Sunday 8 May 2022 05:26 PM Wetherspoons dog policy: Moment disabled teenager with assistance animal ... trends now
A 19-year-old teenager has spoken of how they felt 'absolutely humiliated' after being refused entry to a Wetherspoons with an assistance dog.
In a video River Cartledge can be seen pleading with the manager of The Five Swans in Newcastle to allow both him and Shih Tzu, Chico, inside the pub.
River claims that prior to the video he explained he has Autism, Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and that is why he needs an assistance dog, which has a clearly visible harness.
A woman who identifies herself as the pub manager says in the video it is the pub chain's policy to only allow in guide dogs and asks him to leave.
River can be heard saying that under the Equality Act that the pub chain cannot refuse entry and after trying to talk to the manager leaves.
The 19-year-old then claims he subsequently had a 'severe meltdown and panic attack'.
Wetherspoons' policy on its website states it only allows registered assistance and guide dogs into its premises. The chain has since apologised and said it made a ‘genuine error’.
River Cartledge, 19, claims his assistance dog was refused from a Wetherspoons pub
In a video, the manager can be seen telling Ms Cartledge that he will not be allowed entry into the
River claims that prior to the video he explained he has Autism, Fibromyalgia and Arthritis and that is why he needs an assistance dog (pictured Chico), which has a clearly visible harness
The 19-year-old is often accompanied by Chico - who he has had for eight years - and retrained as an assistance dog two years ago.
River said: 'Assistance dog handlers such as myself get denied in public places more often than it’s talked about, and it always makes us feel like this, and like we’re the ones causing problems for ourselves by needing a dog, when in reality it’s the ableism and ignorance of other people, not the disabled person.'
And on Saturday night, he claimed he faced the same discrimination yet again when out with his boyfriend Sean Wilson, 21, and some friends at the Wetherspoons venue The Five Swans.
'Their issue, was the fact he was an assistance dog, and not a guide dog,' he said. 'I was straight up told that they only allowed seeing eye dogs and they didn’t allow assistance dogs, because of their “policy”.
After being refused they asked to see a manager who they told 'their policy doesn’t override the law, to be told that it does, which is absurdly untrue. Pictured: Bar staff and security outside the Wetherspoons pub in the video
A sign from the Five Swans in Newcastle saying it takes only assistance dogs
