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Article
and Video Courtesy of
WPTV Channel 5 Palm Beach
By Jamel
Lanee'
Published
June 27, 2014
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 Watch
VIDEO
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It's a fight between a man, his service dog
and the private community where he lives.
Gary Davis, who is disabled, said his dog Yummy should be with him
everywhere he goes. Not only because she's his best friend, but because
she's his service dog.
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Davis's attorney Peter Porcaro
said Century Village management has banned the four-legged
animal from certain parts of the property which he contends
is not in compliance with American Disabilities Act.
"I've had Yummy for about two years, a little over two years
and she means the world to me," Davis said.
Davis doesn't like to go anywhere without her. He said she's
his lifesaver and helps him with his disability. And she has
the card to prove she's a service dog. |
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"She is a service dog and my best friend,"
he said.
But Century Village's management company, based in Palm Beach County,
questions Yummy's legitimacy as a service dog. The company's attorney
has filed a lawsuit to keep Yummy from walking around the private
property.
She's banned to a parking
area and the grass lot behind Davis's condo.
"What they're doing now to some extent is attempting to
eradicate service dogs within Century Village by filing
lawsuits against disabled elderly people who have them,"
said Porcaro.
Porcaro said his client is being singled out.
"This case seems like a case of selective enforcement," he
said. "They have already granted accommodations to other
service dogs and their owners here in Century Village." |
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In a complaint filed last year, Broward
courts ruled that Yummy was an emotional support animal and not trained
to work or perform task directly related to Davis's disability, but
Porcaro disagrees.
He said, "(The) dog doesn't make a peep, the dog is wonderfully behaved.
The dog does everything it needs to do to qualify as a service dog under
the American Disabilities Act."
It's a federal law Pocaro said Century Village is breaking.
"If I can't take her with me in public, it would impede the way I live.
Impede my way of life," said Davis.
We've reached out to Century Village for a statement, and are waiting to
hear back from their attorney.
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