Good Grief, Charlie Brown Defies Feds to Keep Denver's Service Dog Discrimination

Cartoons can be prophetic. In Peanuts, Charlie Brown admitted, "Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'" Too bad Denver City Council Member Charlie Brown lacks the insight and wisdom of his eponymous cartoon character. Last week, councilman Charlie Brown led the charge as Denver once again thumbed its nose at the disabled, their service dogs, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Sigh.

As we've reported before, Denver City Council delayed the vote on creating the service dog exemption to their pit bull ban necessary to come into compliance with the Department of Justice's new rule, which states that cities cannot discriminate against the disabled and their service dogs simply because of the dog's breed. This makes sense. You can't stop a disabled citizen on the border of a municipality and tell them they can't come in because they have the wrong breed of service dog.

Councilman Charlie Brown misguidedly believes that Denver has a right to do exactly that because they are a home-rule city. Except this is a federal law, not a state law. The U. S. Dept. of Justice really doesn't give a damn whether you are home rule or not, they just want to make sure the disabled have access.

And without a DNA test, how will Charlie Brown determine whether mixed-breed service dogs are pit bulls or not? Visual identification isn't reliable enough to clear Snoopy of Denver's law.

Charlie Brown and the eight other council members who voted down the exemption don't seem to mind violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that's what has disability rights advocates growling. "I don't care about pit bulls," David Kennedy, chairman of Denver's Commission for People with Disabilities told the Denver Post. "This is about them chipping away at civil rights."

Obviously people who do care about pit bulls, and dogs in general, aren't happy with Denver either. Kenn Bell at DogFiles summed it up when reporting on the council's decision: "Any dog lover should think twice before doing business with Denver, Colorado. The Denver government is a disgrace."

A lawsuit has been filed against Denver and Aurora by the Animal Law Center on behalf of three plaintiffs because of the cities' noncompliance with the law. Two of attorney Jennifer Edwards' clients are veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

These disabled servicemen depend on their pit bull service dogs to get them through the day. But councilman Charlie Brown seems to have a problem with profiling — people and canines. He told the Denver Post, "I'll tell you who's going to love [the service dog ruling]. The drug dealers. The criminals. They love pit bulls."

Edwards says they plan to seek a permanent injunction to force Denver to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. She also predicts that this decision could cost Denver even more lawsuits in the future. The City is apparently aware of this, too, as Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell commented after the vote: "Projecting who might sue us, or how they might sue us, is something with some sensitivity around it."

It's time to stop stereotyping dogs, stop discriminating against the disabled and stop wasting taxpayer dollars. Please sign the petition to send a wake-up call to councilman Charlie Brown and the eight other city council members who torpedoed compliance with the ADA.

Photo by Melissa Lipani, Best Friends Animal Society