Laura Drake, Canwest News Service
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Frances Woodard says she feels less stress in the
presence of Gyno, her pet ferret.
Chris Mikula, Canwest News Service |
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008
Times Colonist
OTTAWA -- A disgruntled transit rider is fighting to have her pet ferret's
bus pass reinstated.
Frances Woodard, 54, suffers from agoraphobia, anxiety and panic attacks
that make it difficult for her to go out in public -- unless she's with
her three-year-old albino ferret, Gyno (pronounced Gino).
But OC Transpo, Ottawa's public transit authority, took Gyno's pass
away in April.
"He grounds me. It's like he senses I'm going into a panic, and the
petting and stroking calms me down. It gives me something to focus on
other than the panic," she said.
Last fall, Woodard said, she bought the proper pass to allow her to
take a ferret on public transit as a working animal. She still has the
plastic transit pass bearing a picture of her holding up her ferret next
to a green box that reads "Assist -- Customer entitled to a service animal."
"It gave me such a change. A feeling of freedom," she says of the time
she was allowed to take Gyno on the bus.
However, for reasons she says still haven't been fully articulated to
her, the pass was taken away.
Vincent Patterson, OC Transpo's manager of performance, said he could
not comment on Woodard's case specifically.
However, he said, sometimes assistance cards are "mistakenly issued." He
also stressed the need to have service animals "trained and certified
by a recognized organization." |
Ferret News 
