To the editor:
On Thursday I was downtown with 2 friends and my service dog Morley.
We decided to go into a Cafe to get tea. The one cafe was well recommended so we wanted to try it. Unfortunately, we were refused because I had a service dog. The woman insisted she had the right to refuse.
She didn’t have the right and I’m sorry I didn’t stand up to her more as I knew I was right.
My dog was wearing her vest, was well-behaved, and was very clean with no odour. I was just in shock as I’d never had that happen before. It is a provincial law that service dogs are allowed in.
They have the right to reject you if your dog is not well-behaved, isn’t clean and door free, or is disturbing customers.
We went to another cafe, just down from that one that was the opposite, and even offered water to the dog.
There are many service dogs in North Bay and visitors to the city. I’d hate to have a tourist refused or any other local people as the people that have a service dog rely on them.
Morley has been in many of the restaurants here, and is always very well received and she’s always behaved. Most service dogs are very obedient and have a good reputation for that.
An attitude like this incident is archaic.
Virginia Elliott
North Bay
