University to pardon dog's French
From AP
July 09, 2004
FREDERICTON, New Brunswick: A blind French-speaking student was barred from an English language immersion course at a Canadian university because his guide dog understood commands only in French.
Under public pressure, however, the University of New Brunswick reversed its decision yesterday and allowed Yvan Tessier and his black labrador Pavot to take the five-week course, during which students are allowed to speak in English only.
"I am thrilled to be joining the program," said Mr Tessier, a native French speaker from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. "I look forward to joining my classmates."
Pavot responds to about 50 commands, but only in French. The university originally insisted that Mr Tessier could not attend the course unless he promised to speak English only.
Mr Tessier told the university it would be impossible to retrain Pavot in English in time for the course and that it would have been potentially dangerous for him because the dog might not respond properly to a command.
The university was unmoved - until Mr Tessier went to the media. Now, a compromise has been struck: Mr Tessier will speak English except when giving essential commands to Pavot.
My new 'phone number is 07 4939 2027. My postal address remains as before: P.O. Box 1019 Yeppoon, my mobile number remains 0408 211 734.
John
________________End of message______________________
Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
are now located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
