LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas valley woman is angry and claims she got kicked out of a Dotty's Casino because of her supersized service dog.
The 8-year-old Great Dane weighs about 175 pounds.
Dennie Filder told 13 Action News her 7-year-old dog is trained and that it’s illegal for a business to kick her out.
Fidler relies on Lucky to get by. She has a disability and the fact that her four-legged friend is a “big boy” helps her out a lot.
"His sturdiness and alertness keep me from [having] many accidents, many trips, and falls," Fidler says.
Lucky has provided service to Fidler for about seven years. She says she never ran into any problems until she took Lucky into Dotty's Casino on Serene Avenue, and that one employee was rude from the start.
"She told me she was afraid of large dogs, so I kept him right close to me."
On July 1, Fidler went back and claims the same employee yelled at her to "get out."
"She said that I couldn't stay. That I had to go. That the dog wasn't on a leash" Fidler explains.
Fidler admits feeling humiliated.
"They just can't bully handicapped people, and this has never ever happened to me. I've never been asked to leave."
13 Action News went to Dotty's to get their side of the story. A spokesperson states that “Dotty's welcomes all kinds of service animals” and that they are looking into this specific incident.
Danielle Harter is a service dog trainer at Michael’s Angel Paws. She tells 13 Action News that businesses are often leery of bogus service dogs.
"It's so easy for people to fake it and [most] don't know the ADA laws."
The American Disabilities act says you cannot ask someone what their disability.
There are two questions you can ask Hartner says.
"Is that a service dog? And what tasks is that service dog trained to do?” she says.
Harter says it's usually pretty easy to spot one that's not legit. Often those dogs are not paying attention to their handlers. They are sniffing around, pulling, or barking.
“Emotional support dogs don't have the same rights as a service animal.”
Fidler says she just wants an apology and prays someone else won’t go through what she did.
