Disabled woman sues over banning of guide horse from home
Toolbox
By Dave Gram Associated Press - Published: November 13, 2007
MONTPELIER — A disabled woman who wants to use a 100-pound miniature horse as a service animal — pulling her wheelchair — has filed a human rights complaint against her landlord for not permitting it in her apartment.
Patty Cooper, 50, of Waitsfield, who has brittle bones and suffers from celiac disease, says the 32-inch tall tobiano pinto would be an ideal helper. She plans to attach shafts between its harness and her wheelchair, allowing the animal to take her to a bus stop and into town to do errands.
She says the animal, a 1-year-old gelding named Earl who cost her $1,000, can be house-trained.
But the Central Vermont Community Land Trust, which owns the 24-unit Mad River Apartments complex where she lives, isn't so sure. The group is concerned about horse droppings, hay storage and lack of grazing space and has denied her request.
"We've been really doing a lot of research on this topic," said executive director Preston Jump. "We've been getting quite an education. It's been amazing to me that there's a lot (of information) out there about these miniature horses."
The group has told Cooper the horse would have to be kept elsewhere — not in the 4-by-6 stall she designed in her living room. For now, Earl is staying at a farm owned by a friend in neighboring Warren, where Cooper visits and trains him.
The case has drawn national attention since The Associated Press reported on it last month as an example of the use of other service animals for the disabled, not just Seeing Eye dogs for the blind.
Cooper, 50, is not blind.
She has celiac disease, a disorder in which exposure to a protein called gluten destroys the ability of the small intestine to absorb nutrients and can result in brittle bones. Cooper, who broke her back for a second time four years ago, uses a wheelchair most of the time.
Jump said using a miniature horse as a service animal is "accepted and acceptable. How a couple of these particulars will work out with Patty's situation and her housing situation — that's the part we're struggling with."
In a Nov. 2 letter, operations manager Michael Lorraine said the Trust would continue to investigate the issues raised by her request. But he said he doubts Cooper's assertion that she could train Earl to relieve himself only when taken outside once every three hours.
"We have very real concerns about sanitation issues," he wrote. "Taking Earl out 'every 3 hours' seems totally unrealistic and, from what we have read and been told on the subject, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to house-train a horse."
Also, the apartment complex has no place to graze a horse, according to Lorraine, who cited advice from the Kittrell, N.C.,-based Guide Horse Foundation — which promotes the use of horses as service animals — that "working guide horses are required to stay outside when they are off-duty."
"Obviously, we understand that you have already become attached to Earl and that you very much want to have him live with you," Lorraine wrote. "As of this date, however, we cannot grant your request for reasonable accommodation ..."
Cooper said she has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission charging that the land trust has denied her the "reasonable accommodation" she's due by law as a disabled person.
Robert Appel, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, wouldn't say whether such a complaint was filed. Complaints are confidential unless and until the panel finds grounds to believe that discrimination occurred.
Janet Burleson, head trainer with the Guide Horse Foundation, said she knew of five blind people who use horses instead of dogs to guide them, but she acknowledged that there might be others.
"It's just like using a guide dog," she said Monday. "The horse serves the same function — guides the person around obstacles, alerts the person to changes in elevation and oncoming traffic. Horses can be trained to do all that," said Burleson.
But she said such work horses normally are quartered outside — both for their well-being and practical considerations.
"I definitely think she should have the right to choose. I would just have some concerns that it may be difficult to keep that horse in an apartment and maintain the proper level of cleanliness," Burleson said.
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