Here's a bit of heartbreaker. A Pennsylvania man with a mobility disability sought food stamps in an amount sufficient to feed both himself and his dog. His dog apparently helps pull his wheelchair and fetch items. James Douris appealed the decision of the Bucks County public assistance office, but didn't help his case by admitting he feeds his dog "meat, poultry, vegetables, and everything [he] eats" - in addition to dog food.
Douris argued that his dog was a "member of his household" and a dependent; that denial of benefits was discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and that the denial of food stamps would kill the dog - and thus amount to prohibited animal cruelty under Pennsylvania state law.
Add this one to the Animal Law casebook. The opinion is here.
When I was homeless, in the mid-1980s, I picked up a stray dog. He too, after all, was homeless. I got some food stamps, $70 bucks for the whole month. It wasn't enough for me to stay fed. I had to supplement it with handouts from various charity food banks. But I wasn't allowed to buy dog any food using my stamps; even though I tried. And there were no handouts at the food bank for him. I shared what food I had, and once used $5 of (literally) the last $10 in my pocket to buy him a bag of food that I lugged around (having nowhere to store it). To make a long story short, I was fortunate enough to meet a dog breeder at a mission to whom I gave the animal.
Posted by: Anon | April 07, 2010 at 12:39 PM
In the short term, is there any way to help out this man and his dog? Any charities that would take donations of food or money to help out service animals of PWD?
Posted by: tg | April 08, 2010 at 09:37 AM