C.A. 2nd;
B271214

The Second Appellate District affirmed a judgment. The court held that a disabled person had no right to bring an untrained service dog into a market for the sole purpose of accompanying someone who was making a purchase.

Twenty-year old Joey Miller suffered from cognitive deficits and autism, limiting his functional ability to that of a third- to a sixth-grader. Miller's stepfather, Joseph Scribner, bought him a dog, Roxy, that he hoped could be trained to act as a service dog for Miller, and allow him to become independent. When Scribner purchased Roxy, she had basic obedience training only, and had not been trained as a service dog. After acquiring Roxy, Miller and his family worked on training her further to be a service animal. In addition, Miller's family arranged to have an instructor work with Miller and Roxy to “teach Miller how to handle a dog.” A few months after acquiring Roxy, Scribner took Miller and Roxy to a mall to buy a game for Miller. While there, Scribner noticed a Seafood City market. He had never been to that market before, but went in to buy some seafood. He took Miller and Roxy with him. A store employee stopped them immediately and told them they could not bring a pet into the store. Although Miller was “upset” after being asked to leave the store, Scribner discovered another Seafood City market nearby and drove to that store, where the same thing happened again.