374 views
12 comments

This morning I was at one of the area menards stores buying items on sale for the "crazy day" sale along with other items needed for a upcoming project. As I was browsing though the store with my 8 year old son he says "dad look at the dog going for a walk" I look over and observe a woman dressed very elegantly compared to typical menards customers walking a typical german shepherd dog wearing a very generic red vest with patches saying "ADA dog all access required by law" The woman and the gentleman with her both appeared to have full vision including ability to read product labels, no disability walking and able to maintain a verbal conversation with eachother.

The "disabled" woman even has the ability to text with 1 hand while holding the dog leash with the other while walking. The dog was on a choker collar and retractable leash. The demeanor of the "service animal" was poor at best, it was walking up to every customer smelling them, the carts and products within the store. When one woman walks by the dog suddenly starts growling defensively and the "disabled woman" has to yank on the leash aggressively to pull the dog back.

The woman the dog was smelling looked scared and stated she had several cats at her home and the dog must of smelled the odor on her person and clothing. I have a longtime neighbor who has been blind since childhood however tries to be as independent as possible which I always admire about him, however seeing this woman make a mockery of people with genuine disabilities truly frustrates and aggravates me and other customers. When the woman and dog walk past the area with pet supplies the dog starts smelling and trying to take rawhide bones and stuffed animals. The "disabled" woman again has to aggressively pull the stuffed toy out of the dogs mouth and put it back on the shelf full of dog saliva.

I desperately try to ignore the situation knowing the whole thing is a farce on people with genuine disabilities, however a few minutes later I observe them again. This time the "disabled" woman hands the dog leash over to the gentleman she's with while she independently uses the rest room. When the woman returns I ask her if this is a pet store, she replies its her service animal and hands me some very generic laminated card. I ask what service does the dog provide and she's tells me to mind my own *** business.

I tell her although I have great respect for anyone with a genuine disability I find it absurd what she is doing. She says look mr smart *** I have this card and this vest and thats all I legally need so go *** yourself. I ask are those genuine ADA card and vest or the $19.95 special from Dr Feelgood on Ebay. She just walks away.

I then approach a store manager regarding the dog. He gives me a blank stare and says menards has chosen to stay neutral on whats considered a ADA dog and what isn't to avoid legal issues. I tell him I myself, store customers, and store staff observed the dog wondering aimlessly away from the "disabled" person, act very aggressively to public customers, smell everything in sight, and grab dog toys as if the dog was in his own house. He gives me a blank stare again and says what do you want me to do?

I ask him what happens when one of these self entitled service dogs attacks a customer or staff member on store property due to your store failing to provide adequate security? I never get an answer. I then ask so if I want to bring in any animal into your store its an open door policy and your ok with it, he says if you have some form of id tag for it thats fine. I ask even if its the $19.95 eBay special again he says I'm 100% neutral and walks away.

I noticed multiple other customers being agitated by this dog roaming the store including a few stating they have server allergies to pets. Its a shame menards does nothing to protect the public from these self entitled clowns, perhaps when there is an attack by one of these fake ADA dogs within the store they will be more motivated to enforce federal laws.

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Do You Have Something To Say ?
Write a review

Comments

chat-icon

Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content

You will be automatically registered on our site. Username and password will be sent to you via email.
Post Comment
Guest

No, you cannot legally eject someone for having a service animal. I can completely understand Menards' position on this.

If YOU had a concern, you should have called the local municipal authorities. Local animal control and in some cases the police, can eject people with the manager's consent.

My cousin has a service dog that monitors them for low blood sugar (they are diabetic and a hemophiliac, so they can't use blood tests for sugar levels) and she is not visibly disabled.

Also, did you consider the service dog may have been in training?

I've seen Leader Dogs for the Blind have trainers taking their dogs through stores to try and acclimate them to crowds as part of their training.

I see from your comments this dog in particular was not well behaved, and the handler did not seem to be taking do care... But as with ALL things in society there are balances to be maintained.

Expecting a third party (Menards) to violate someone's rights on YOUR say so and then complaining when they decline to do so...certainly makes you seem petty. Menards are experts in home improvement, not in the medical necessity of service dogs or their training.

Guest

Sounds like the "service animal" needs it's own service animal! I understand Menards fear of a lawsuit but a growling, aggressive service animal wandering away from it's owner is NOT something I have seen before and I use to know a trainer of these animals.

I am with the letter writer on this one. That lady was full ***!

Guest

Don't you have anything better to do?

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1173247

Don't you?

Guest

Still could have ejected her, regardless of service animal or not. Menards can trespass and refuse business to whomever it wants.

The thing is, they don't *have* to regardless of the opinions of nosy asswipes when the manager explicitly states that they're staying out if because its not a legal issue involving the store.

You have inspired me though. Think I'll go to Wal-Mart and *** about fat people driving up healthcare rates and try to force them to not cater to them.

MrSharkNasty
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1147566

Not when it comes to disabilities they cannot. Telling someone they cannot have a service dog to assist them with their disability is treading on thin ice.

It would open Menards up for litigation and the employee would find themselves fired. You can google this if you like sadly I can't post link!

This is Illinois stance on it "The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any dog* individually trained to provide assistance to a person with a disability. An animal fitting this description is considered a service animal under the ADA regardless of whether the animal is certified by a particular entity or wearing identifying markers." "The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by places of public accommodation, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, parks, concert halls and sports venues."

Guest

Is this the same woman who brings the pet turkey on an airplane?

Guest

Service animals take many forms and are there for multiple purposes. Questioning or chanlenging someones use of a service animal cam lead to a lawsuit most stores don't want to get involved in.

Sounds like this lady's dog may need more training and she would be held liable had it actually hurt someone. Sounds like the store manager did the proper thing and stayed neutral.

MrSharkNasty

You do realize people have service dogs for mental illnesses right? People with depression have service dogs!

People with anxiety have service dogs! Not all handicaps are noticeable or visible. Had Menards stepped in and this individual had a actual reason to have this service dog it would have opened them up for litigation.

You're passing judgment and you don't even know this person. You really should be minding your own business and not making assumptions about people you don't know.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of MrSharkNasty

Yeah....anxiety I get. Like if she's about to have a quadruple bypass heart surgery or something, heck, have 8 service animals. I don't think shopping for light bulbs is something that you would get anxiety over.

MrSharkNasty
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1145694

Such ignorance. People have social anxiety so if they're out in public at all they cannot cope.

Having a service dog might make them feel more secure and help them cope while in public :).

What about those veterans with PSTD you going to judge them as well?

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of MrSharkNasty

I am a 100% disabled veteran with PTSD and multiple other physical and mental issues, and do not feel this guy is in the wrong. The way this dog behaved is atrocious for it to be a "service animal"!!!

If the store won't say something if my dog is misbehaving,. and I don't notice or choose not to notice then I would hope someone would say something so I'd want to put more emphasis on training the dog!!!!

Menards Reviews

  1. 881 reviews
  2. 455 reviews
  3. 415 reviews
  4. 288 reviews
  5. 164 reviews
Menards reviews