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The Park Plaza County Hall is the only hotel in the capital to provide a designated ‘dog loo’ in an otherwise concrete jungle. Assistance Dogs UK has recognised the hotel’s willingness to expand its facilities to meet the needs of assistance dog users by honouring the management team with a prestigious Dog Star Award. Wheelchair user Wendy Morrell was so impressed with how the hotel quickly adjusted its services to make stays with her assistance dog Caesar easier and more pleasurable, that she nominated the hotel for the award. Wendy said, “I am really grateful to the staff at the Park Plaza County Hall for taking my needs and the needs of my dog seriously. The provision of a dog relief area means I can stay at the hotel with my assistance dog and be independent. Day or night, whatever the weather, I know there is somewhere I can take my dog to the toilet safely.”
Guide Dogs, Canine Partners, Dogs for the Disabled, Hearing Dogs and Support Dogs are working together as Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK), promoting rights of access to hotels, restaurants, shops and other services for assistance dog users. 2008 was the Year of the Assistance Dog, and saw many assistance dog users nominating retailers, leisure facilities, public premises, and transport operators for similar Dog Star Awards, giving service providers an incentive to make their premises assistance dog friendly. Alan Brooks, Chairman of ADUK, explains: “Although there are many examples of good practice, assistance dog users continue to encounter problems accessing a variety of environments from shops, hotels, pubs, and restaurants, to public transport and high street pedestrian areas. This discrimination is both unacceptable and against the law, so by highlighting good practice, we hope it will become the norm and that in future, our vision of doors always being open to all assistance dog users will become reality.” Since December 1996, it has been unlawful for hoteliers and restaurant owners to refuse to serve a disabled person or offer a lower standard of service for reasons related to the person’s disability. Since October 2004, the law also requires that service providers make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome the barriers to access. Taxi drivers-since 31 March 2001 (31 March 2003 in Scotland) are required to carry, free of charge, all registered assistance dogs travelling with their owner. A similar duty has applied since 31 March 2004 to drivers and operators of private hire vehicles (private hire cars in Scotland). Additionally, since 4 December 2006, under Part 3 of the DDA, it has been unlawful for them to refuse service to a disabled person, or offer a lower standard of services related to the person’s disability. The law also requires them to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people in the way that their services are provided - although that does not include physical alterations to the vehicles. Currently all transport providers have duties under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in relation to transport infrastructure such as bus and train stations. Since December 2006, transport operators also have duties under Part 3 of the DDA in relation to the provision and use of the vehicles they provide. For further information, and links to ADUK member charity websites, log on to www.assistancedogs.org.uk |
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