COPD & Emphysema Support Group
COPD is a progressive disease characterized by airflow obstruction or limitation. Emphysema is characterized by loss of elasticity of the lung tissue, destruction of structures supporting the alveoli and of capillaries feeding the alveoli. Both have symptoms that include shortness of breath, among other respiratory troubles. If you are a COPD or Emphysema sufferer, join...
Thursday, January 5, 2012 6:00 am |
By Mary Morris | 0 comments
Although she said she knows the law is on her side, Georgeann Roberts hesitates to pursue her case legally. Instead, she said she just hopes someone will be reasonable enough to let her rent a home - and to bring along her service dog, Tyler, too.
However, that hasn't happened yet, Roberts said, because the landlords she has talked to either don't allow animals or they refuse to make exceptions to their pet-deposit policy, which violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Tyler, a Labrador retriever mix trained to assist Roberts with her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a special animal. He constantly monitors Roberts' oxygen and heart and notifies her if there's a problem before she even knows it herself. Roberts said having Tyler has given her a new sense of security. All the anxiety of having an asthma attack or a surprise medical problem is gone, because now Tyler will warn her about it ahead of time.
"At night, which is a critical time, my oxygen level will drop as low as 81," Roberts said, "and he will paw my sternum."
Or, she added, Tyler will wake her husband to assist her.
Roberts was diagnosed with COPD after a six-week stint with pneumonia in 1991. The pneumonia damaged her right lung, causing her to develop COPD despite that she has never been a smoker. She has been disabled from the disease since 1999, and her doctor ultimately recommended that she try using a service dog this year. She's had Tyler for nearly three months now, and she just moved to Missouri from California a few weeks ago.
"It was the economy that brought me here," Roberts said.
But, since moving here, finding a home to rent has been yet another complication in her life because nearly everyone she and her sister, Sandy Kiefer, have contacted has said that no animals are allowed in their homes.
Roberts and Never said they've called 15 to 20 property owners, and they often mention the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that rental housing allows for reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, including allowing service animals like Tyler to live in the premises without a pet deposit charge. But, they said nobody understands what they're talking about.
"They don't have a clue," Never said. "They do not have a clue."
"I called the other day on a house that was right down here off of B and it would have been perfect," she said.
The homeowner told her that she and Roberts - who plan to rent together - could have as many cats as they wanted, but absolutely no dogs.
And Roberts said that's due to a lack of understanding of both the law and of what a service dog does.
Currently, Roberts, her husband and Never are living temporarily in rental cabins in Laclede County, but they have been seeking rentals in Dallas County since October.
Americans with Disabilities Act
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, landlords may not legally refuse to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities, and that includes making accommodations within their own rules and policies, like animal policies. This year alone, HUD filed several discrimination charges against landlords for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not allowing service animals in their rental properties, or by requiring pet deposit fees for renters with service animals.
In September, HUD tested a Washington trailer park by having HUD employees pose as rental applicants with disabilities who had service dogs. When the trailer park didn't offer to accommodate the posing applicants and their need for service dogs, HUD charged the trailer park owner with discrimination - a hefty charge that comes with a $16,000 civil penalty per incident.
Landlord weighs in
A local landlord, who asked not to be identified in the paper, was willing to offer his response on this matter.
"My policy is pretty well if you read my ad: No pets," he said.
The landlord, who has several rental properties, said he used to allow pets in his properties, but in one apartment it cost him nearly $20,000 to make repairs after a tenant left.
"It was feces and it was cat litter and it was cat food," he said, adding that he would never allow another tenant to live with an animal on his property again, even if it were a service animal like Roberts'.
"If I gave in to one, I'd be forced to give into 47," he said. "I don't understand why people insist on pets when they move into a rental property."
Georgann and Tyler
Roberts said Tyler is not a pet.
"Tyler's job is to monitor my breathing and my heart," she said. "A service dog is a dog that's trained for one special thing."
But, she said many people she encounters don't understand that service dogs go far beyond the familiar guide-dogs used by the vision-impaired.
"Places we've gone - stores - I don't take him in restaurants here," she said. "I did in California, but they just don't get it in Missouri."
Under federal law, all public businesses and organizations are required to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals in with them anywhere that other members of the public get to go.
And being enabled to live with Tyler, and to go in public places with him, is what Roberts needs. Before she had Tyler, she was often afraid - afraid that she might become ill in public, that she might have an asthma attack, or that something might happen if she went somewhere alone.
"Now, I look to the dog," she said. "I just throw him in the car and take off."
During the interview, Tyler sat on his hind legs and gently placed his paw on Roberts' chest. She knew that meant she needed her inhaler. Roberts called her husband, who brought the inhaler to her before her asthma kicked in, about eight minutes later. Tyler knew it was coming before she even felt it.
"He tells me so far ahead that I can go get a pill, I can go get my inhaler," she said. "The freedom is amazing. The freedom is incredible. But most importantly, I sleep all night. The terror is gone. Like this pressure I'm feeling in my chest. He caught it seven or eight minutes before I even knew it. Aren't you a good boy?"
Roberts said Tyler has been a miracle for her, but she and Never don't want to force any landlords to rent to them.
"If you're making them follow the law, that irritates the landlord, and you're starting off on the wrong foot," Never said.
Roberts added that she would prefer not to rent to someone who had to be forced to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act, anyway.
"If they don't have the empathy to understand what a service dog is, I'm not particularly interested in renting from them," she said. "I shouldn't have to say this dog keeps me alive. I need this dog."
I thought this was an amazing story about a service dog for COPD,
and how our Americans with Disabilities Act works for those of us with service dogs like our friend Sally and her dog Katie.
Love,
Holly
By Mary Morris | 0 comments
Although she said she knows the law is on her side, Georgeann Roberts hesitates to pursue her case legally. Instead, she said she just hopes someone will be reasonable enough to let her rent a home - and to bring along her service dog, Tyler, too.
However, that hasn't happened yet, Roberts said, because the landlords she has talked to either don't allow animals or they refuse to make exceptions to their pet-deposit policy, which violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Tyler, a Labrador retriever mix trained to assist Roberts with her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a special animal. He constantly monitors Roberts' oxygen and heart and notifies her if there's a problem before she even knows it herself. Roberts said having Tyler has given her a new sense of security. All the anxiety of having an asthma attack or a surprise medical problem is gone, because now Tyler will warn her about it ahead of time.
"At night, which is a critical time, my oxygen level will drop as low as 81," Roberts said, "and he will paw my sternum."
Or, she added, Tyler will wake her husband to assist her.
Roberts was diagnosed with COPD after a six-week stint with pneumonia in 1991. The pneumonia damaged her right lung, causing her to develop COPD despite that she has never been a smoker. She has been disabled from the disease since 1999, and her doctor ultimately recommended that she try using a service dog this year. She's had Tyler for nearly three months now, and she just moved to Missouri from California a few weeks ago.
"It was the economy that brought me here," Roberts said.
But, since moving here, finding a home to rent has been yet another complication in her life because nearly everyone she and her sister, Sandy Kiefer, have contacted has said that no animals are allowed in their homes.
Roberts and Never said they've called 15 to 20 property owners, and they often mention the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that rental housing allows for reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, including allowing service animals like Tyler to live in the premises without a pet deposit charge. But, they said nobody understands what they're talking about.
"They don't have a clue," Never said. "They do not have a clue."
"I called the other day on a house that was right down here off of B and it would have been perfect," she said.
The homeowner told her that she and Roberts - who plan to rent together - could have as many cats as they wanted, but absolutely no dogs.
And Roberts said that's due to a lack of understanding of both the law and of what a service dog does.
Currently, Roberts, her husband and Never are living temporarily in rental cabins in Laclede County, but they have been seeking rentals in Dallas County since October.
Americans with Disabilities Act
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, landlords may not legally refuse to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities, and that includes making accommodations within their own rules and policies, like animal policies. This year alone, HUD filed several discrimination charges against landlords for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not allowing service animals in their rental properties, or by requiring pet deposit fees for renters with service animals.
In September, HUD tested a Washington trailer park by having HUD employees pose as rental applicants with disabilities who had service dogs. When the trailer park didn't offer to accommodate the posing applicants and their need for service dogs, HUD charged the trailer park owner with discrimination - a hefty charge that comes with a $16,000 civil penalty per incident.
Landlord weighs in
A local landlord, who asked not to be identified in the paper, was willing to offer his response on this matter.
"My policy is pretty well if you read my ad: No pets," he said.
The landlord, who has several rental properties, said he used to allow pets in his properties, but in one apartment it cost him nearly $20,000 to make repairs after a tenant left.
"It was feces and it was cat litter and it was cat food," he said, adding that he would never allow another tenant to live with an animal on his property again, even if it were a service animal like Roberts'.
"If I gave in to one, I'd be forced to give into 47," he said. "I don't understand why people insist on pets when they move into a rental property."
Georgann and Tyler
Roberts said Tyler is not a pet.
"Tyler's job is to monitor my breathing and my heart," she said. "A service dog is a dog that's trained for one special thing."
But, she said many people she encounters don't understand that service dogs go far beyond the familiar guide-dogs used by the vision-impaired.
"Places we've gone - stores - I don't take him in restaurants here," she said. "I did in California, but they just don't get it in Missouri."
Under federal law, all public businesses and organizations are required to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals in with them anywhere that other members of the public get to go.
And being enabled to live with Tyler, and to go in public places with him, is what Roberts needs. Before she had Tyler, she was often afraid - afraid that she might become ill in public, that she might have an asthma attack, or that something might happen if she went somewhere alone.
"Now, I look to the dog," she said. "I just throw him in the car and take off."
During the interview, Tyler sat on his hind legs and gently placed his paw on Roberts' chest. She knew that meant she needed her inhaler. Roberts called her husband, who brought the inhaler to her before her asthma kicked in, about eight minutes later. Tyler knew it was coming before she even felt it.
"He tells me so far ahead that I can go get a pill, I can go get my inhaler," she said. "The freedom is amazing. The freedom is incredible. But most importantly, I sleep all night. The terror is gone. Like this pressure I'm feeling in my chest. He caught it seven or eight minutes before I even knew it. Aren't you a good boy?"
Roberts said Tyler has been a miracle for her, but she and Never don't want to force any landlords to rent to them.
"If you're making them follow the law, that irritates the landlord, and you're starting off on the wrong foot," Never said.
Roberts added that she would prefer not to rent to someone who had to be forced to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act, anyway.
"If they don't have the empathy to understand what a service dog is, I'm not particularly interested in renting from them," she said. "I shouldn't have to say this dog keeps me alive. I need this dog."
I thought this was an amazing story about a service dog for COPD,
and how our Americans with Disabilities Act works for those of us with service dogs like our friend Sally and her dog Katie.
Love,
Holly
Thanks for sharing this story with us. xox
Hugs
Peta x