Woman with service dog claims she was told to leave McDonalds

A second person with a disability is claiming that she was asked to leave a McDonalds restaurant in Wetaskiwin because of her service dog.

Carla Schneider says she was waiting in line to buy coffee in January 2010 when she was approached by an employee who asked her about her St. Bernard.

"I produced my government of Alberta certification card that qualifies Angus as a service dog and he asked me to explain my disabilities to him," Schneider said. "Why do I need a dog and why do I have to use a dog that big?"

A traffic accident left Schneider with a brain injury and without the use of her right eye. When choosing her service dog, she decided to go with a large breed because it helps her with the balance problems caused by her disability.

Last week, CBC News aired a story about John Dignard, a man who says he was kicked out of the same McDonalds because of his service dog, Eve. Dingard says he was kicked out because customers complained that his dog smelled.

McDonalds denied that Dignard was asked to leave and said that he departed voluntarily after he was told about customer complaints regarding his "behaviour and the well-being of his service dog."

In Schneider's case, McDonalds said in an email that she was asked to remove Angus from the restaurant because she couldn't "provide the required information for the service dog." Schneider says that isn't true.

Schneider complained to McDonalds and received an apology letter and $20 worth of gift certificates. But she says she was insulted by the incident.

Alison Ainsworth, the Alberta woman who lobbied the province to make it illegal for businesses to deny service to people with service dogs, says she is disappointed to hear what happened to Schneider and Dignard.

Ainsworth says the government needs to do more to get businesses to comply.

"It's really disheartening to hear the message is falling on deaf ears," she said. "I think the Alberta government came up with the Alberta Service Dogs Act but passing such a legislation in absence of credible, meaningful information being communicated isn't going far enough."

Schneider contacted CBC News after Dignard's story aired last week. She now wants McDonalds to apologize to every disabled person who uses a service dog.

"We are not different. We are not abnormal," she said. "We have rights."