Guide dog discrimination a disgrace
So the Government is stepping in – and not before time – because so many blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their "unclean" guide dogs.
What a disgrace that blind people have been left stranded because Muslim drivers deem dogs to be dirty and against Islamic code.
While I respect other faiths, it is totally scandalous that this is happening in our country. If, as a Christian, I refused to work on a Sunday as part of my religious belief, then I would have to find another job.
I have no such scruples and think it scandalous that blind people are facing downright hostility, not just on the buses but even at hospitals and in supermarkets.
It's a common occurrence and getting worse, according to both the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the National Federation of the Blind.
The Muslim Council of Great Britain is urging tolerance and common sense on the issue. A spokesman said: "Muslim drivers should have no hesitation in allowing guide dogs into their bus or taxi.
"Some schools of Islam regard the saliva of dogs as impure and others think there is no problem."
As transport minister Norman Baker has told bus companies, religious objections are not a sufficient reason to eject any passenger with a well-behaved dog.
Mr Baker has warned bus and cab companies that, while they were within their rights to ask a passenger to leave if the dog was causing a nuisance, it was "much more questionable to be asked to remove a dog for religious reasons".
In 2006, Muslim minicab driver Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni was fined 200 and ordered to pay 1,200 costs by magistrates in Marylebone, central London, after being prosecuted for failing to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act when he refused to take a blind passenger because her guide dog was "unclean".
The problem to carry guide dogs on religious grounds has become so widespread that the matter was raised in the House of Lords last week, prompting the transport minister to take a stance.
It's bad enough being blind and getting around without having to handle such opposition. George Herridge, 73, was stunned when twice asked by bus drivers to leave their vehicles because of his guide dog, Andy, a black labrador.
While drivers can use their discretion to refuse to carry non-disabled passengers with dogs, they are compelled to accept guide dogs under disability discrimination law.
Reading man George, a retired hospital maintenance manager, speaks of getting off a bus at the request of a Muslim driver because some Muslim children on board were "screaming" because of the dog.
On another occasion, a Muslim woman and her children became "hysterical." Mr Herridge this time refused the driver's request to alight.
He complained to the bus company which launched an investigation. It later informed him the matter had been dealt with "internally." Well, now it's been spelt out in black and white how drivers should behave
when the blind want to get on board.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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