Access, It's the Law

In a recent news story, a service dog was denied access to a local store in Castle Hayne. The sad truth is, this happens every day in our community and throughout this country irrespective of local and federal laws. There are several businesses that Carolina Canines is aware of that regularly deny access to service dogs and service dogs in training. Measures are and have been taken to educate the business owner and there staff. Sometimes those measures include legal action.

While Carolina Canines provides people with disabilities quality trained service dogs, we are also here to educate the community and business owners. Here are a few simple differences businesses owners should be aware of:

A companion dog is just that; a companion. It is a persons’ pet. And, while we love our pets, most have not been appropriately socialized and should not be allowed to accompany the owner everywhere they go.

A therapy dog is a person’s pet that has been trained to volunteer with the person in the community. These animals provide affection and comfort to many people in different environments. THIS DOG HAS NO LEGAL ACCESS and can only gain entrance to a facility by invitation. There are many organizations that train therapy dogs, but the standards of training are all different.

A service dog is one that is trained to do specific tasks for a person with a disability. The Codes of Federal Regulation for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 define a service animal as "any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair [sic], or fetching dropped items." There are some exceptions, including churches, private clubs, federal courts, military bases, and Native American tribal council offices. And, federal laws protect people with disabilities partnered with service animals from discrimination in housing, Fair Housing Amendments Act, and on aircraft, Air Carrier Access Act.

Businesses must allow service animals into their establishment. But, it is often a difficult task determining the validity of the animal entering your business. The sad reality of the ADA is identification is not mandated, many disabilities are not visible and a proprietor cannot ask if the person is disabled. The business owner can however ask what tasks the service animal provides, such as “How does the animal serve you?” And, for both business owners and people with service animals, if the animal is disruptive such as barking, growling, defecating or urinating in the business, the establishment has every right to ask the person to remove the service animal.

The reality is countless individuals are perpetrating crimes by falsely accessing local businesses with their “pocket” pets or other animals. This is a violation of federal law, the ADA, and North Carolina state statues; both violations punishable by law. Worst yet, it makes it more and more difficult for people with legitimate service animals to have the access they indeed need to live independent lives.

Thank you to our 4th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't Sponsors

Thank you to the sponsors of the 4th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't. With just 3 days before the Walk, Carolina Canines could continue the work we do without your support.

Home Health Testing
Talk Inc.
Queensboro
DogLiving
WECT
Brightmore of Wilmington
Wilmington Orthotics & Prosthetics
Ruth Arnold Signs & Graphics
Port City Java
Sunrise Broadcasting
Papa John's
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty
Harris Teeter
Health Source of Wilmington
PawPrints Magazine

Carrabba's Italian Grill
Hilton Riverside
Jerry's Fine Dining
Porters Neck Yoga Spa
Residence Inn Landfall
Riverboat Landing

Ruth Chris Steak House
The Bagel Basket
Costco
Danette Brown- Pampered Chef
Jamie Swanson, Pampered Chef
Great Harvest Bread Company
Hercules Bags, Inc.
Indian Spring Water
McAlisters Deli
Pine Valley Animal Hospital
The Mobil Vet - House Calls for Pets
Forest Hills Veterinary Hospital
Coastal Carolina Animal Hospital
Casey Petraceuticals
Great Clips
Kornerstone Pizza
Pet’s Pal Inn
Westco Woodworks

There is still time to join us on Saturday, March 27th beginning at 9 am. Register online at http://www.walkforthosewhocant.org/. For a $25 doantion received an event tee-shirt, goody bag and meet Sally Pressman and Rhoda Griffis from the Lifetime TV series Army Wives.

Walk for Thse Who Can't - Team Questions

With the Walk for Those Who Can't just a few days away, there are a number of questions coming in from teams. Here are the most frequenly asked and how Carolina Canines is handling this:

• Some people have accidentally clicked on the "support this team" instead of "join this team" and did not get the chance to get a T-shirt. Is there a way that they can change it to join the team and get the shirt? If you give us the names (walkinfo@carolinacanines.org) of the people that “supported the team” rather than “Joined the Team, we can handle that on our end. However, these folks need to sign the release which that can do using the attached form and make sure these are bought to the office on Wednesday, 3/24 at 7 pm or turned in at the Walk.
• People have registered under Join this team and the amount I've raised is not showing. How do I know how much I've raised? Online registrations are tallied separate from donations in Firstgiving.com. Carolina Canines will be totaling online registrations + donations + offline donations and registrations for a Team Total. The same goes for an individual.
• When can a Team Captain pick up the T-shirts for my team? Team t-shirts and goody bags can be picked up at the Walk on Saturday , March 27, 2010 beginning at 9 am. There will be a Team Registration table at Huge MacRae Park, Shelter 6 for all pre-registered teams.

Team Captains can bring their Teams registrations to our office (1200 N. 23rd St., Ste 101, Wilmington, NC) until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 if the Team wants to be included in the Top Fundraising Team and be eligible to receive special recognition the day of the Walk.

Individuals are encouraged to bring their registrations to our office the same day to be included in the Top Individual Fundraiser an be eligible to receive special recognition the day of the Walk.

Best Practices Recognition from Firstgivng.com

Imagine how excited I was to see in my inbox today an email from firstgiving.com in their weekly feature, Best Practices. Wow, recognition, from a national organization whose goal is to help people raise as much as they can for the causes they care about. The Best Practices feature goes out to thousands of users providing tips and techniques to help maximize the use of Firstgiving. Not only did the article feature Carolina Canines for Service, but it featured a recent Carolina Canines blog article about using firstgiving.com for the 4th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't.

Have you used Firstgiving to register for the 4th Annual Walk for Those Who Can't? It really is easy and with just a few clicks you can register as an individual or form a team. There's still time. The Walk is still over a week away. What are you waiting for?

Walk for Those Who Can't - Focus on Our Sponsors- Dog Living Magazine

A few days ago we let you all meet one of our many wonderful sponsors for our upcoming walk, The Walk for Those Who Can’t. Home Health Testing is not our only sponsor though! Check out Dog Living Magazine below in our Focus on our Sponsors blog series.

Dog Living Magazine is a dog lover’s magazine published here in North Carolina. Providing entertaining and informative articles, Dog Living Magazine is a must have for anybody that leads a dog-friendly lifestyle. They have been a huge part of our team here at Carolina Canines, being a media sponsor every year for the Walk for Those Who Can’t!!!

Dog Living Magazine is not only a publication; they are also a platform for responsible dog ownership and they support the efforts of animal rescues and other animal-related non-profits. If you don’t already have a copy of the recent Dog Living Magazine, you should definitely check it out!!! You can find their magazine in over 250 locations throughout central and southeastern North Carolina. Look in your area’s pet businesses, animal shelters, coffee shops or even restaurants and you will be sure to find a copy!

And, did you know that Dog Living Magazine has two canines on staff! Rescue dogs, Ollie and August, are regular contributors to Dog Living Magazine. Ollie is the Assistant Editor of the magazine and August barks out an advice column, which is translated and typed up for the magazine by the Editor-In-Chief!

Walk for Those Who Can't - Firstgiving Tip

Are you using Firstgiving.com/carolinacanines to raise money for the Walk for Those Who Can't? If you have supporters that want to donate offline (i.e. not using Firstgiving), that's okay. Here are some simple tips for recording your offline donations on your Firstgivng.com fundraising page directly from Firstgiving.com

How do I display offline donations on my fundraising page?
If someone donates with a personal check, there are two ways you can add them to your fundraising page.

Type their donation amount into your offline donation total.

Add their name, date, amount, or comment to your personal message.

Not sure how to add these? Learn how to edit your page.

If someone donates with cash, you can add them to your donor list by making a donation on their behalf to your page; just be sure to enter their name in the Display Name field.