Veteran Told To Get Service Dog Off DART Train
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DALLAS (CBS11) - Cursed at and told to get off of a DART train because of his service dog, a Denton Vietnam War veteran is appalled how he was treated by a DART operator on Monday.
Rex King said he was on his way home from the VA hospital in Dallas when he heard something he never expected someone to say to him and his service dog Ronan as he boarded a DART train.
"'The man with the damn German Shepherd dog has to leave or we're not moving this train.' That's all he said," said King. "I was thinking that he was talking about someone else. Surely he wasn't talking about my licensed dog."
King said he did not know what to do at the time and was humiliated.
King and Ronan make the four-hour round trip from their home in Denton to the VA hospital in Dallas several time a a week.
With service-dog license in hand and Ronan in his vest, King did not know what to do as the driver repeated himself over the train speaker.
"To have someone say that to me on the train, really flashed me back immediately to those times when I came off the plane coming back from Vietnam," said King.
A few other riders jumped to his aid and tried to clear the situation up with the DART driver. Eventually the train started moving again, but the embarrassment remained.
"Don't know what happened, what triggered this particular situation, but it shouldn't have happened," said Morgan Lyons, a DART spokesperson.
Lyons said DART is sorry and management is speaking with the operator about the incident. Lyons said DART policy welcomes service dogs and drivers will be reminded of the policy as a result of the incident.
King said this is the first time something has happened like this on a DART train, but is hoping it will be the last.
"I'm going always stand up for other veterans and if this could happen to me, it could happen to other veterans," said King.
DART said the driver will be disciplined and could be suspended without pay.
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