Woman’s guide dog denied access despite new law

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 10:11 a.m.

Mary Yoshisato said a store manager told her Nov. 28 that the store serves ice cream and health regulations prohibit any animals on the premises.

But as of Nov. 1, denying access to a person with a guide dog is a misdemeanor offense in Nevada.

Yoshisato said she was denied access even after returning with a copy of the new law. It was only when she called the sheriff's department that the manager relented.

Carson City Rite-Aid store manager Lee Lockhart, a different manager than the one that Yoshisato confronted, said the store has a policy of allowing working dogs, but he wouldn't comment further.

Jody Cook, a corporate spokeswoman, said she was unaware of the situation but she was apologetic, offering to call Yoshisato to talk it over. "I'm sure that it was just a misunderstanding," she said.

Yoshisato helped craft the bill that made it a misdemeanor crime to deny access to disabled people and their dogs in a public place.

Yoshisato figures that the newness of the law played a part in the sheriff's department's decision not to act immediately. She also sent a copy of the law and a complaint to Carson City District Attorney Noel Waters.

"In more than six years, this is the first time that I've had this problem," she said. "I just want people to know that we are out there."