Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog

Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog - WNCN: News, Weather, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville
MEMBER CENTER: Create Account | Log In
CONNECT:
Site
Go
Web
Win $25,000 Sweepstakes
MBER
$25,000 Home Improvement Sweeps. Contest Ends
Soon - Enter Daily!
Recommend
7
322
Woman says hotel denied her room due to
service dog
Posted: May 05, 2015 4:44 PM EDT
Updated: May 05, 2015 5:51 PM EDT
by Phil Sanchez, WNCN News
CONNECT
Find us on Facebook
WNCN Phil Sanchez
Like
Like
You like this.
You and 1,186 others like WNCN Phil Sanchez.1,186
people like WNCN Phil Sanchez.
Facebook social plugin
Trending Videos
Woman says she was denied room
because of service dog
RALEIGH, N.C. - A Tennessee woman visiting Raleigh said she was
denied access to a local hotel because she has a service dog.
9-year-old dies after being hit by SUV in
Cary
City council approves rezoning, 20-story
tower possible
Dianne Wertz said it happened after she drove five hours Monday
night with her service dog, Gabby.
"I came from Tennessee to see my son leave for basic training this
morning," she said.
When Wertz got to City Studios Hotel on Capital Boulevard, she said
he was denied a room.
"She proceeded to tell me oh you can't stay here because we don't
allow pets," Wertz added.
Stancil thrown from Wayne Co. court after
expletive-laced tirade
Dianne Wertz said it happened after
she drove five hours Monday night
with her service dog Gabby.
Local News
Area commencement
http://www.wncn.com/story/28984911/woman-says-hotel-denies-her-room-due-to-service-dog[5/7/2015 2:36:14 PM]
2 charged with kidnapping, raping woman
met a school for deaf
Pregnant woman makes chilling 911 call
moments after fatal shooting
Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog - WNCN: News, Weather, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville
MORE>>
exercises scheduled
She said she presented the hotel employee with the proper
credentials concerning service animals.
Teen injured in Wake
Forest shooting dies;
officers on leave
But Wertz said the woman at the front desk would not budge.
Holly Stiles, a lawyer with Disability Rights North Carolina, said
hotels must accommodate patrons with service animals.
Ft. Bragg man charged
in fatal Fayetteville
crash
"The American Disability Act says that if somebody has a service
animal, public accommodations like hotels, have to accommodate
their needs as a person with a disability," Stiles said.
1st craft rum distillery
opens in Raleigh
MBER
Chapel Hill father
defends daughter in
Rebel flag photo
Stiles said Disability Rights North Carolina gets a lot of call about
people not understanding where service animals are allowed to go
and where they have to be accommodated.
Hotel says it didn't
deny veteran room
because of service
dog
Wertz said she's a veteran and her dog helps with her PTSD.
"I shouldn't have to be treated like a second-class citizen because I
have a service dog," Wertz added.
MBER
MORE>>
Wertz traveled back to Tennessee and said she may contact a
lawyer.
The manager of City Studios did not want to comment on the matter
when contacted by WNCN.
Copyright 2015 WNCN. All rights reserved.
Phil Sanchez
Phil Sanchez is an Emmy and Associated Press award winning anchor and reporter who
joined WNCN's team in 2011.
More>>
Woman says hotel den
service dog
Posted:
Updated:
by Phil Sanchez, WNCN News
Trending Stories on WNCN.com
2 pistols, AK-47 used in Scotty
McCreery robbery at Raleigh
apartment
NC officers arrested in major
drug bust
9-year-old dies after being hit by
SUV in Cary
Couple arrested for having sex
on Cortez Beach in front of
beachgoers
Pet Warehouse in Florence
sponsors a pet show at
Timmonsville Library
'Sex on the Beach' couple to
register as sex offenders
ARTICLES AND OFFERS YOU JUST MIGHT LIKE
ADVERTISEMENT
http://www.wncn.com/story/28984911/woman-says-hotel-denies-her-room-due-to-service-dog[5/7/2015 2:36:14 PM]
CONNECT
Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog - WNCN: News, Weather, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville
Myrtle Beach on sale.
Save with room rates
from $59/night &
package specials at
select resorts.
Actress/Singer Nicole
Scherzinger Turns
Heads & Drops Jaws
With These Sizzling Yet
Stunning Photos
Ex-CIA Director says
unless we act, we’ll be
“... in the hands of
OPEC.”
Discover The #1 Reason
the Average Golfer
Can't Hit It 200+
Yards...
How many of these 27
celebrities do you
recognize before they
became famous?
We Can’t Look Away –
Totally Bizarre Medical
Conditions
This Crocodile Didn’t
Stand A Chance
Against This Hungry
Python. Watch As He
Eats Him In One Bite!
13 TV Deaths We Are
Still Mourning
Add a comment...
✔
Also post on Facebook David Scallion ·
Comment
Comment
Top Commenter · Muleshoe, Texas
They had a woman with social anxieties who took a small, screeching monkey into a Walmart in
southwest Missouri, and was told by the employees she couldn't bring it into the store. The woman
filed a suit, but the judge dismissed it because the law doesn't provide for support monkeys.
Reply · Like Like · 51 minutes ago
Add a Reply...
Reply
Jenni Dickson McClure ·
Reply
Top Commenter · Virginia Tech
I'd save my money and not bother with an attorney. There's a difference between a service dog and a
therapy animal. The credentials she presented on camera are printed off the internet. I know of a few
acquaintances who carry the same thing in the bag in which they carry their foo foo dog that is
nothing more than their "baby".
Reply · Like Like · Yesterday at 7:31am
David Scallion ·
Top Commenter · Muleshoe, Texas
There is actually no such thing as "the proper credentials" I have a relative who simply got
her doctor to state on a prescription form that she needs a service animal for her seizure
disorder, and that satisfied her landlord.
Reply · Like
Like
·
David Scallion ·
2 · Edited · Yesterday at 8:54am
Top Commenter · Muleshoe, Texas
Definition of service animals from the ada.gov website follows. You'll notice it does include
dogs who calm a person who has PTSD.
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform
tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people
who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a
person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed
medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an
anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets.
The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s
disability. Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not
qualify as service animals under the ADA.
Reply · Like
Like
·
2 · Yesterday at 9:03am
Vickie Adamson · Works at Self-Employed
Most people with real service dogs call in advance of anywhere they are going hotels,
movies, etc. so they are expected.
Reply · Like
Like
· 16 hours ago
http://www.wncn.com/story/28984911/woman-says-hotel-denies-her-room-due-to-service-dog[5/7/2015 2:36:14 PM]
Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog - WNCN: News, Weather, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville
View 2 more
Add a Reply...
Ayma Ratt ·
You May Like
Reply
Top Commenter
How Much Money Do You What is the least
Really Get from a Reverse expensive method to
Mortgage?
consolidate debt?
NewRetirement
NextAdvisor
18 Eerie and Awesome
Abandoned Movie Sets
(We Can't Believe #14
Top 10 Bargain
Convertibles Just In Time
For Spring
Clipd
Gleems
Reply
Sponsored Links by Taboola
10 Colleges That Produce
the Most Millionaires
Worthly
There Are 4 Common
Types of German
Surnames. Which One
Ancestry
Hey! Don't Freeze That!
Reviewed.com
A New Solution That
Stops Snoring and Lets
You Sleep
My Snoring Solution
MBER
MEMBER CENTER: Create Account | Log In
Can't find something?
1205 Front St., Raleigh
N.C., 27609
Telephone: 919.836.1717
Fax: 919.836.1687
Email: newstips@wncn.com
Search for it here
Go
Contact Us •
Advertising Terms and Conditions and Credit Policy •
Work With Us •
FCC Public File •
For problems with the FCC Public File email jwilliams@wncn.com •
EEO Public Filings •
Children's Programming •Closed Captioning •
Media General Terms and Conditions of Use •
http://www.wncn.com/story/28984911/woman-says-hotel-denies-her-room-due-to-service-dog[5/7/2015 2:36:14 PM]
Woman says hotel denied her room due to service dog - WNCN: News, Weather, Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2015 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General
Company.
http://www.wncn.com/story/28984911/woman-says-hotel-denies-her-room-due-to-service-dog[5/7/2015 2:36:14 PM]