Disabled man 'accused of lying' by Glasgow Poundland staff

Iain Wallace was “embarrassed” after an employee told him “that is not a service dog” despite the pet wearing his official uniform.

The 66-year-old, from Clarkston, visited the Argyle Street branch on Thursday, January 25, when he was confronted by staff.

Iain suffers from arthritis and spondylosis leaving him struggling with his mobility and using a walking stick.

He relies on his four-year-old Jack-Tzu dog, Mungo, to keep his independence but claims staff “didn’t believe him.”

Iain was shopping with his service dog Mungo (Image: Robert Perry)

Iain said: “I was made to feel like I was lying by Poundland staff, they harassed and discriminated against me. It was bitterly disappointing.

"It is really depressing that I need to worry about visiting shops because I'm disabled and have a service dog.

“Staff told me I couldn’t have Mungo with me, I explained he was my service dog as his uniform showed but he didn’t believe me.

“The employee actually asked me to provide paperwork and evidence, it made me livid.

“He shouted at me saying ‘that is not a service dog’ several times, it was very embarrassing for me.

“I got the manager over who seemed uninterested which made me feel really frustrated.

“There needs to be more awareness and training for staff."

Iain wants to raise awareness (Image: Robert Perry)

Refusing to allow access to people with assistance dogs is likely to be unlawful disability discrimination as the Equality Act 2010 states that service providers must make reasonable adjustments to policies for disabled people.

Despite this Iain has had multiple instances of being challenged by staff for Mungo helping him.

We reported how a B&M employee challenged him at the Shawlands branch in Glasgow's Southside.

Now weeks later he has been confronted again by Poundland, who called the incident a “mistake”.

A spokesperson for Poundland said: “We’re sorry for this customer’s experience in our Argyle Street store – it goes without saying we’re fully aware of the equality act and service animals are welcome in all of our stores.

“In this instance one of our colleagues made a mistake (we’re human too) and the store manager apologised at the time to the customer and told him he was welcome in the store with his dog at any time.”

Assistance Dogs UK said: “We believe that disabled people deserve to be able to live the lives they want and feel confident, independent, and supported in the world.

“A highly trained assistance dog can help improve independence, confidence, and quality of life.

“However, too many disabled people continue to face discrimination and are turned away because they have their assistance dog with them.”

They added: “It is easy to understand how confusion can occur when we may have some people fraudulently presenting their pet dog as an assistance dog, whilst at the same time genuine assistance dogs are so ill defined in the legislation.”