Service Dog for Deaf Resident

Your board should not of poked that bear. A service dog is sacred ground for the disabled and if they had done their homework, they would have found a better way than this to handle. Chances are great that with this particular way of handling it your board has zero sympathy for the disabled, let alone the service dog aspect.

Tell a disabled person to drug their dog???? "Dear homeowner, we know your dog is needed for your disability but we don't care. Please drug your dog so that it cannot perform it's duties to protect you, and if you don't like drugging your dog, then just get rid of it."

Your board deserves what it gets with this ignorance and hopefully the owner will bring the ADA down on them for it.

I agree with Crystal.

The Board is asking for trouble.

This is why I believe in requiring complaints from 2 lots/units before an Association will become involved in a potential neighbor v. neighbor dispute. Hopefully hind sight will show this to the Association.

Since the letter was sent, in the words of Mr. Holmes, the game is afoot. The ball is now in the dog owners hands and how they respond will set the ground rules for the game.

My suggestion is that the owner does not respond without checking with HUD (see: Disability Rights in Housing from HUD website).

If they do feel, or are pressured in responding, the response should simply be that since this involves their service animal and reasonable accommodations for the disabled, they are consulting with the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the issue.

Service dogs for the deaf:

Hearing Dogs from dogs for the deaf

For People Who Are Deaf or Have Hearing Loss from National Education for Assistance Dog Services

Karen C 22 Fla ; Before the age of vibrating cellphones & strobe-type alerts eg doorbell, a genuine "service animal" might have to try a range of alerting actions. But that would likely focus on physical contact. "Companion" animals or "comfort" animals are a different matter, and it sounds like this is instead the scenario. Service dogs with up to date reinforcement don't usually disturb others(Some jurisdictions here are attempting to legislate the credentialling of bona fide 'service animals' after so many bogus claims and $75 bogus kits.

If NOT a service dog, shouldn't this animal's disruption be addressed to the standard of any other disruption complaint ?

Unless you want to drug the complainant instead, respectfully the sole complaint has to be taken seriously if for no other than the welfare of the animal itself.

Is it barking because is not being leash-walked to relieve itself ? Can a neighbour/neighbours help ?

Respectfully it is also a good idea for housing communities to have on their books a human rights POLICY document and a procedure to stick-handle disruption . .

Dog's for the deaf notify of fire alarms, door knocks, phone calls (TTY), etc.

I'm not sure if the dog came through a service or not, or would be classified comfort or deaf support. My aunt has a deaf support dog that does do all the nudging, etc., to notify of sound; so I'm aware of the need and usefulness of this type of animal. I think the board members are certainly not aware of the case and believe there should be a process to respect the lady's rights and find a solution that works, rather than demand she drug it or get rid of it. The complaining party even mentioned she is mad at the lady, too, for never learning to read lips. There is a little deaf-hate in all of this too.

Service dogs for the deaf have been around for a very long time. One of the first type handicaps service dogs were trained for. My job I work with several deaf customers who have translators for when they call us. Otherwise at home they do have an actual TTY or closed captioning type of translation.

You do NOT drug a dog EVER. That is the most insane thing ever heard. There are bark deterrents available. Like bark collars. However, this dog may have been trained for barking for alerting others to issues besides the owner. What if this person has collapsed? The dog is to alert someone in these cases. Drugging the dog idea is for idiots.

Turn this over to animal control like all other animal issues should be turned over to. They don't like the barking then the complainer should call the police NOT the HOA. The HOA can't kick out the resident, drug the dog, or punish them. This is outside of the HOA scope if you ask me. I would just entertain the complaint as no more than neighbor noise. Tell them to deal with it and put it in their court.

BTW... I have a neighbor who non-stops complains about my dogs barking. He's the who owns dogs that bark annoyingly. Call them "yippy yappy" dogs. He's constantly calling the police on me for it. My dogs aren't known to be "barkers". Even video taped it and lived behind the animal control officer who witness it all. No matter what I do, he complains. I put up a wood fence between us. My dogs don't go out after 11 pm. If they do bark, I quiet them down easily. He still complains and threatens me. One night he called me at 3 am to complain about my dogs barking. They weren't my dogs barking!!! A new neighbor moved in who has barking dogs. I was forced to give up 1 dog and the had to put to sleep because of his complaints in the past. Now, that is NOT acceptable and keeping my dogs. No other neighbors complain nor have the police found me in any violation. So I say it's their issue and not mine... NOT going to make it mine either.

HUD sample letter for an 'emotional support animal', note the section in BOLD