Protest planned after veteran said he was told to leave Pulaski Club in Easthampton because of service dog

EASTHAMPTON — A group of protesters plans to demonstrate near the Pulaski Club on Sunday to draw attention to what they say was the mistreatment of a veteran who tried to enter the club with his service dog on Thanksgiving.



Gary Houle Jr., 43, said that when he walked into the club at 79 Maple St. that afternoon, a staff member demanded proof that his bullmastiff dog, Princess, was a service dog, harassed him about her harness, and after they argued, told him to leave.



“When I walked out I said, ‘So this is the thanks a veteran gets on Thanksgiving,’ ” Houle said in a telephone interview Tuesday.



Houle identified the staff member as Scott Vishaway, vice president of the club. Houle accused Vishaway of violating federal law by questioning him about his service dog and not allowing him in the club. According to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, it is unlawful for staff at a business to prevent a service dog from entering or to ask for an identification card or training documentation.



Vishaway said Wednesday that the club has hired an attorney who will release a statement about the incident within the next few days, and declined further comment.



Houle said his father, Gary Houle Sr. of Easthampton, was outraged by the incident and arranged the protest. The younger Houle said he expects many local veterans to be among the protesters Sunday.



Houle Jr., a Northampton native who now lives in Southampton, served with the U.S. Army in Iraq from 2008 to 2009 and in Afghanistan in 2011, until he was injured in combat in the Kunar Province. As a result, Houle said he has hearing loss, a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.



Houle said Princess was trained to help him mainly as a hearing alert dog. She also makes sure people do not come too close and make him feel threatened. “And she keeps me in a better mind-set, so I don’t snap,” he said.



But he admitted he did snap and used profanity when he believed the Pulaski Club staff member was harassing him on Thanksgiving.



Houle said his children were spending Thanksgiving with his ex-wife, so he arranged to meet a friend about 2:30 p.m. at the Pulaski Club to get a soda and play Keno. He said he doesn’t drink alcohol.



When he walked in, he said he was approached by a female staff member who told him dogs were not allowed in the club. Houle said he told her Princess was a service dog and she relayed the information to a man behind the bar, identified by Houle as Vishaway.



That man then asked for identification for the service dog, Houle said. “He kept demanding it and getting more aggressive,” Houle said. “He obviously didn’t know the law.”



According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a service dog is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, and does not require certification or identification. Companies such as the National Service Animal Registry sell certification cards, but there is no federally approved national system for certifying service dogs.



Staff at businesses are only allowed to ask the owner if the animal is a service dog required because of a disability and what work or task the dog is trained to perform.



After Houle repeatedly told Vishaway that he was not required to show identification, he said he relented and produced a certification card for Princess provided by the National Service Animal Registry.



“Then he started harassing my dog about the kind of dog harness she was wearing, saying the service dogs he’s seen have a different kind of harness,” Houle said. “At that point, I did swear. I was mad.”



That’s when Houle said Vishaway told him to leave the bar, which he did. “I think he just didn’t like me and didn’t know me,” Houle said. “I don’t really know the reason.”



A few days later, he filled out a police report on the incident, although police told him it was not in their jurisdiction. “I just wanted it put on record. It’s a federal issue,” Houle said.



He said he expects a lot of people at the protest Sunday. The group will meet at the parking lot across Franklin Street from the former Sacred Heart of Jesus Church at noon. Until 2 p.m., they plan to march up and down Franklin Street and to the nearby Pulaski Club, holding signs and flags, he said.



“It’s not just about the club, we’re trying to get the word out that this is a problem,” he said. “A lot of guys are going to be coming home (from military service) and some of them are going to have service dogs.”



Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.





