Denver Shirks Federal Compliance to Continue Service Dog Discrimination

Ah, Denver — the chutzpah. One might think that the altitude has the city council not thinking clearly. They've been clinging to their breed ban since 1989, despite the fact that it doesn't work; Denver continues to have the highest rate of hospitalization for dog-related injuries in the state. And it's estimated that they've wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and continue to throw thousands of dollars at legal fees to defend the ban in court.

Now, on November 1, the Denver City Council once again delayed the vote — for the third time — on whether to create an exemption to the city's "pit bull" ban that would allow the disabled to use the dogs as service animals. This conduct on Denver's part is simply disgraceful.

As we reported in a previous blog, the city council has been stalling, avoiding a decision for months, despite a rational new regulation issued by the U.S. Department of Justice that allows people with disabilities to choose any breed of dog they want as a service dog. After all, the Americans with Disabilities Act is all about access, and disabled folks traveling around the country, who count on their dogs for assistance, have a right to be just as welcome in Denver as any other city.

Candice Alder,with the Rocky Mountain Disability & Business Technical Assistance Center, has some advice for Denver. She believes that they should have a formal conversation with the Department of Justice and not assume that making a reasonable modification in their ordinance — allowing pit bull service dogs — would open the floodgates for abuse. Ms. Alder wants to make sure the disability community's voice is heard in any conversation Denver is having with the Department of Justice on this subject.

Evidently, some Denver city council members, along with The Denver Post, think that a hoard of pit bull service dogs are lurking outside the city limits, waiting to descend on the city, with the disabled in tow, the moment the ordinance is modified.

At the latest city council  meeting, one of the city council members was heard railing against the Federal Government, asking what right the Feds had telling them what to do. Probably more right than Denver has telling its citizens what breed or type of dog they can own. And definitely more right than Denver has to decide whether a dog is a suitable service animal. Remember we are talking about highly trained canines who have been certified based on proving their ability to assist their human companion ... not exotic animals.

Let's stick up for the disabled and their dogs by signing the petition urging the city council members to welcome the disabled in Denver, no matter what their dog's appearance. Justice for all.

Photo Credit: Michael S. Boprey