I don't think anyone is saying anything against a person using a service
animal who needs it for any reason. The situation is not an employee, and
the dog is not fully grown or trained. There are legitimate concerns, most
of which would not exist with a fully trained adult service animal.


On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Lisa Shockley
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

>  I want to address one issue--and that is the misunderstanding of what
> service animals are and who has them.
>
>
>
> I have a very dear friend who is a Vietnam veteran with acute anxiety
> disorder and PTSD and can suffer extreme agitation in large crowds or in
> new environments for the first time. He has had a service animal, a dog in
> his case--but cats, monkeys, pigs, and other animals CAN be service animals.
> "Buster" allows my friend to go to the grocery, movie theatre, concerts,
> and other public areas that used to cause him great distress. The dog helps
> soothe him, but is trained to be alert to increasing stress (and blood
> sugar, for that matter) and lets my friend know when to take a break, or
> sometimes just medicine. There are service animals trained to recognize
> diabetic issues!
>
>
>
> There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that he couldn't do my job, other
> than he hasn't been trained yet. He can also lift a lot more than I. As a
> matter of fact, it would be an ideal job for him.
>
>
>
> Service animals very well COULD end up in a back-of-house situation for a
> museum or archives. This post is not very kind, to either people using
> service animals or even volunteers/staff. Perhaps somewhere, someone has
> staff & volunteers unprofessional enough that they cannot do their job in
> such a situation, but mine can.
>
>
>
>
>
> Lisa Shockley
>
> Curator of Collections
>
> Kansas City Museum/Union Station
>
> 30 W. Pershing Road, Suite 400
>
> Kansas City, MO 64108
>
> 816-460-2055
>
>
>
> "Where there is Peace; there is Culture;
>
> Where there is Culture; there is Peace."
>
> Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947)
>
>
>
> *From:* Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
> Behalf Of *Norris,Erin S
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 25, 2014 10:59 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Guide dog puppies in training and collections
>
>
>
> Two things about guide dog puppies which haven't been brought up on list.
>
>
>
> The volunteer would be likely to pay far more attention to the puppy than
> the volunteer work she is supposed to be doing. As would everyone else. At
> best, it's unproductive. At worst, it has the potential for unfixable
> mistakes. The puppy, though well behaved, may also be underfoot a lot which
> is dangerous for both the puppy and people-potential for tripping. It's a
> puppy, not a certified guide animal. Would you allow the volunteer to bring
> children or someone for whom they were a caregiver to that environment? It
> is a workplace.
>
>
>
> Let me pose another question: who normally processes collections? Yes,
> service animals are covered by law and should be. But what sort of
> volunteer who uses a guide dog would be processing collections? Are they
> blind, wheelchair bound or otherwise mobility impaired, developmentally
> disabled, etc.? How likely is it that person will be lifting heavy boxes of
> materials or artifacts and processing them? Equal opportunity employment
> means exactly that, and should, but the person has to be able to perform
> the basic requirements of the job on offer.
>
>
>
> If an employee asked me, I would of course respond in saying service
> animals are allowed by law in most or all public settings. Sometimes cats
> are used as service animals but they are also notorious for urinating to
> mark territory, no matter their age. Is the archival storage and processing
> area a place to which the general public is allowed?  A volunteer, who is
> an unpaid employee, should be made to follow the same rules as any other
> employee. No eating in the archives. No drinking in the archives. No pets
> or children in the archives. Again, this is a puppy in training, not a
> certified service animal. How do other employees and volunteers *honestly*feel about the situation?
>
>
>
> I think it's great the volunteer trains service animals but let's also
> think of the archive for a moment. We are stewards of historic materials
> for future generations. Putting the archives or the volunteer in such an
> awkward situation is a disservice to both.
>
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