Felix Conde relies on his service dog Lucky to help with his disability. Lucky is a pit bull and since Conde and his wife live in Miami-Dade County, which has breed specific legislation banning pit bulls, they have been forced to move Lucky out of the county.
Miami-Dade County has a ban on pit bulls and doesn’t allow an exception for service dogs. The police came to take Lucky away and Conde arranged to have Lucky live with a trainer in a neighboring county. Now the Condes are suing the county and trying to get back their service dog.
Conde suffers from shortness of breath and the risk of collapsing. Lucky is trained to recognize when Conde is short of breath and bring him a rescue inhaler.
“Felix has every right under [the] American Disability Act to have any type of breed being a service dog. It is clearly in violation of federal law under ADA,” said Dahlia Canes, a paralegal in Conde’s case who is also the director of the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation.
“This ban should have never been put in place in the first place,” said Canes. “It’s depriving good responsible owners of their dogs.”
