treated Tex said his wounds and weary state could have been explained by a hard day of hunting.

“I was told he was (bird) hunting near Gerlach for a week, and what I saw was consistent with a dog that has been worked very hard,” Dr. Diana Lucreer said. “These dogs get almost psychotic when they are out there working; they will run and run through anything. His paws were cut up, and he had cuts on his body.”

The dog was checked by another veterinarian upon his return to Corpus Christi.

Back to Michigan we go for another tale of shameful behavior — that of another service dog getting kicked out of a restaurant.

Frank Eckl, his family and his service dog, Spruce — who helps Eckl, a veteran, detect and recover from seizures he believes are a result of contact with chemicals in the Gulf War — were forced to leave the Don Julio’s restaurant in Grand Rapids because the manager on duty would not permit the dog beyond the lobby.

“She said we were more than welcome to stay, but patrons in the restaurant and the manager didn’t want dog hair in the restaurant,” he said.

A manager at the restaurant told News 8 that patrons had complained, and that she would do the same thing again. “I can’t keep every customer happy,” she said. “I can’t have any kind of animal be around food. It’s kinda hard having most of my customers leave out on me because of one customer.” 
 
“That’s insane!” said Jocelyn Dettloff, a representative for the Disability Advocates of Kent County.  “I mean, who would say that you have to leave your cane or your mobility device at the door. People who rely on service animals — it’s the exact same thing.” 

Eckl says he isn’t seeking monetary damages and doesn’t want anything from Don Julio’s other than an apology and training for its staff. 
  
After the restaurant’s unwelcoming behavior, Eckl and his family went to the IHOP restaurant next door, where Spruce was permitted.

A woman who refused to leave her burning apartment without her dachsund remained in critical condition in a Houston hospital yesterday.

Relatives say Claudia Harris was cooking Saturday when the fire started inside her unit at the Hearthwood Apartments near Reliant Stadium. The landlord tried to get her out, but she wouldn’t leave without first finding her dachsund, Minnie, TV station KHOU in Houston reported.

“I’m not surprised that she would do something like that because I know how she feels about this dog and she will risk her own life for this dog,” said Charisse Harris, the victim’s daughter. “She treats the dog like a person. It’s like her other daughter.”

By the time firefighters arrived, Harris was unconscious and they had to carry her out. Minnie, the dog, managed to escape on her own and she wasn’t injured.

(Photo courtesy of KHOU-TV)