FOR IMMEDIATE USE
FROM: Advocates for Service Animal Partners
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2024
RE: Criminal Arraignment of Service Animal Denial
AIRB&B HOST ARRAIGNED ON SERVICE ANIMAL DENIAL
Tampa, Fla. – At 11:00 at night, shortly after a disabled Montana business owner checked into a Tampa Airbnb, the host ordered her off the property because of her service dog. When she called the Hillsborough County Sherrif's Office for assistance, explaining such denial was a criminal offense, the disabled woman was laughed at by a deputy who asserted she did not know what she was talking about. Frustrated at the response from the sheriff's office, she called Advocates for Service Animal Partners (ASAP) which operates a 24-hour telephone hotline to help with such issues. ASAP just happens to be headquartered in Tampa and the advocate on the hotline was one of the most authoritative voices in the field of service animal law and policy!
"I couldn't believe how dismissive the deputy was when I told her it was a criminal offense in Florida," says Liz Hartranft, whose service dog is trained to alert her to the onset of a seizure. "I gave her the statute number and even read it to her but she refused to do so much as to look it up! I felt so humiliated when she literally laughed in my face!"
According to Florida statute 413.08 (attached), a disabled individual accompanied by a service dog has the right to full and equal access to any place other members of the public are allowed. The dog must be kept on a leash or tether unless the leash or tether interferes with the work the dog is trained to perform. The dog must be kept under direct control of the handler and must not create a threat or be disruptive. Violation of this law is a second degree misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, incarceration of up to six months, and the performance of up to thirty hours of community service.
"This is not an unusual response by law enforcement," says Marion Gwizdala, ASAP's CEO and the advocate who happened to take this particular call. "After I quoted the law by literally section and verse, I had an HCSO dispatcher advise me to call the Better Business Bureau!"
According to Gwizdala, Advocates for Service Animal Partners has attempted to work with law enforcement around the country to solve this pervasive problem but their interest in doing so only lasts as long as the issue is in the media. Gwizdala asserts.
"People with disabilities are marginalized by businesses and when we assert our rights, we are marginalized even further by those sworn to protect and serve," says Gwizdala.
The host of the Tampa Airbnb, Juan Gomez, will be arraigned on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Courthouse located at 401 N. Jefferson Street, Courtroom 22, Tampa, Florida. For more information about the mutual rights and responsibilities of service animal handlers and the businesses we patronize, please call the ASAP hotline at 855-ASAP211 (855-272-7211) OR visit
https://ServiceAnimals.info
FROM: Advocates for Service Animal Partners
RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2024
RE: Criminal Arraignment of Service Animal Denial
AIRB&B HOST ARRAIGNED ON SERVICE ANIMAL DENIAL
Tampa, Fla. – At 11:00 at night, shortly after a disabled Montana business owner checked into a Tampa Airbnb, the host ordered her off the property because of her service dog. When she called the Hillsborough County Sherrif's Office for assistance, explaining such denial was a criminal offense, the disabled woman was laughed at by a deputy who asserted she did not know what she was talking about. Frustrated at the response from the sheriff's office, she called Advocates for Service Animal Partners (ASAP) which operates a 24-hour telephone hotline to help with such issues. ASAP just happens to be headquartered in Tampa and the advocate on the hotline was one of the most authoritative voices in the field of service animal law and policy!
"I couldn't believe how dismissive the deputy was when I told her it was a criminal offense in Florida," says Liz Hartranft, whose service dog is trained to alert her to the onset of a seizure. "I gave her the statute number and even read it to her but she refused to do so much as to look it up! I felt so humiliated when she literally laughed in my face!"
According to Florida statute 413.08 (attached), a disabled individual accompanied by a service dog has the right to full and equal access to any place other members of the public are allowed. The dog must be kept on a leash or tether unless the leash or tether interferes with the work the dog is trained to perform. The dog must be kept under direct control of the handler and must not create a threat or be disruptive. Violation of this law is a second degree misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500, incarceration of up to six months, and the performance of up to thirty hours of community service.
"This is not an unusual response by law enforcement," says Marion Gwizdala, ASAP's CEO and the advocate who happened to take this particular call. "After I quoted the law by literally section and verse, I had an HCSO dispatcher advise me to call the Better Business Bureau!"
According to Gwizdala, Advocates for Service Animal Partners has attempted to work with law enforcement around the country to solve this pervasive problem but their interest in doing so only lasts as long as the issue is in the media. Gwizdala asserts.
"People with disabilities are marginalized by businesses and when we assert our rights, we are marginalized even further by those sworn to protect and serve," says Gwizdala.
The host of the Tampa Airbnb, Juan Gomez, will be arraigned on Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. at the Hillsborough County Courthouse located at 401 N. Jefferson Street, Courtroom 22, Tampa, Florida. For more information about the mutual rights and responsibilities of service animal handlers and the businesses we patronize, please call the ASAP hotline at 855-ASAP211 (855-272-7211) OR visit
https://ServiceAnimals.info
