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Figo, an guide dog injured in Brewster, N.Y., waits June 8, 2015, to be transported to a nearby veterinary hospital.(Photo: Frank Becerra Jr., The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News)
BREWSTER, N.Y. — A service dog that leaped in front of an oncoming school bus Monday to shield his blind owner couldn't go to the hospital with his owner not because he was prohibited from riding in the ambulance but because he was injured, authorities said.
Figo, the golden retriever, was on the mend Tuesday at Middlebranch Veterinary in Carmel, N.Y., his right front leg in a splint after surgery, awaiting a reunion with Audrey Stone, 62.
Stone was 15 miles away in Danbury Hospital in Connecticut with three broken ribs, a broken ankle and elbow. Hospital spokeswoman Diane Burke said she was in fair condition.
"Danbury Hospital is not equipped to handle animals, even service animals," Brewster Fire Chief Moe DeSantis said. "That's why we figured the best facility would be a veterinarian's office."
DeSantis called 911 from the scene and requested a veterinarian be sent to aid the dog. The dispatcher contacted Brook Farm Veterinary Center in Patterson, N.Y., 10 miles away.
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After the ambulance took Stone to Danbury, emergency medical technicians bundled Figo up and and took him to a firehouse near the accident site. Figo and Stone live not far from the firehouse and were walking home when the accident occurred.
By that time, it was raining, and DeSantis wanted Figo to be comfortable and dry in a quiet place while waiting for someone from Brook Farm to arrive.
Figo, an injured guide dog struck by a small school bus, is transported June 8, 2015, to Middlebranch Veterinary in Carmel, N.Y., in the back of a Brewster fire department vehicle.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Frank Becerra Jr., The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News)
That's when DeSantis looked at Figo's tag saw Middlebranch Veterinary, less than 3 miles away. When DeSantis called Middlebranch and described the dog, "they knew him by name."
"They said to bring Figo in. He's their client. They were familiar with him," DeSantis said.
When the team arrived at Middlebranch, firefighter and Journal News photographer Frank Becerra Jr. said a surgical team met them at the door.
"Their first question was: 'How's Audrey?' " Becerra said.
The bottom line: Two accident victims needed help, DeSantis said.
"The dog was injured," DeSantis said. "The dog needed a vet."
Pamela Grossman, producer of the Atlanta-based ADA Law for Service Animals, said the American with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990 and amended in 2010, states that service animals and their owners should not be separated.
"Obviously, in this case, the dog needed emergent care and a person hospital can't do that," Grossman said. "It was correct to separate them for the health of the dog. But if the dog were healthy, the handler and dog must never be separated."
Barring injury, the ADA would have guaranteed Figo a ride in an ambulance alongside Stone. Once there, Figo would have to be accommodated by Danbury Hospital.
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Burke, the Danbury spokeswoman, said service animals are permitted in patient rooms.
But Grossman said the ADA takes accommodation even further, permitting a healthy dog to accompany its owner through surgery.
"The doctors or the hospital can determine if there is some specific detriment to that, if there are specific infections involved," she said. "And common sense comes in, but health trumps everything."
Given the nature of Stone's injuries, a healthy Figo should unequivocally have been by his handler's side, Grossman said.
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Burke said the hospital's policy would not permit service dogs in "operating rooms, procedure rooms" or places where patients may have compromised immune systems.
Grossman said fire, police and other first responders don't fully understand the required accommodations, which is why she produced a video demonstrating the limits and allowances under the law.
"They are absolutely not educated," she said. "I have a service animal and I have seen this first hand."
Brewster firefighters Pete Segretti and Marty Miller carry Figo, an injured guide dog, into Middlebranch Veterinary on June 8, 2015, in Carmel, N.Y.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Frank Becerra Jr., The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News)
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