The Trentonian in New Jersey reports on what it says is the denial of a guide dog to Joseph Harris (pictured left), who is visually impaired, because the Seeing Eye organization says there are too many possibly aggressive stray dogs in his neighborhood. I am glad they covered the story but it has too many blindness puns for my taste.From the August 15 story:
TRENTON - A city man who can barely see was blindsided into further darkness yesterday when a seeing-eye organization rejected his application for a guide dog because it said the neighborhood is littered with loose, aggressive dogs.
Joseph Harris, a 54-year-old legally blind French Towers resident who spent months trying to obtain a seeing-eye dog, received the rejection letter yesterday from The Seeing Eye Inc., a guide-dog school based in Morristown. The letter said he was rejected because his apartment tower on the 600 block of West State Street "has a number of aggressive dogs within close proximity."
Mayor Doug Palmer heard that claim and nearly went blind with rage. He
vowed to fight what he called a "biased decision."
"He should not be treated like a second-class citizen based on where he chooses to live and lives," Palmer told The Trentonian August 14. "I just think it's anti-Trenton bias that is unfounded and unconscionable. It's discrimination, and we will fight that.
I'll contact (Harris) and work with him on the appeal."
Harris, who walks with a cane, said he's "in definite need for the dog" now that his
vision has deteriorated to near-total blindness."I got to the point where
it's really dark," he told The Trentonian. "I can vaguely see lights. Everything is black with a little bit of gray. I have to move by memory."
