Muslim bus and taxi drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board

From here:Add an Image

Blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their ‘unclean’ guide dogs.

One pensioner said he had twice been confronted by drivers and asked to get off the bus because of his guide dog, and had also faced hostility at a hospital and in a supermarket over the animal.

The problem has become so widespread that the matter was raised in the House of Lords last week, prompting transport minister Norman Baker to warn that a religious objection was not a reason to eject a passenger with a well-behaved guide dog.

National Federation of the Blind spokesman Jill Allen-King said the problem was common, and ‘getting worse’.

The tension stems from a strand of Islamic teaching which considers a dog’s saliva to be impure.

George Herridge, 73, a retired hospital maintenance manager, said he was ‘stunned’ to be twice asked by bus drivers to leave their vehicles because of his guide dog, a black labrador.

Miss Allen-King said she had been repeatedly left on the kerb by Muslim taxi drivers who refused to take her dog.

How about if the dogs wore burkas?

One thought on “Muslim bus and taxi drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board

Leave a Reply