While Alberta law prohibits a business from turning away a customer with a registered service animal, a Calgary man with cerebral palsy can attest to the fact the rules are often dismissed.
Ben Thorne requires a wheelchair to travel and his companion dog, Koda, is always at his side.
"I need Koda to help me with various things," explains Thorne. "Item retrieval, pushing buttons on elevators, even getting my jacket on and off."
On Monday, Thorne ordered a taxi from Yellow Cab. When the van arrived, Thorne was informed he would not be travelling as his dog could not enter the cab.
“I said ‘Are you ready to go?’, and (the driver) said ‘You've got a dog?’,” recalls Thorne. “I said yes and he said ‘Well, I can't take you’.”
“He said I can't take you with the dog and he wouldn't go any further than that.”
Under Alberta legislation, businesses that refuse service to a person with a registered companion animal may be fined up to $3,000 per incident.
Thorne called the taxi company which launched an investigation. The City of Calgary Taxi Commission has also launched a review into the incident.
"We regret and are concerned that anyone would be refused transportation because they required the assistance of a service animal," said Kurt Enders, owner of Checker/Yellow Cabs in a prepared statement. "It is not the practice of our company to refuse service animals."
Carissa Vescio of Calgary Bylaw Services confirms the unidentified driver is out of a job.
"The taxicab driver that denied the passenger service with a service dog on Monday is no longer driving a taxi and his licence has been revoked."
