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Eager to head home to the Shuswap for the holidays, Jessica Rathwell and her service dog arrived at the Ebus station in Surrey over the weekend, only to face an unexpected setback.
The bus driver denied Rathwell access, citing a lack of space for her service dog on the fully booked bus.
Rathwell’s mother had booked the ticket, unaware of the company’s policy requiring 48 hours’ notice for service dogs to reserve space, a policy Rathwell deems flawed.
“It doesn’t take into account people with emergency situations who need to travel on short notice,” said Rathwell.
“The law says I’m allowed to travel anywhere with my guide dog, the policy shouldn’t supersede the law.”
About a month ago, Rathwell took her service dog on the Ebus without issue and without prior notice.
“Before, in October, she sat right in front of me at my feet. I told the driver (on Saturday) I didn’t need any extra room, I even offered to get on the bus and see how much room there was,” said Rathwell.
However, the company says its records indicate she only travelled before and that trip was not sold out so they were able to accommodate her and her dog.
The Dec. 21 trip was full and the company said it could not accommodate travel on this service.
After some back and forth with the driver of this latest trip, Rathwell says she stood in front of the bus so it wouldn’t leave without her, a move that got her banned from Ebus.
“Rathwell was banned because of her behaviour and actions that occurred,” the company said in a statement.
“Her physical obstruction of the vehicle and the need for RCMP to remove her resulted in delaying this schedule more than one hour.”
Rathwell stands by her decision.
“I knew I had a right to be on the bus and what they were doing to me was wrong,” she said.
“I was standing up for myself but also I didn’t want to be stranded in the Guildford Mall parking lot in the rain.”
Rathwell’s father drove six hours from the Okanagan to pick her up that Saturday, and she’s not sure if she’ll be able to use her return ticket back to Surrey.
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