Grand Junction – Spitting, gambling, weapons, drugs, snapping pictures and prostitution are prohibited at veterans’ hospitals. And as a Western Slope man has discovered, even miniature mutts in a vehicle are grounds for a federal violation.
Gerald Boren, accompanied by his two Yorkshire terriers, had been dropping off and picking up his wife at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center where she works for 17 years before he was ticketed for a violation of No. 11 of 45 prohibited items and actions at veterans’ hospitals.
Animals – except for therapy dogs and pets with a director’s dispensation – are banned at veterans’ hospitals across the country, even if they are in vehicles with their owners.
The animal prohibition has been troublesome at many VA facilities, according to chief of police services at the Grand Junction hospital, Christopher McGillivary, who said he’s heard that from other officers around the country.
“It’s a hot issue,” he said.
Susan Broschat, a spokesperson for the VA Medical Center in Denver, said she wasn’t aware of the rule and had not heard of any pet problems at that facility.
But McGillivary said his officers give daily warnings to visitors with pets in their cars. The problem is usually resolved with a warning rather than a ticket. He doesn’t know of another case that has landed in a federal courtroom.
Boren, who drives into Grand Junction with his wife from their home in Colbran an hour away, had been warned twice this year before he was ticketed in May for having his Yorkies, Buddy and Homer, in his van. On those earlier occasions he had his dogs outside the vehicle. Boren said he thought he could still pick up his wife if he didn’t let the wee canines out.
When an officer rapped on his window and told him that wasn’t so, Boren said, “Well, then you better give me a ticket.”
The officer did. The case went before a federal magistrate who found Boren guilty and fined him $60. And an attorney for Boren has now filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Denver.
“The whole thing is just absurd,” said Pat Noel, a friend and Marine veteran who was with Boren. “They’ve made a federal case out of this literally.”
Attorney Dave Griffith is handling the case for Boren and arguing that the rules are not posted where they can be seen by someone who might drive into the parking lot with an animal. The rules are framed, in small print, on a wall inside the hospital entrance.
“It’s like the fine print on a bottle of saccharine,” Griffith said.
McGillivary said posting those regulations in the parking lot would be as unwieldy as putting up a sign at the entrance to a town listing all the municipal codes. The only signs posted prominently outside the hospital entrance doors now warn, “No Weapons Beyond This Point,” and “No Smoking.” One smaller sign on a side wall states, “Service Animals Only.”
“If they want this to be a law they need a sign outside,” Boren said.
McGillivary said there have been some serious problems with animals in vehicles. A dog lunged at a window and scared an elderly veteran, who fell and cut his head. Other patients have reported being startled by dogs barking in cars. Patients have left animals in vehicles when they came for appointments and ended up being admitted to the hospital. Staff members had to take care of the pets.
The medical center does help patients make arrangements for pets to stay in kennels during doctor visits or hospitalizations.
