A local man is outraged after he claims he wasn't allowed to bring his service dog inside a Millville Wawa. It happened on June 13, shortly before midnight at the Wawa on West Main Street.
Patrick Stark, 33, tells the News of Cumberland County the ordeal began when he and his girlfriend visited the store to get food. Stark suffers from recurrent seizures and says he needs to take his service dog Copenhagen everywhere he goes. Cumberland County reports he received an honorable discharge after serving the Army from 1998 to 2000 and began suffering from the seizures three years ago when he was struck in the head during a mugging in Seattle. Copenhagen, a Queensland heeler, is trained to react whenever Stark may have a seizure.
When he arrived at the store, Stark says Wawa employees told him he wasn’t allowed to bring a dog inside. Stark also told the Cumberland County that both workers and customers began to harass him and the assistant manager even threatened to call the police.
Stark claims he showed the manager the paperwork he had for his dog but was still not allowed to bring the dog inside even after that. Stark was not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to show the paperwork and claims the assistant manager didn’t care anyway. As the two continued to argue, Stark says the employee called police. Police arrived and Stark claims they treated him well. He then left the store.
NBC10 contacted Millville Police who read a police report on the incident. According to the report, Stark was asked to leave because the dog had on a regular leash rather than the proper service vest. Because of this, there was no way for the Wawa employees to tell if it was a service dog, according to investigators. While police began an initial investigation, they say they are no longer involved. No charges have been filed.
NBC10 got this statement from Wawa:
We apologize for any inconvenience or issues we caused Mr. Stark. Qualified service dogs are permitted in all Wawa stores. It is always our effort and intent to fully comply with the law and treat all
customers with sensitivity and respect. Because we are a food establishment we have to comply with strict Board of Health regulations which do not permit pets in our stores, but of course qualified service animals are permitted and welcome.
We are taking this issue very seriously, and we remain committed to complying with the ADA and to continue to provide training to our associates with respect to service animals. We have reemphasized the Company’s protocol related to service animals with the team at the store Mr. Stark visited to ensure they are aware of the Company’s protocol for future visits, and we have followed up with the team at this store to better understand the circumstances of his visit. We will also revisit the Company’s service animal protocol with all stores throughout the region.
We are always hearing wonderful feedback from customers about this particular store team, and it’s important to all of us at Wawa that we can clear up this issue and make sure Mr. Stark knows he and his service dog are welcome here. We are reaching out to him to offer any apology. We are always committed to doing the right the thing and hope to see Mr. Stark in our stores soon.
