Woman seen in video ranting about veteran's service dog speaks out
NEW CASTLE COUNTY, Del. -- A woman who was seen in a profanity-laced video yelling about a veteran's service dog inside a Delaware restaurant is speaking out to tell her side of the story.
In an interview with TMZ, Ciara Miller said a patron of Kathy's Crab House & Family Restaurant yelled racial slurs at her in response to her public display of dissatisfaction to eating next to a Great Dane.
"As I'm walking out the door, this lady runs up to me saying, ''Scuse me, 'scuse me ma'am, I have a question. Did you say that you're leaving this restaurant because you don't want to eat with a dog?' And she was like, 'Well, let me tell you something. That dog has more rights than you do, [n-word],'" Miller told TMZ.
Miller says she escorted her daughter out of the restaurant before the owner filmed the verbal altercation, which became heated as a handful of people surrounded her.
"At this point, people are yelling derogatory racial slurs everywhere," Miller told TMZ. "I was taken aback, I was shocked. I didn't really know how to respond because my husband is Caucasian and I've never experienced anything remotely close to behavior like that. I had to gather myself for a second and then that's when I exploded."
In hindsight, Miller says she doesn't feel as though she could have reacted differently.
"Absolutely not," she told TMZ. "I felt like I handled myself together the best way I knew how I could."
The restaurant's owner, R.J. Wisowaty, posted the video to YouTube on Sunday, according to CBS Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, Wisowaty posted an apology on Facebook in response to the incident, which reads in part: "We would like to express at this time how sorry we are over the embarrassing turn of events that occurred earlier this week in our restaurant, here in Delaware City," the business said. "It is unfortunate that some of the public are not familiar with federal regulations regarding service animals, which, in fact, do permit service animals into establishments such as grocery stores, public buildings and restaurants, giving aid and comfort to their masters in their time of need."
In the video, Miller is seen screaming about the dog being inside of the restaurant. She can be heard saying, "I'm leaving because the food is nasty and there's a dog."
One woman, who defends the restaurant patron, shouts in response, "He's alive because he fought for our country."
To which Miller responds, "Congratulations, my husband's dad did too, what's your point?"
Before Miller and her husband leave the restaurant, she shouts one last message for the camera recording her: "Like I said, it's disgusting to have an animal inside of a public restaurant and if it is here it should be disclosed at a sectional area."
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Generally, state and local government services and public accommodations and commercial facilities must permit service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.
