‘Utter disbelief’: Discrimination claims as assistant dogs are not allowed into pub

Two women with disabilities have slammed the Wetherspoon chain for not allowing their assistance dogs into one of its pubs.Claire Brett, from Heacham, and Kerys Harwin, from Wisbech, have been left in “utter disbelief” at not being allowed to take their beloved support pets into The Globe in Lynn.They have argued that this is a form of “discrimination”, and do not believe the chain should be allowed to determine what level of accreditation an assistance dog should have.

However, a Wetherspoon spokesperson said that its current policy is in place to deal with the fact that the animals can “behave unpredictably”.The current policy is that animals are not allowed in its pubs, hotels, gardens, car parks or other external areas. The exceptions are trained guide dogs and assistance dogs with Assistance Dogs UK-accredited training.This is a recent change from a blanket ‘no dog’ policy.

Ms Brett told the Lynn News she visited the Lynn pub at Christmas time last year, but was asked to leave as Koda – her throwback Pomeranian – was not allowed in the venue. “He can go anywhere at any time with me, but a pub makes a policy saying I can’t come in with him,” she said.“We need to raise public awareness of this. This isn’t just here – this is all over the country. “It is discrimination. It makes me very, very angry.

“We don’t have problems anywhere else.”Ms Harwin, who prefers visiting the Lynn Spoons rather than her local Wisbech branch, has also been frustrated by the policy.She said she recently visited the pub with her mum and assistance dog Teddy, sitting down to eat a meal.

“Everything seemed fine and normal as we have always been when we have been there on previous occasions,” she said. However, a manager then asked for Teddy’s ID card. Ms Harwin tried to explain that in the UK, assistance dogs do not require any form of identification – although this is not in line with Wetherspoon’s policy.“I told her that my dog is owner trained for my specific disabilities, but she didn’t stop questioning us,” Ms Harwin added.“She then said that if me and my dog ever came back to Wetherspoon, she will kick us out and refuse us entry, simply because I have an owner trained assistance dog with no identification.“Me and my mum sat there in utter disbelief at what we were told.” She added that another close friend, who does not wish to be named, also had a similar experience recently.Wetherspoon’s guidance on its reasons for not allowing most dogs into its pubs is that they are “busy, with families and children present, and serve a lot of food”.“Dogs can sometimes behave unpredictably – and some customers may be frightened of, or allergic to, them. In addition, many customers do not like having dogs around when eating,” the company adds.A spokesperson for Wetherspoon told the Lynn News: “Given the overriding health and safety need to only allow fully trained assistance dogs in our pubs and gardens given how large and busy they get, we have recently revised our long standing ‘no dog policy’ to only permit entry to guide dogs or dogs trained by ADUK accredited training providers. “The policy can be easily understood and consistently applied by our pub teams which we believe will benefit customers.“If the customer wishes to contact us, we will be happy to address her concerns directly with her.”