Many people with disabilities rely on their assistance dogs. You also need your guide dog, service or signal dog if you are on a cure or rehab, for example. “But again and again they complain to the public prosecutor because they are not accepted by spa or rehabilitation facilities with the assistant dog,” says Volksanwalt Bernhard Achitz: “However Dog with. All facilities have to stick to this without flimsy excuses such as a house rules that they wrote themselves. ”Of course, exceptions are possible for certain areas, such as operating theaters or kitchens.
Chiara recognizes emergencies in advance, brings medication or the phone
Jasmin P. was partially paralyzed because of a genetic defect and also had an accident in 2018 in which she was seriously injured. As a paraclimber, she has won almost everything there is to win. She is Vice World Champion, European Champion and Austrian State Champion. Assistance dog Chiara is almost always at your side.
Chiara is a state -certified assistant dog and entered in the disabled ID. “It is an important help for self-help and supports me in many things,” says P. in the ORF program “Citizens’ Prosecutor”. The bitch can lift down things, carry small purchases home or open doors. Even more important: “Chiara also brings me a medication or the phone in emergencies. And she can warn me early before my spasticity overshot. ”A person couldn’t.
“Chiara is not a pet, but an aid”
A wheelchair enables Jasmin P. almost unrestricted mobility. In November 2023, an inpatient stay was planned for her in the rehabilitation facility of the general accident insurance institution (AUVA) in Bad Häring. There she wanted to try orthoses with which she could go back on her own feet. Shortly before the recording, she asked if she had to consider anything about Chiara. Jasmin P.: “The Primar told me that I can come, but without a dog.” The Auva rejection letter “that a recording for testing together with your assistance dog is not possible in our facility. We refer to the consultation with our legal department and our house rules. ”
This was out of the question for Jasmin P.: “Chiara is not a pet, but an aid. I just need it! ”Then she fought for the orthoses without a rehabilitation stay. Nevertheless, it is not understandable for her why it was not possible for her to take the assistant dog in the rehabilitation facility and turned to the public prosecutor.
The PVA has already changed its guidelines, now it’s the turn of the AUVA
People’s attorney Achitz: “It is not permitted to generally prohibit assistance dogs in hospitals. Exceptions are only possible for hygienic reasons, for example for operating theaters. The public prosecutor’s office has intervened in several similar cases – and has reached progress, for example at PVA. ”It has changed its guidelines, now assistance dogs are allowed to access all the premises of the PVA rehabilitation centers, to which patients and patients also have access. The access bans are limited to areas such as the kitchen. “I also expect this insight from the AUVA and all contract institutions. Austria has undertaken to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabilities, and this also applies to AUVA. ”
The aim of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is that people with disabilities can self-determined about the design of their own life and have full participation in all areas of life. Art. 9 UN-BRK guarantees equal and barrier-free access to the physical environment, in particular also to medical facilities and services. Art. 20 UN-BRK standardizes the right to personal mobility in the greatest possible independence, especially with technological, human and animal help.
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