A blind Denver woman says she’s scared to go out in public with her service dog after a cab driver made it ride in the trunk of his taxi.
Judie Brown says she called a cab about a month ago while rushing to make a appointment. When the Union Taxi pulled up in front of her home she and her service dog Alberto greeted the driver and were flatly denied service.
“He said, ‘No dog in my cab,’ ” said Brown. The driver told her that he was allergic to dogs and that if Alberto was to come along, he needed to ride in the back.
“I asked him, ‘Where in the back?’ And he said, ‘In the trunk,’ ” said Brown.
Running late for her appointment and taken off guard, Brown reluctantly allowed Alberto to be placed in the trunk of the car. “I never heard my dog whine or crying. Ever. Ever. I knew it was terribly wrong. If something happened to him. I would just die,” said Brown.
Brown filed a complaint, and according to local channel 7NEWS a manager with Union Taxi said the driver had been suspended and fined by the state.
Judie Brown said she’s having a hard time putting the incident behind her. “I’ve lost my independence. And I do not like it. It makes me angry. And I want it back,” said Brown.
