Karrilynn Stachowicz trains service dogs. She also has multiple sclerosis, and uses one of her specially trained greyhounds to get around. So, when she was denied access to an estate sale in Berwyn Nov. 14, she decided to take a stand and called the police.
A day later, Stachowicz and her mother, Paula Gagliano of Riverside, finally were allowed into the estate sale after police told the estate sale manager he could either let them in or be shut down. The law is pretty clear, police said: Service dogs can go just about anywhere when they are working.
Stachowicz, of La Grange, is a former veterinary technician and said she wanted to raise awareness through her experience about what service dogs are for. When someone walks into a public place with such a dog at their side, she said, the dog is not just a pet, but an essential companion to someone in need.
Stachowicz has trained and rescued greyhounds since 2002. Only two years before, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and during therapy at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Clinic in Wheaton, she became acquainted with the gentle giants.
'They made me feel so much better,' she said. 'I was blind and wheelchair-bound for two months. My husband, David, asked me, 'if you get out of the chair what do you want?' I said a dog. I was told I would never walk again, but I beat the odds.'
That's when the first greyhound, Cannonball, came into her life. Now there are seven greyhounds and a whippet - and a cat and two parrots - that are part of the family.
Stachowicz is a member of Retired Greyhounds as Pets (REGAP), an organization that has placed more than 3,000 greyhounds in homes when they no longer are fit for racing. Greyhounds, she said, are just starting to be trained and recognized as service dogs. REGAP keeps Stachowicz's phone number on hand and refers adoptees to her when they have a behavioral problem with the otherwise passive, gentle dogs who spend most of their time snoozing throughout the day.
This year, she will complete her professional certification as a service dog trainer.
'Therapy dogs are different than a service dog,' she said. 'A therapy dog is there to provide care to someone else, to pet or to help develop motor skills.
'A service dog is different,' she continued. 'It helps you and nobody else. My dog always wears a vest with a handle on it. That's how he helps me walk and he [can] actually feel when I'm unsteady on my feet. If I do fall, he helps me up. He will lay down and get up and I'll get up with him. A service dog for me is a mobile walker. In addition to helping me walk, I have no peripheral vision. When I don't have him, I could be kind of dangerous, because I could whip around and walk into a display. The dog doesn't allow me to turn.'
On Nov. 14, Stachowicz and her mother, arrived at the estate sale and were told no dogs allowed. They called the police after trying to explain to the sales manager that the dog was a service dog. The police arrived and explained that service dogs are allowed according to the law.
'They came back home all upset and told me about it,' Stachowicz's father, Frank Gagliano said. 'There's just no reason for it. She's got a letter from the doctor. The guy wouldn't listen to her, he kept on calling the dog a pet.'
Stachowicz, her mother and father made arrangements with police to attend the sale the following day and were once again denied. The officer who accompanied them finally had to tell the sale managers that they would shut the sale down if she wasn't allowed access. They entered the property and Stachowicz picked up a couple items to purchase when another man involved with the estate sale in a tent outside started arguing with her over the dog. Police were once again called.
Frank Gagliano said he couldn't believe the amount of trouble the sale's manager's misunderstanding of the situation caused.
'It was a really bad scene,' he said. 'My daughter had tears in her eyes.The big thing now is all these veterans coming home are all looking for service dogs,' he said. 'It's very big for these guys, they need the companionship.'
As for her experience at the Berwyn estate sale, Stachowicz said it should have been absolutely clear that her dog was not a pet since it was wearing a nylon vest inscribed with 'Service Dog' on each side.
'Any business owner has the right to ask you, 'is that a service dog,' and you answer 'yes' or 'no.,'' Stachowicz said. 'I carry letters from my neurologist and a copy of the Americans with Disabilities Act.'
The family said their main intent following the ordeal was just to spread information about what service dogs are and what they're used for. In the end, they hope to spare someone else the experience they themselves endured.
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