A Windsor, Ont., woman who uses a service dog for her anxiety and other issues is upset that Via Rail would not allow her to board a train with two service dogs.
Emily Sadowski says she was blindsided when she was told she couldn鈥檛 take the dogs to Toronto. One of them is hers and the other is one she had trained and was planning to deliver to its new owner.
Sadowski says Via Rail didn鈥檛 seem to have a problem the last time she took two service dogs in August.
This time around, she says she was told that her earlier permission had been a mistake. 鈥淭hey didn't want to do it again,鈥� she said. 鈥淟ike they've never done it before kind of thing and they wouldn't look at what they've done before or consider it again.鈥�
Sadowski says she realizes it was a special situation. 鈥淏ut I have proved I can deal with this special situation,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e already done it.鈥�
Via says its policy is to permit 鈥渙ne guide dog or emotional support dog per passenger,鈥� adding that 鈥渢his policy complies with the Canadian Transportation Agency鈥檚 Code of Practice 鈥� as well as with all requirements under the Canada Transportation Act.鈥�
鈥淲e have reinforced the details of our policy in internal documents and on our website,鈥� the statement goes on. 鈥淲e sincerely regret the inconvenience caused by this incident,鈥� Via added.
Sadowski鈥檚 father Mark Sadowski says that he believes the situation could have been dealt with differently.
鈥淭he person I talked to only wanted to talk over me, didn't want to hear my story,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he next person above her was supposed to call me. I was promised phone calls twice and never received a phone call back.鈥�
Emily Sadowski adds that 鈥渋t's a struggle with the service dogs -- it shouldn't be.鈥�
With a report from CTV Windsor
