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teenager and assistance dog shih tzu on beach / wetherspoons staff
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Watch: Disabled teen is rudely denied entry to Wetherspoons with assistance dog

By Justine Seraphin Country Manager

Published on the

This poor teenager has called out Wetherspoons after they disregarded the law and didn’t let him in with his dog, Chico.

Last weekend, River Cartledge tried to get into a Wetherspoons pub with his assistance dog, Chico.

Shih Tzu becomes assistance dog

River suffers from multiple ailments, including fibromyalgia, autism, and arthritis. Due to this, he decided to train his pet Shih Tzu as an assistance dog. Chico is now a multipurpose assistance dog, trained in psychiatric, medical alert/response and non weight bearing mobility work. 

Learn more about Shih Tzus

Despite this, he and River were denied entry to Wetherspoons, first by the door staff, and then by the manager.

Though River tried to explain that they weren’t respecting the Equality Act of 2010, and thus, the law, the staff continued to repeat that ‘no dogs’ was the company policy and that however much he insisted, he wasn’t getting in.

Wetherspoons: NOT dog-friendly

The exchange left River rattled, and lead him to suffer a medical episode as a result.

Wetherspoons has since apologised, with a spokesperson saying:

"It was a genuine error and we apologise wholeheartedly."

We hope River will have more luck with other pubs!

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