On Saturday 4th Feb, I went with my sister to the Margate Pet Shop, Paw Prince, to see if my daughter would be able to get around the shop in her wheelchair. We were hoping that the owner had reconsidered her unlawful attitude since my last visit to her shop with the Mayor of Margate and had possibly made some positive changes which would allow wheelchair access in her shop. But, I was shocked by what I found. Not only had she ignored our complaint about the obstructions in the shop, she has now built a five foot high wall of boxes of dried dog food, from the front door almost up to the shelving fixtures in the centre of her shop, leaving just enough space for one thin person to walk through! The wall of boxes completely blocks any access into the "corner" that she said she had allocated for people in wheelchairs and babies in pushchairs to wait for her to serve them.
Even if a wheelchair user was able to "park in the corner and wait for her to serve them", (which was her only contribution to allow wheelchairs users into her shop that she'd offered during my last visit accompanied by the Mayor ), no one would be able to see them because of the height of the wall!
I didn't want another confrontation with her, but before I left the shop I said to her "This is wrong. You think you are above the law"!
By stacking these large and heavy boxes of dried dog food, unsupported and at height where it could easily be accidentally pushed over and hurt or even kill a child or elderly person, she has contravened the Health and Safety rules and the Thanet District Council can now take action against her?
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UPDATE: RE EHRC Eaqualities Mediation Service.
I have not been able to talk about the mediation because of confidentiality.
The Equalities Mediation Service set up a mediation meeting with the owner of the Paw Prince pet shop and myself and my Mum. The meeting took place on May 15th 2012. The Mediation agenda items were;
1. What happened in the Paw Prince pet shop
2. How access could be improved for wheelchair access to the aisles and the till area
3. For the owner of Paw Prince pet shop to have an awareness of disability needs
4. An apology from the owner of the shop
5. Compensation
Each agenda item was resolved and a good will gesture was agreed.
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We were not very hopeful for a resolution at the mediation meeting recommended and provided by the Equality & Human Rights Commision, as we felt we had previously tried to resolve this ourselves, in particular refering to the dissapointing outcome from the meeting set up and attended by the Mayor of Margate. However the Equalities Mediation Service exceeded our expectations and were able to resolve our compaints. We would recommend to anyone who suffers from disability discrimination to take this same route if it is offered to you (unless you are able to afford court action). The outcome of the meeting was that we felt we had taken control of our situation and with the assistance of the Mediator we were able to come to a full and final settlement with the owner of the petshop.
The unfortunate thing is that the Coalition Goverment cuts to the EHRC has resulted in this mediation service being withdrawn, which is disgraceful considering that this appears to be the only help that the EHRC were able to offer us.
The law is there to protect us from discrimination but the EHRC which is the only organisation set up to help us HAS NO TEETH AT ALL !
