Son was bitten by a dog

[MomEadon]

Last night in Epcot we went to Norway for our ILL on frozen. We pulled into the stroller park area along the water edge and my two kids hopped out of the stroller and there was a little dog that looked like a chihuahua but a little bigger (same looks though) on a leash and it growled and barked and bit my son on the leg. It all happened in like 5 seconds. No time to react. They picked it up and held its muzzled closed. I check my son over thoroughly and he was not injured at all, barely a red mark, so we went on our way.
We saw 7 dogs in the park that day! I’ve been to Disney 14 times and never saw a dog and today, 7!! Only 2 had service vests on.
When we came back from the ride the we’re still hold the dog and hold the muzzle closed while it growled at everyone and everything (typical of that breed).
whoa. Just felt like sharing and venting. It my son were injured I would have reported it

 

[CarolynFH]

I’m glad your son wasn’t injured - hope he wasn’t scared by it either in a way that affects him in future, at WDW and away from it. I’m sorry a CM didn’t see it - Security should have been called to expel them from the park. There’s no way that was a service dog, so it should not have been allowed to stay.

 

[EpcotPhoenician]

Must be the Jersey in me… but I would have snapped a photo of the dog owner and walked right over to Guest Services, who would have relayed the incident to security.

They likely snuck the dog in, assuming it is not an ADA animal.

 

[mom2rtk]

You need to send an email to guest relations. That could have been much worse. If they're letting dogs in they need to know how bad it can turn out.

 

[MomEadon]

Wow sorry for the errors in my post. I just re read and it was awful! Hahaha I used talk to text.

if you think I should email Disney, I will. To let them know. That night we didn’t want to waste what little time we had left (because he wasn’t injured) but I was really upset. I will do that

 

[CarolynFH]

Wow sorry for the errors in my post. I just re read and it was awful! Hahaha I used talk to text.

if you think I should email Disney, I will. To let them know. That night we didn’t want to waste what little time we had left (because he wasn’t injured) but I was really upset. I will do that

Yes, please email Disney at wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com. I’m sorry you didn’t have time to flag down a CM and point out where the dog was. From your post, the owners were still there holding the dog’s mouth closed for quite some time after it bit your son, so the CMs would have had time to find and talk to them.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

, assuming it is not an ADA animal.

I bet it is.

Getting an animal qualified for ADA is way too easy. It's why you see dogs just about everywhere now. People abuse the system.

 

[dez1978]

I also saw several dogs there a couple of weeks ago. And so many wagons. Like at least 10 in 2 days. Maybe thats not a lot, but I don't think I'd ever seen one there before since they aren't allowed.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Glad your son is OK!

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I bet it is.

Getting an animal qualified for ADA is way too easy. It's why you see dogs just about everywhere now. People abuse the system.

To be more specific, lying that an animal is qualified for ADA is way too easy. Training a qualified service animal is involved. My surefire tell that an owner is lying is the vest. They order those online, and they say like "registered service animal" or something like that. Service animals don't require vests or certificates and service animal users know that.

 

[Beer Me]

Sorry that happened. I wish the owner could have been held responsible. Disney seems to be getting more and more lax about dogs so there should be better guidance, rules, enforcement etc.

I saw something I though was kind of strange back in 2019. At the loading area for Space Mountain there was a family off to themselves with a CM. It may have been a VIP tour but they looked almost comically wealthy and out of place like something out of Schitts Creek. They had an adorable little Westie with them and all I could think of was the doggo riding Space Mountain. I’m assuming the CM took the dog while they rode but the idea still makes me laugh.

Anyway that was the first time I remember seeing a dog in the park that obviously was not a service dog.

 

[CarolynFH]

To be more specific, lying that an animal is qualified for ADA is way too easy. Training a qualified service animal is involved. My surefire tell that an owner is lying is the vest. They order those online, and they say like "registered service animal" or something like that. Service animals don't require vests or certificates and service animal users know that.

I agree. A true service animal is trained to provide a service. Part of the training ensures that the animal won’t bite strangers. The report that the owners sat there holding the dog’s mouth closed tells me it was not a trained service animal. It should never have been allowed into the park in the first place and should have been expelled from the park after it nipped the child.

 

[CarolynFH]

Sorry that happened. I wish the owner could have been held responsible. Disney seems to be getting more and more lax about dogs so there should be better guidance, rules, enforcement etc.

I saw something I though was kind of strange back in 2019. At the loading area for Space Mountain there was a family off to themselves with a CM. It may have been a VIP tour but they looked almost comically wealthy and out of place like something out of Schitts Creek. They had an adorable little Westie with them and all I could think of was the doggo riding Space Mountain. I’m assuming the CM took the dog while they rode but the idea still makes me laugh.

Anyway that was the first time I remember seeing a dog in the park that obviously was not a service dog.

There are kennels at the rides so that service dogs have a safe place to wait while the owner rides. I saw the one for MMRR as we exited.

 

[prestoncaldwell]

I agree. A true service animal is trained to provide a service. Part of the training ensures that the animal won’t bite strangers. The report that the owners sat there holding the dog’s mouth closed tells me it was not a trained service animal. It should never have been allowed into the park in the first place and should have been expelled from the park after it nipped the child.

Unfortunately, their hands are tied when it comes to allowing them in. If you can answer the two questions they are permitted to ask you, they must let your service chihuahua or service pomeranian into the park. As you say, aggressive behavior is grounds for expulsion of the animal and that should absolutely be used to its fullest extent....Every Disney employee should be trained to report in any service pet aggression so the pet can be expelled.

 

[EmilyGahr]

And this is why "emotional support animals" are not allowed in the park. A properly trained service dog that performs tasks would never even bark, let alone growl and snap at someone. I hate how easy it is for people to lie about their dogs.

 

[kanerf]

Service animals should require a certificate that must be shown to gain entry to any public venue. The cheating has become unacceptable. There should also be fines for people entering a public venue with a fake service animal.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

To be more specific, lying that an animal is qualified for ADA is way too easy.

For sure

 

[vanillagirl]

This pisses me off. I’m so glad your child was ok but you got lucky. Please email Disney.

My daughter has a guide dog. He has been growled at, barked at, and even accused of not being a service dog because he isn’t wearing a vest the vest thing is so dumb….he has a harness…that’s how he guides. A vest means squat. Vests are not particularly comfortable for dogs- they get hot.

Her dog is a perfectly behaved highly trained beautiful lab. (my sweet grand puppy ) People who abuse the service dog rules ruin it for people who need and own true trained service animals. And it’s so unfair to service animals. He has been more abused by poser service animals than average joe dogs on the street. I would have taken their photo and gone to the nearest CM & guest service and raised heck if any punk dog bit him. We know folks whose dogs were attacked and can no longer safely work because they have been traumatized.

 

[pigletto]

My tell that it’s not a registered service animal is that he bit a child, completely unprovoked. These animals are rigorously tested for temperament and train harder for the role they serve than some human occupations. I’m not saying never, but it would be very very unusual for a certified trained animal to act like that.

Like the person above stated, this is such a important program and the reputations of service animals suffer when people pull this garbage.
I’m very sorry your son was bitten. That must have been scary.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Glad your son is OK. Having experienced that myself a few times, it must be very scary for a child. That just should not happen - I don't know what some people are thinking with bringing these untrained animals to Disney resorts and parks. While it's not nearly as serious as your situation with a child being bitten, we have also had an experience where a dog was left alone in an AKL room barking until 2AM next to us. And Disney security would not do anything about it. If it's truly a service dog, I don't think it would be left behind at the resort all night - what service is it providing there? Just get the animal to a kennel or leave it with a sitter. For many of these untrained dogs, it can't be fun for them being drug around all day with huge crowds of strangers.