Mr Bradwell, of Braunstone, said: "As I walked with Iona along Fulhurst Avenue a warden came up to me and asked me if I realised my dog had fouled. I apologised, explaining I was visually impaired and held my stick up to show him. I asked for a bag so I could go back and pick it up, even though guide dog owners are exempt from picking it up because they can't see it. He didn't seem interested in anything other than giving me the £80 fixed penalty ticket.
"I telephoned the council but got the same sort of attitude. I accept I made a mistake. Iona always goes to a "spend area" in the garden before we go out, whether she's working or on free time. I have had guide dogs for 11 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened. Guide dog owners pride themselves on having dogs who are clean, don't go around barking at people or do their business in a public place." Registered blind owners of guide dogs are exempt from paying anti-fouling fines.
Mr Bradwell said a worker from charity Guide Dogs contacted the council to explain this. He said: "By implication, having a guide dog means you've got a visual impairment, but they wanted to see further proof. I think it's ludicrous. It seems a bit silly." It was only when Guide Dogs sent written confirmation to the council that the fine was waived. A city council spokesman said: "We now have written confirmation of registered ownership from Guide Dogs and the fixed-penalty notice has been cancelled."
5 comments:
When my dad was working in a well known NI bank, the HR person was trying to get everyone to explain what they'd do if they had a blind customer. She was not terribly enthused by my father's comment of "Well first I'd get a load of plastic bags and disinfectant".
Though the dogs are trained to stand in a particular way to let the handler know if they're going to the loo (and even what specific bodily function they were carrying out) if a dog's gotta go, it's gotta go. And apparently they regularly thought a great place to go was on a nice cool marble floor.
Heh heh, clever dogs!
You cannot tell me he can't smell what is happening. C'mon. Blind people need more breaks than the rest of us but for them to feel around with a hand wrapped in plastic bag is not that different than a hungover sighted person. Amirite or amirite? --A.
I guess you don't get to be a dog warden by studying hard at school and learning to think.
Personally I think you're wrong, A. Firstly, if he were outside it might be hard to smell it, especially if there was a bit of a breeze. Secondly, comparing a blind person to a fully sighted person with a hangover is, frankly, a bit of a dick move...
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