Woman denied service for bringing service dog to restaurant

TEXAS -- A woman was hospitalized for high blood pressure after her service dog was not allowed in a San Antonio restaurant.

This happened Friday at the Herradero Mexican Restaurant on south Flores.

"I have never seen that," said Blasa Reyna the restaurant's owner.

She told the dog's owner Rita,  her dog had to leave.

This dog supposedly "paws" its owner when her blood
pressure gets too high. Hmm...

"I can't have them here," she said. "I'm allergic to dogs."

"Allergies, and fear of dogs, are not valid reasons to deny access to people using service animals," said Laurie Gawelko.

She was reading from the American's with Disability's Act  and personally trained Rita's dog, Selene.

"It makes me very, very angry, upset," she said.  "The service vest clearly identified that she was a service dog."

Also the owner presented a card they carry stating the law.

"I am a service animal and my right to accompany my handler is protected by the law," she read from the card.

"Now I learned there's some other conditions we didn't know," said Reyna.

Selene helps her owner by pawing at her when her blood pressure gets too high. That can put Rita in the hospital thanks to a number of different medical conditions.

She is back home in Corpus Christi now, but told us over the phone that the whole incident has led to the need for a new blood pressure medication.

"I guess we all learned from this," said Reyna.

(Fox29 - Feb 25, 2015)