nathan

Miden Must be Muzzled

Seeing Eye Dog Ruled Vicious

By Joy Cochran
The Ledger


WINTER HAVEN -- Miden the seeing-eye dog was labeled vicious and must spend the rest of his days in public muzzled.

That's the decision rendered Thursday by Maria Gallo, a lawyer and volunteer hearing officer for the Polk County Sheriff's Office Animal Control section.

``Miden, while in a public place, shall be muzzled in a manner that will not cause injury to the dog or interfere with it vision or respiration, that will prevent it from biting any person or animal,'' Gallo wrote, quoting in part the Polk County's animal control ordinance that addresses vicious dogs.

``Miden must be restrained by a substantial chain or leash and under the control of Mr. Jardine (at other times),'' Gallo ruled.

Bob Jardine, 66, is the blind owner of Miden, the 8-year-old, 100-pound German shepherd guide dog that attacked a 10-pound Maltese in June.

Miden mauled the Maltese, named Buddy, when Jardine and Miden entered the Spinal Restoration rehabilitation center in Winter Haven, whichi is owned by Angie Horton, Buddy's owner.

The attack occurred when Buddy jumped from the back of a couch and ran under a chair.

The decision doesn't surprise Stephen Baker, Jardine's lawyer.

``As Mr. (David) Bergdoll said in his closing, the blind are inherently untrustworthy because they can't see what's going on,'' Baker said, who is also blind. ``He said Bob's testimony was speculative. That was unfair.'' Bergdoll, the Polk County Sheriff's Office staff lawyer, prosecuted the case during Friday's hearing.

Gallo asked this week that Jardine take Miden to a veterinarian and an independent trainer for evaluations.

Those were not scheduled because appointments could not be set up in time to get a quick decision on the the case, Baker said.

Gallo said she asked for the evaluations because Miden suffers from a degenerative spinal condition that may affect his ability as a service animal.

Jardine said that being forced to muzzle Miden won't stop him from using Miden as a guide dog as long as he's able.

``I know my guy can accept a muzzle,'' he said. ``I don't know if the people can accept a muzzle by demeaning a service animal to this level. I am sincerely sorry this tragedy ever happened in the first place.''

Officials with Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, the organization that provided Miden for Jardine, could not be reached late Thursday.

Jardine has 10 days in which to appeal Gallo's order, Bergdoll said.

During that time he doesn't have to comply with the vicious dog ordinance, Bergdoll said.

``Even though he doesn't have to comply, my recommendation would be that he put the muzzle on the dog because he has been found to be vicious,'' he said. ``There could be problems with lawsuits if he attacks or bites anybody.''

If Gallo's ruling is appealed, the case will be heard by County Judge Steven L. Selph, who hears all animal neglect cases, Bergdoll said.

Selph could overturn or affirm the case, Bergdoll said.

Miden has already met two requirements of the ordinance -- that dogs determined to be vicious be microchipped and sterilized, Jardine said.

The property where a vicious dog lives must also be posted with warning signs and the dog must be contained in a proper enclosure when he is outside but not on a leash, according to the ordinance.

Unless he appeals the ruling, Jardine will have to comply with all requirements of the ordinance, Bergdoll said.

Jardine said he hasn't decided yet if he will appeal the order.

In her order, Gallo said a series of mistakes contributed to the ``unfortunate incident,'' including:

*Angie Horton having Buddy in the lobby of her business. As a pet, he should have been contained at the office or left at home.

*Fidelco, the dog placement company, determining that Miden was fit for service after a 20-minute walk around the neighborhood after Miden was attacked by a Rottweiler months earlier.

*Miden interpreting the smaller dog's jump from the couch as an unjustified attack, but, in fact, it was not.

*Jardine teaching Miden commands outside of those taught as a service dog was unwise. While Miden had Buddy in his mouth, he did not respond to Jardine's command of ``out'' to drop the dog. ``Out'' is not a service dog command, a trainer testified.

*Horton pouring hot water on the dogs and Jardine during the attack only aggravated the situation.

Joy Cochran can be reached at joy.cochran@theledger.com or 863-401-6970

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I feel for the owner of that Maltese, but she/Buddy are the responsible parties in this case. She should not have taken Buddy into work and Buddy should not have picked a fight with a dog 10x his size. Miden deserves a medal not a muzzle.

Here's some more articles on this case.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.d...607290423/1004
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.d...AKING/60728005
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.d...607270405/1004

MigratingOsprey

you can't have a service dog that shows that much aggression - but this whole thing is a mess

if you work at a health clinic, is it best to have your dog unsupervised? - what are you trying to accomplish with the hot water?

why would the service agency not watch the dog more after it suffered an attack - something that can traumitize a dog for a quite a while

enough stupidity to go around on this one...............

nathan

I don't think it's Miden's fault. Small dogs can be very aggressive. Miden or any other service animal can't be expected to show the same restraint a human would in dealing with a threat. Everything else I've read indicates he is very well behaved in public.

jenna2891

is it wrong that i laughed out loud when i read this?

40yearfan

nm, how do you consider this action to be an attack on the bigger dog? Sounds to me like the little dog was afraid and tried to get away. And since when is it wrong to take your dog to a place of business that you own?

This is an unfortunate incident, but the blame lies with the big dog.

abomb

If it is, I dont want to be right.

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2009 NFL watched: 174 quarters

nathan

Miden didn't jump on the couch after that dog. That dog jumped off the couch. In another article, an expert in animal behavior from Miden's training center said, "At the very least he would be troubled by the movement. Dogs act on instinct. They have to quickly analyze a situation." Miden was leashed. Buddy would have to jumped off the couch into Miden's immediate vicinity for an attack to have occurred.