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canine controversy: Must Dude, owner both go?
Article Courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times |
Published September 25, 2002 TAMPA -- When Dwayne Gillispie has an epileptic seizure, it's Dude who licks his face and forces his head back, making sure his airway stays clear. Last year, it was Dude who saved his life.
Tenuta remembers the afternoon he came around a corner with Pat, his 17-pound shih-tzu, and ran headlong into Dude. The mastiff scared him and his dog nearly to death, he says. And Tenuta admits he isn't particularly fond of Gillispie, either. "He's a nuisance," says Tenuta, who says he and Gillispie have had several run-ins.
Association officials say: Show us papers proving Dude is a service dog. "As long as he can produce the proof that this is a service dog, the association has no problem with the dog here," Tenuta says. But even when Gillispie showed association officials the dog's "Certificate of Qualifications" -- which under federal law, he was not required to do -- it wasn't enough. "It's a piece of paper. There's no seal on it or anything," says Tenuta. "He's lied so much, I wonder if he is an epileptic." Jim Delph, a case manager at the Epilepsy Services of West Coast Florida, knows Gillispie and Dude. He says the image most people have of a service dog is a yellow Lab, with a cape on, leading the blind. But service dogs come in all shapes and sizes and are used to help the disabled in many ways. A service dog can pick up things in his mouth for someone in a wheelchair. The dog can alert a deaf person if someone knocks on the door. When Gillispie was first injured, his seizures came twice a week. They still occur about once every two months, he says. Gillispie says he chose Dude, a Spanish brindle mastiff, specifically because he is large. The dog is strong enough to block him or pull him out of trouble if it becomes necessary. Gillispie says he has even gone rock climbing with his dog. Dude wears booties, a harness and a little backpack. Osvaldo Hernandez, a neighbor of Gillispie not involved in the lawsuit, says Dude is a good dog. "He doesn't bother anybody," Hernandez says. There is a lot more to the Story-see the in-official WebPages by clicking on the banner: |