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Mar 5, 2006 5:23 pm US/Central
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Two Men Lose Their Service Dogs
by Mary Tan
(WCCO)
Two disabled residents are grieving after their service dogs were taken away from them.
The Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota reclaimed the dogs after concerns about the animals' care arose.
Chris Frilseth from Little Canada, Minn., has suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis since he was a child. He got the dog because he is slowly losing his ability to walk.
"He was always my pal," Frilseth said. "I loved to play catch with him. (We) loved to hang out ... just loved being together."
Last spring, Frilseth lost his former service dog, Owen. He said trainers learned his Mom had suffered a stroke and worried he wouldn't be able to care for Owen.
Mark Grewing said the same thing happened to him. His dog Ozzie is Owen's brother. The White Bear Lake, Minn. resident said Ozzie was taken away because he was two pounds overweight.
Grewing said, "I miss him with all my heart and soul. It almost crushed me. It almost killed me. I almost died of a broken heart."
The Hearing and Service Dogs organization's executive director, Al Peters, said getting a service dog is not a right, it's a privilege.
The group has strict health standards for the care of their animals, because they are in such demand. The organization it takes more than two years and between $15,000 and $20,000 to train the dogs and they have a long waiting list.
"In Mark's situation, he wasn't able to take care of the dog," Peters said. "Our clients have to be able to take care of the dog, feed them properly, make sure they get enough exercise and he wasn't able to do that. So we took the dog back."
Both men said their situations are depressing and each day gets more difficult.
A White Bear Lake prosecutor has volunteered his time to try to help these two families take legal action. Both men said right now, they're exploring their options.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)