Screenshot from The Good 5 Cent Cigar/RhodyCigar.com
By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
A story from the University of Rhode Island’s student newspaper The Good 5 Cent Cigar is going viral.
Headlines like “Student Newspaper Story Leads To Therapy Dog’s Removal From U. Of Rhode Island Residence Hall” and “A College Has Reportedly Banned One Of Its Workers From Bringing His Therapy Dog To Work After A Newspaper Article” have popped up on Huffington Post and Buzzfeed, respectively.
The original story appeared in the The Good 5 Cent Cigar last Thursday. Staff news reporter Eliza Radeka wrote a feel-good piece about Mike LaPolice, a housekeeper for one of the school’s residence halls, and his dog, Ivy. The paper reports LaPolice has been bringing Ivy to the school for more than a year to bring joy and comfort to the URI students.
The story included quotes from students who enjoyed the pair’s presence at URI’s Peck Hall, but, Radeka did hint that not everyone was sold on Ivy. She wrote:
“[E]ven after earning her certification, Ivy has received some negative attention from LaPolice’s superiors.
“As far as I know, it’s pretty much just HRL ‘higher-ups’ that have an issue with her being here, stating something along the lines of it not being professional,” said Tyler Inkley, a Peck Hall resident advisor.
Last year, to show their support for Ivy and LaPolice, Peck Hall residents signed a petition expressing their love for Ivy and their desire for her to be allowed in the residence hall. LaPolice is eager to show off the list of signatures, along with a handmade Christmas card filled with pictures of Ivy that several students made for him last year.
“If I had $5 for every time someone takes a picture of Ivy, I wouldn’t have to work here anymore,” LaPolice said.
Fortunately, he has not received a complaint about Ivy’s presence in Peck in over six months, and the general attitude toward her is overwhelmingly positive.”
But that overwhelmingly positive attitude swiftly changed – just a day later, Radeka published another report: “Popular therapy dog removed from residence hall.” That’s when the story started to gain momentum.
According to Radeka’s reports, Ivy, a black and white husky, was registered with the National Service Animal Registry so LaPolice could bring the dog to work. But therapy dogs do not fall under the same legal protections as service animals.
According to the National Service Animal Registry: “Although therapy animals provide a very important therapeutic service to all kinds of people in need, they are NOT considered ‘service animals’ and they and their handlers have no protections under federal law (ADA, the Fair Housing Act, Air Carrier Access Act, etc.). Some states, however, have laws that afford therapy animals and their handlers rights and protections.”
Now the University of Rhode Island is responding, saying legally, Ivy is nothing more than LaPolice’s pet. But, they do seem willing to re-explore the issue with LaPolice:
“Staff members of the University’s Department of Housing and Residential Life became aware of an employee bringing a dog to Peck Hall late last summer. Since that time, housing staff has met repeatedly with the employee to ask him to leave the dog at home. The University does not permit its employees to bring their pets to work, unless they are service animals.
While we understand the bond students may have formed with an animal brought into their residence hall, the University must consider the precedent that this sets and the welfare of the entire community, including potential liability in the event of a dog bite and issues around sanitation, pests and allergies.
There are avenues for addressing employee accommodation requests under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the employee was referred to Human Resources for that process. To date, Human Resources has not received an official request from the employee for accommodations under the federal law.”
LaPolice tells the Cigar he plans to talk to a doctor to see if can bring the dog to work for a medical need, saying he’d “go to a psychiatrist” if he had to.
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