the Bernera cafe/dog/legal aid saga - wtf?

[AuntieBiotics]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced71ny99y5o

American woman living in Bernera is suing the local community run cafe because it would not admit her "emotional support" dog. She is being supported by the Ethnic Minorities Law Centre because Americans are ethnic minorities, and is being funded by Legal Aid. She wants £10k, which would shut them down.

I mean. What the actual fuck. Move to a tiny island with 250 people on it, claim you're being ostracised and harrassed and try to solve that by suing a charity? That'll sort it. And LEGAL FUCKING AID???

I know, eh?! If there's anyone from Bernera about, please come and spill the tea about this ridiculous woman.

She'll be the talk of all the Outer Hebrides.

The woman actually sounds unhinged. She’s been banned from loads of places on the islands because of the dog apparently. She says it’s an “emotional support dog” for an undisclosed gynae condition. It’s attacked a cat in stornoway.

Says she can trace her Scottish family back to the 400s but she’s well and truly American 😂

https://www.thenational.scot/news/26502019.us-woman-centre-dog-ban-legal-battle-islanders-speaks/
Or here https://archive.is/DNabx

There’s a link to donate to the charity, I’d love to know how much they’ve raised in the last week!

https://www.facebook.com/BerneraCommunityAssociation The link to donate is on their Facebook page.

I'd happily donate to the charity because I think this deranged bullying should be stopped, but I don't want to subscribe to The Scotsman to find the link - please could someone post it?

https://www.facebook.com/BerneraCommunityAssociation
https://givealittle.co/c/NHEFn0c1lMWCiDnYRKWzp

Sorry my post made it sound like it was linked in the national article but it’s on their Facebook ☺️

I donated because she sounds like a deranged bully

For the love of the wee man, nobody can trace their ancestry back to the 4th or 5th century. NOBODY.

Had also read that her dog was what MN would call "reactive" and the rest of us would call aggressive or vicious.

2 days ago the community association posted : To date, we have received an incredible 928 online donations, raising £20,075.

Donated, thanks for the link. I hate bullying.

And if anyone wants to read the National article and what she has to say for herself, it's here: https://archive.is/DNabx

Wow… just wow… my highlight was:

“I couldn't be anything further from an entitled American. What I am is a very creative, very courageous, and very humble woman.”

I’d say , “Insane.” but, “[She is] so sane it's scary. [She’s] so sane.

Cannot believe she qualified for legal aid, from an ethnic minority fund no less! Really hope the cafe wins and this sets precedent.

Speaking as someone with an assistance dog trained by an ADUK charity (and yes, assistance dogs come in all breeds!), this makes me uncomfortable.

UK law on assistance dogs is quite broad under the Equality Act 2010. A dog does not need to be trained by an ADUK charity to qualify - even though I personally think that should be the standard. There is also no legal requirement to wear a uniform, carry an ID book, or register on any official database.

You do not need to prove your disability at the door. However, if a business refuses entry, taking action against them usually means taking them to court to prove you are disabled, that your dog is an assistance dog, and that the refusal was unlawful. This lack of a clear, formal system is why these issues happen.

It leaves disabled people who rely on assistance dogs in a difficult position when we face illegal access refusals. Taking legal action is stressful and expensive, and unlike large organisations, like say, Asda who regularly refuse me access, the individual assistance dog owners rarely have access to legal support. I certainly don't have any BAME or similar charities helping to pay for it (so that part did annoy me about this case!)

It feels unfair that we effectively have to fight to prove our disability just to exercise our basic access rights, much like the dehumanising process for claiming disability benefits or requesting adjustments at work.

So whilst she does sound batshit, I'll reserve judgement on the access matter for now.

@poodlemum01 assistance dogs who attack cats are not properly trained or under control. She's failed the test at multiple hurdles by the sounds of it.

“I have every single person on the way to me, including Robert the Bruce and Mary Queen of Scots, in that line somewhere. The point I'm making is I'm Scottish.”

Somebody needs to explain pedigree collapse to her.

I saw a post from the community assocation shared on one of our local FB site (West coast but not island) a few days ago and they had reached £20K in donations. I assume it is a lot more now.

In my professional life I work with a LOT of these people, usually Americans, who have clicked lots of "hints" on sites like Ancestry and think this is proof they are descended from all sorts of notable people. All of us who have Scottish roots going back several generations probably have royalty somewhere in our tree, it's just a numbers game. Proving it is an entirely different matter.

Americans also often don't take kindly to being told that having a Scottish ancestor who left on a boat in 1888 does not make you Scottish. There is quite a nasty undercurrent to this thinking - Scottish is about "blood" and those people whose parents/grandparents immigrated to Scotland from India/Africa/Caribbean are therefore not Scottish despite being born here. Canadians, in my experience, haver more nuance/understanding about these matters!

@poodlemum01 I agree there needs to be a national training standard for assistance dogs.
From what you’ve said I presume, if this goes to court, she will have to provide proof of her disability (not just her medical condition as very few medical conditions automatically recognise the person as disabled) AND how the assistance dog helps manage the disability?

His Insta is private but there is an interesting link in the bio. Apparently they’re going to write a book. Not sure I’ll be adding that to my “to read” list.

Her dog is not an assistance dog.. it is an emotional support dog.. which is not recognised in law.
Basically a dug that gives her a hug... when it's not being aggressive to all and sundry and attacking cats....
Beyond ridiculous that WE are subbing her legal aid bill....

Are they trans?

I’ve donated to the appeal, my mum was from Lewis and Bernera is lovely. The whole thing is shocking

@GreenFootstool I had missed that in the story, thanks for that information.

@ScoStud yep - I'm currently going through the employment tribunal process for disability discrimination and I'm expected to evidence my disabilities and adjustments as part of the process. Its the same in the civil court if you want to prove denial of service based on disability / adjustment.

@Bonbon21 yes emotional support dogs are not recognised in law. The point I was trying to make earlier is that its costly to go to court so many individuals don't bother or the service provider simply gives in.

Its hard for those with properly registered assistance dogs because we repeatedly get accused of just being 'another chancer'.

Here's a video with all the registered assistance dog types

https://assistancedogs.org.uk/information-hub/what-is-an-assistance-dog-short-video/

Thanks. I thought so from the picture the other day too

Well well, now the massive entitlement and access to legal aid as a member of a vulnerable group is explained.

Every single thing about this makes me angry.