Dear all,

maybe I'm a little far off the mark because I'm a collection manager in 
a science and technology museum which isn't a clean room even if we do 
our best to keep dust and pests out, but I am wondering:

Is this not simply a question on how to handle the work?

I guess most work won't be directly in the storage area, at least it 
shouldn't. I believe you have a separate room for packing things and 
doing the computer work. If staff is allowed to work with open hair 
there I see no real reason why a service dog in training shouldn't be 
allowed in those areas. You don't work with collection items on the 
floor (at least I hope so) so the dog hasn't really a chance to spoil 
anything, even if an accident happens. I would be cautious to let it 
into the storage areas (in fact, I'm cautious to let anyone in there 
without a good reason, may it be a puppy or someone from the royal 
family) but I guess this won't be necessary, because they are only 
accessed to get artifacts or bring them back there. A basic training for 
every dog is to "stay", even if his human is out of the room and it 
certainly is for service dogs. The puppy can stay at its place while the 
volunteer gets new work from the storage. So, by organizing work 
properly, I don't see a general problem.

The assumption that most attention will go to the puppy for me lacks 
evidence. I'm more of a cat lover but for some time we had a close 
cooperation with the local police department with police dogs in 
training and I have a deep respect on the professional way those humans 
interact with their future colleagues. I guess it's the same with 
service dogs in training. This is a highly professional relationship 
that demands a high sense of responsibility and attentiveness from the 
trainer and in my experience this spreads to the general view on life 
and work. So for me, if I could chose between a volunteer who chose to 
take the responsibility of training a service dog and one who doesn't, 
I'd tend to take the one with the puppy.

Best wishes

Angela

Angela Kipp
Collection Manager
TECHNOSEUM, Mannheim, Germany
www.technoseum.de

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Am 25.02.2014 17:59, schrieb Norris,Erin S:
>
> 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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