MP wants more protection for assistance dog users

A Herefordshire MP has called for greater protections for people who use assistance dogs.

Sir Bill Wiggin, Conservative MP for North Herefordshire, wants to see better services for those with assistance dogs and for disability equality training for taxi drivers.

He presented a bill to the Commons that also proposes to prohibit the parking of motor vehicles on pavements and footpaths.

Sir Bill said the legislation would "encourage and support people who use dogs, or perhaps want to use a dog".

He added that it would be for those who "are afraid of being made to walk home in the rain, barred from using a taxi or restaurant and forced off the pavement and into the traffic by pavement parking".

When presenting The Assistance Dogs and Pavement Parking Bill to the Commons, Sir Bill noted that 81% of assistance dog owners have had access to taxis refused.

The MP also said that between July 2021 and July 2022, 74% of those with assistance dogs were turned away from food and drink outlets, 53% from shops, and 35% from hotels and B&Bs.

The Tory MP added that a 2019 survey found that 95% of people with sight loss said pavement parking had forced them to walk in the road and one in five have been injured because of pavement parking.

He said: "Imagine trying to go somewhere strange, where a mishap could mean cracking your head on the curb, or worse, being hit by a truck.

"No shop, no restaurant, no supermarket should be turning away someone with an assistance dog.

"No taxi driver should be worried about dog allergies when they see a blind person, because they must and will know how to look after them, because they have been trained to deal with these customers."

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]