Muslim bus drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board

Blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their 'unclean' guide dogs.

One pensioner, a cancer sufferer, told how had twice been confronted by drivers and asked to get off the bus because of his guide dog, and had also faced hostility at a hospital and in a supermarket over the animal.

The problem to carry guide dogs on religious grounds has become so widespread that the matter was raised in the House of Lords last week, prompting transport minister Norman Baker to warn that a religious objection was not a reason to eject a passenger with a well-behaved guide dog.

While drivers can use their discretion to refuse to carry non-disabled passengers with dogs, they are compelled to accept guide dogs under disability discrimination law.

Yesterday both the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the National Federation of the Blind confirmed the problem was common, and, according to the latter organisation was 'getting worse'.

The tension stems from a strand of Islamic teaching which warns against contact with dogs because the animal's saliva was considered to be impure, the Muslim Council of Britain said.

It urged Muslims to show tolerance and common sense over the issue.

'We need to be flexible on this,' a spokesman said. 'Muslim drivers should have no hesitation in allowing guide dogs into their bus or car.

'If a dog does lick you, it's not the end of the world. Just go home and wash yourself.'

George Herridge, 73, a retired hospital maintenance manager, told the Daily Mail he was 'stunned' to be twice asked by bus drivers to leave their vehicles because of his guide dog Andy, a black Labrador.

Mr Herridge, who lives with wife Janet, 69, in Tilehurst, Reading, said that on the first occasion two years ago, he got off at the request of a Muslim driver because some Muslim children on board were 'screaming' because of the dog.

He found himself in a similar scenario in May last year, when a Muslim woman and her children became 'hysterical'. Mr Herridge this time refused the driver's request to alight.

He complained to the bus company which launched an investigation. It later informed him the matter had been dealt with 'internally'.

Jill Allen-King, spokesman for the NFB, said she had been repeatedly left on the kerb by Muslim taxi drivers who refused to take her dog.

One cab driver told her he would have to 'go home now and wash myself' when she tried to enter his car with her dog.

Mr Baker yesterday warned bus and cab companies that, while there were within their rights to ask a passenger to leave if the dog was causing a nuisance, it was 'much more questionable to be asked to remove a dog for religious reasons'.

He added: 'One person's freedom is someone else's restriction.'

In 2006, Muslim minicab driver Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni was fined £200 and ordered to pay £1,200 costs by magistrates in Marylebone, central London, after being prosecuted for failing to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act when he refused to take a blind passenger because her guide dog was 'unclean'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ard.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0u9rCvyWk

I cant believe this but then again??? yes I can

should put a burka on the dog, then no one would know what it was or who it was.

What century are we in, again?

I dunno mate. I need to ask ALA lol!

christian people will be a minority before to long in Great Britain so we may as well all start to get use to islamic ways of doing things. Glad i have go no grandchildren.

I hope the publicity ensures this doesn't happen again, I can't see how they can force taxi drivers to stop, but buses absolutely, and if the driver can't cope with a guide dog then let him be the one to change jobs.
We lived in Rossendale for 12 years and the latest thing in Rochdale is to replace several of the public loos with hole in the ground type, as Muslims apparently prefer to squat.
Words fail me at this point as I don't understand why we are pandering to a minority, hang on, soon they will be the majority, now I understand...

Taxis also can't refuse, both on legal grounds for discrimination and also because they are a licensed public service.

I suspect this is another case of the press embellishing a story to 'big it up'. They are right to report the facts but only the facts and ahouldn't emphasise the negatives
It can only be a matter of time before someone takes one of these papers to court for inciting racial hatred.

As far as i can see, they are reporting the facts, this is Great Britain and we live under British law, as Brits we have always gone out of our way to accommodate guide dogs no matter where they be, as far as i can see, if there is any racial, religious hatred then the actions of the Muslims in question have brought it on themselves, its about time they realised they are not in the country from which they came and they can't expect to live here as they once lived in their former place of residence. When in Rome, do as the Romans.

It gets me when people say they should do as we do,
how many times have you gone on holiday and done as they do, eg english in spain asking for full fry ups and chips.

that's holidays and you try to oblige the customer if you want to get their money
This is about people coming to this country to take up permanent residence.
I've been told if you visit some of these other countries you can't wear shorts.Their laws are strictly enforced

This has nothing to do with fish and chips or holidays, if your on holiday in a foreign land, you should observe the laws and customs of that particular country, after all, you are a guest and visitor of that country. This debate is about observing British law and in this case observing a British tradition of going out of the way to help a blind person with a Guide dog.

When I was a bus driver/conductor, dogs were allowed on board but had to go upstairs, guide dogs could be accommodated downstairs. I only ever was wary if there was more than one dog because of dogfights. My favourite one was still the woman who told me on New Chester Road that her dog only had one eye, was therefore a blind dog and asked could she take it downstairs. I laughed my head off and told her it was fine. The Muslims should do as we do in this country and if they don't like it then pack the job in and go back to whatever Stan they come from.

what if a muslim got on the bus with a guide dog?

what if the guide dog was muslim?????

would the dog have to wear a barker?!!!!!!

Yeah right, and I bet every time he touched a door handle, ate food, or went to the bog - he washed his hands like a surgeon before and after!!

the dog was probably cleaner than him11111

I am sick of this and feel sorry for Muslims or anyone for that matter who comes to live here and is fine with our culture and respect it, the morons who say it infringes their rights should not be considered, all we need is a law that says all foreign nationals who CHOOSE to live in Britain will obey our laws and respect our culture.

I would never choose to live in Iraq, Iran etc etc etc as I do not agree with the culture, not saying it is wrong it just is not for me and it should work both ways.

I can see your point but ask youself this, why does anyone decide to come into our country? ill tell you its for the following reasons,
1 to get away from the culture/rules/lifestyle that exsist in their countrys, so why force their beleifs on us just as and when it suits them to do so.
2 also because of the easy touch Great Britain has become in allowing massive ammounts of imegrants into the country who find themselves eligable for all kinds of benefits and housing, you try to o this in any other country it just wont happen.
If they want to live hear they should live to our lifetyle and culture with no room for them to bring their rules and regulations to us, we will soon if we dont bring these things to fruition be a minority in our own country.
I am not racist and would and have worked alongside people from abroad but hey must reaise this is our country.

Typical Daily Mail rubbish I reckon.

He certaintly would not ask for a bite!!!!!

if these muslams find that they need a blind dog in yrs to come and are told they can't get on a bus or in a taxi with it---how are they going to feel??will they remember how they denied these people bus/taxi rides?
these dogs are no trouble at all and are thourghly trained-----oh these people just make me sick!!!!!!!!is it in the rules of the bus company to refuse these dogs? think he should get his book of rules out and read it again and he will find there is no such rule, who do these people think they are---''GOD!''

if you choose to come to our country as a vistor or to live, you should come and live under OUR laws, if you dont like it then dont come,

Its not the bus drivers decioson to make wether the guid dog could get on its his companys directives.

Sack him and give the job to someone else who needs it

The world has gone mad (in Britain).

if they dont like it well sod off back to your own country and complain

And chop their heads off!!!!!!

Ok that was harsh but true.

A harsh attitude towards these daft ways is the only way I think!

I sick of you load of bigots... how the fook do you know that all Muslims were not born in this country...

I DO NOT agree with this (if it indeed happened at all, typical Daily Fail racist junk if you ask me), but you lot go on about being British and proud of it, id hazard a guess that most Muslims in this country are actually British citizens as well... how do you define British? It appears that to the majority on this site, you are only British if you are a white Christian, everyone else can fook off?

Well, actually, Paganism was on our shores a LONG time before Christianity even existed... in fact Christianity within the UK owes a lot to Paganism. As for this white supremacy tone you all appear to believe in, I do believe we have been here before...



British abroad?? Well yeah, we are fookin tossers abroad, our ex-pats very rarely learn anything other the most basic lingo, they want only British foods sold in British themed shops, British opubs on British named streets, and Christian churches, even in non predominantly Christian countries - hell there is even entire towns in Spain that have either become English, or been built by the English, for the English - they don't call them ex-pat communities for nothing. As for obeying foreign rules, laws and customs... yeah, of course we have never heard of any British ex-pats breaking laws, because the British are oh so perfect.

We didnt mind conquering half the known world and building up the British Empire, whilst instilling our language, values, beliefs, customs and laws on every civilisation we conquered, and we didnt (and still don't) mind non-British, non-Christian peoples growing our foods, our tea, making our clothes etc, but when it comes to giving them a fair place and an equal place in our society, it appears this is not allowed...

If you honestly feel so strongly about the British staying ethnic white and Christian as it was during the Roman Empire, then you should honestly consider joining the BNP or the National Front etc, and walk around with your head held in shame, how many of you would honestly have the balls to go to a Mosque and tell all the Muslims to "leave my county because you are not welcome here". Im a Roman Catholic, but I could become a Muslim if I wanted to... does this mean I am no longer a friend of any of yours, I am no longer welcome on the Wiki pro-BNP website, and I am no longer a British citizen, and somehow inferior to you high and mighty white Christians?

And by the way, Muslim aka Islam, is a faith, a religion, and is in no way related to a persons citizenship, colour of skin or level of intelligence.

Wiki is not a place for you biggots, and if you really must continue to read and believe the shite the anti-Muslim press such as the Daily Fail (these are the type of newspapers who when they heard councils were cutting back Christmas decorations in towns due to spending cuts and health & safety, instantly decided to adjust it to the old "offend Muslims" crap), and you must continue your Nazi, biggoted and fascist ways, then it really does say a lot about your intelligence, or rather lack of, in comparison to others... The Jewish community in the UK was persecuted in the early 1900's by both press and Christians, anti-Jewism in the UK (and indeed Europe) was rife, they were seen as second-class citizens through Christian jealousy and envy etc, and that ended up spilling over into a major factor in the reasoning behind the death of 50 million people, do you want that to happen again?

There's quite a mix-up in Muslim beliefs about dogs, whilst non-working dogs are berated there are other Islamic texts that show kindness to dogs and even the Qur'an mentions that the Seven Sleepers had a dog.

Source

Hitler shared a unique love of dogs as the British people too... he regarded dogs as every bit as important as the peoples of the Arian race. I'm not saying it is any way a bad thing, but its a con-incidence at least.

It is interesting to know that dogs are mentioned in the Quran many times, not just once, in verses 5:4, 7:176, 18:18 and 18:22 (3 times). NOWHERE does God call the dogs dirty animals or give any indication that they should be avoided or treated the way many Muslims think they should. Actually, the story of the people of the cave in Sura 18 gives the indication that we should appreciate them. When the number of the people of the cave, 3, 5 or 7 were mentioned in the Quran, God insisted every time on letting us know that their dog was


there with them. Their story can be as complete without the mention of the dog, but God did, why?

God is telling us these righteous people were in the cave with their dog. If it were not righteous to have dogs, God would not have told us that story in which the dog has to be remembered as being there. We have to know the quality of God, if we are to worship Him correctly. When God says something He means it, and when he does not, he means it as much. If God did not curse the dog and call it all kinds of name, it is because God wants us to know that He created that beautiful creature and He expects us to make all use and companionship with that animal that accompanied these righteous people of the cave.

Fabricated hadiths contradict the Quran. Many of these hadiths were narrated by Abu Hurayra. Abu Hurayra, whose name is translated as “father of the little cat,” apparently hated dogs and women. He narrated many hadiths that insulted women and cursed the dogs. He made them undesirable animals that need to be avoided and even killed.

Seeing as its been brought up, i don't see a problem in defending my Christian beliefs, more importantly, my British way of life, traditions and British law, this does not make me a bigot or racist, It does not make me an ideal candidate for the BNP or any similar Nazi party. The news paper article must have an element of truth in it otherwise I'm sure a court case would have followed and another newspaper would have taken great delight on reporting that. Are we now going to censor newspapers because its reporting on a particular, race, religion or colour.

We, as members of this forum or society in general have a right to comment on the breaking of British law and British traditions whether or not it has religious connotations. The people who refused access to the blind persons and guide dogs, regardless of whether they where born here or not were acting under religious beliefs and not British law. Its all very well being tollerant to imagrants and peoples of differing religions but we can not and should not allow British Law to be discarded because it doesn't fit with some religions.

Rant alert

if they were born in this country then they should have no issues with fitting into our culture, not one of the post on this are in any way in my opinion of a biggoted nature, perhaps you have a problem with people with disabilities and think that they should be treated this way, also how dare you insert a picture of hitler on this site, my and many other peples parents and grandparents risked their lives and many died to ensure our future was safe from this madman I think wikiwirral moderators should ensure this image is removed instantly and this disscussion closed before it gets out of hand,

Thanks to Zippy and Bert - top quality posts

exactly

hmm I think a lot of you should do your homework, the british are the biggest religious zealots/bigots of all time, the crusades, the reformation etc, they also had concentration camps a long time before the nazi's did in the boar war, then theres slavery, I could go on and on, why do you think so many hate us around the world? and its still going on, afghanistan for example, but of course thats to protect us here in blighty isnt it? my arse.

and to read some of your posts you believe anything you are told like good little sheep. make sure you close your windows at night so the muslims cant get in and drain your blood with their fangs.

I think most of the comments have really been about nationalism more than religion. In my travels and communique around the world I have rarely found much in the way of anti-British other than to do with football hooligans and even then there has been sympathy for the country having to be associated with them.

As an industrial nation we were much admired, unfortunately that is now history.

I hope you aren't mixing concentration camps and extermination camps, concentration camps are just a name for large internment camps which in the case of the second Boer was was actually a humanitarian solution to the alternatives. Despite that, Britain didn't invent concentration camps, many other countries had used them before us, including Russia, Spain and America. There were also forced labour camps which other countries have used extensively and we only on a minor scale.

I think that in this case it should be more about the policy of the (bus) company than the views of an individual. If First, Arriva or any other company permit guide dogs on their buses then the drivers should abide by these rules. If not, then they are not carrying out their job as instructed by their employer.

It would be like taking a job in a rest home and refusing to clean arses. Letting guide dogs on a bus is clearly something that every driver is expected to do as part of their duties and I don't see what religon has to do with it.

Well said Neil, I could not agree more!!

Not so sure a Muslim would use one if they regard a dog as unclean. Good point though.