thedesertsun.com |Blind residents want pet rules amended for guide dogs-- Couple, home association go to court over dog droppings
You'd think HOAs would learn from the experience of other associations that get hammered into the ground like a tent stake. But no...this association is persecuting a blind couple because they have a hard time doing a perfect job of picking up after their GUIDE DOGS. Because they are BLIND, which means they CAN'T SEE. Get it, members of the BOD? How about some humanity, or at least a little common sense?

INDIO -- There may be an occasional dog dropping found in the street outside Dennis and Shirley Bartlett’s home, but it’s not because of a lack of courtesy.

The Bartletts,both completely blind, try to pick up after their guide dogs, Nebraska and Marna, the best they can, but admit they don’t always get everything.

"Sometimes you will miss little pieces just because (the dog moves)," said Dennis Bartlett. "You can’t get everything all the time."

It’s those times he’s missed, though, that have caused contention between the Bartletts and the Desert Grove homeowners association in Indio.

There is so much contention that the Bartletts have filed a small claims civil suit against the association’s former president, DelmarPierce, for harassment and prohibiting their guide dogs from defecating in the street -- the method in which they were trained to relieve themselves.

The Bartletts hope the civil suit is the first step toward getting the association to amend its rules and regulations --known as CC & Rs or Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions -- to protect guide dog users.
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