Woman with therapy dog sues for 10 million

[k9mania]

Woman sues for 10M for being denied subway rides with dog

BY JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, January 4th 2009, 4:54 AM
DeCrescenzo for News Estelle Stamm rides No. 5 train with her giant dog, Wargas. The Manhattan woman has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.


A woman who claims her 120-pound dog is protection from childhood memories of sex abuse is in a big-bucks battle with NYC Transit (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Metropolitan+Transportation+Authority) over whether the animal can ride the rails.
Estelle Stamm (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Estelle+Stamm), 65, won $10,000 from the city after two cops gave her a ticket for bringing the pony-sized dog into a subway station.
Now she's going for $10 million in a federal suit that argues Wargas, her service dog, is protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
"These sons of bitches don't like to be told what to do," Stamm told the Daily News as she waited for a federal judge to decide whether the suit should be tossed.
"I don't have a choice. I need my dog. And they [NYC Transit] don't have a choice, either. They have to follow the law."
Transit lawyers have recently taken the position that Stamm - who has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and has partial hearing loss - is not really disabled.


See rest of article at:


http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/01/04/2009-01-04_woman_sues_for_10m_for_being_denied_subw.html

[Furbilator]

Considering that most dogs are better behaved than children what is the harm? I think people with large dogs (small dogs seem to get away with going where ever they wish - restaurants, grocery stores, etc.) should not be denied the access to public transportation but only be required to muzzle the dog while on it. If the dog(s) is muzzled there is zero risk to the public.

[BetterDog4U]

She's not gonna have to worry about the subway .... She'll be able to have her very own free NYC cab for the rest of her life!!! Gives new meaning to "Cash Cab" ....

[PudelGrl]

While I support this woman's position of having her dog allowed on public transit, I never understand people making personal inconvinience's such major lawsuits. The woman will have her own limo and chaffeur by the time she is done.

I'm both for and against having dogs on public transit. I personally never have had a problem bringing my dogs on transit. The rule in my city is that if your dog is a service dog, it rides with you for free. If not, you do have to buy it a ticket along with yours as it does take up more space.

However, we have to remind ourselves that taking pets with us on these services does have negative impact on those with allergies. As many as 1 in 4 individuals these days are born allergy sufferers and I find that its not common for those with dogs in public places to take these individuals into consideration. We also have to consider those who happen to have phobias of dogs, as no matter how well behaved our dogs are, their presenace can cause anxiety in these individuals. Unless we take these people into consideration (AKA. Have dogs well trained in public, sit on the floor, not the seats, and move if a person requests us to do so) we cannot expect the world to become more dog friendly.