Jolene S.
Yelp
The service was good and the server was very polite, however the only problem we had was with the seating. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty enough seating today, but because of lack of education on the part of the owner, who was not there and I could not speak to in person, we were told by the nice and polite worker that dogs have to sit outside. I explained to her that, yes, she is a dog, but this is NOT A PET, but a Hearing Service Dog that provides a service for her Deaf Handler.
We were being forced to sit outside because she is a dog by the owner, and the worker was only doing what the owner was asking her to do. She asked us for registration or a card to prove that Mocha is a "legal" Service Animal, but the owner doesn't know this is NOT A REQUIREMENT BY LAW FOR A SERVICE ANIMAL.
Because the owner is not educated on the difference between a pet, who should sit outside, and a Service Animal who has a job to do and has the right to be inside of the restaurant along with it's handler, they need to know the following:
Can you ask for proof of service dog in Oregon?
Questions about someone's disability, asking the dog to demonstrate the task, or requests for "certification" or other kinds of documentation are not allowed.
Why? Well, disability is private, the task may not be demonstrate-able, and people are allowed to train their own service animal (meaning they may not have documentation).
Business owners and staff are allowed to ask two questions of anyone bringing in an animal they say is a service animal:
Is your dog required because of a disability?
What work or task is it trained to perform?
We wanted to sit inside and to be able to sit at a regular table along with our Hearing Service Dog Mocha as an animal that provides a service to her Deaf Handler. The worker allowed us to sit at the bar, we did do it, however, we have the right to sit at a table where it is much easier to have her sit at a table so she can sit under the table as she was trained to do. It isn't that she isn't flexible, she does what she needs to do, however, moving forward, I hope this educates them.
Please educate yourself with this website:
https://www.droregon.org/disability-rights-oregon-resources/service-and-assistance-animals-in-oregon
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