A Veteran Was Refused Service At A Restaurant For Bringing In His Service Dog

An army veteran from Fort Collins, Colorado dined at a restaurant in Chicago and was refused service for bringing in his service dog.

Major Diggs Brown served in Afghanistan and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He needed a service dog to help ease the trauma and got his dog Arthur two-and-a-half years ago.

"He does a lot of things. He wakes me up from nightmares when I have them. When I have anxiety attacks, he calms me down. He saved my life and I'm even off the drugs," Brown told CBS Chicago.

So, when Brown and Arthur went to dine at Cochon Volant over the weekend, a waitress said he could not bring the service dog into the restaurant because dogs were not allowed.

"I kept my cool and I said you know it's the American Disabilities Act. This is my service dog, he can go wherever I go, it's the law," Brown told CBS Chicago. "She said, 'I don't care, you need to leave, we don't have dogs in the restaurant.' I could go to the Department of Justice with this if we continue down this path."

Brown left the restaurant feeling humiliated and wrote on his Facebook page about his experience and the restaurant posted an apology on their Facebook page, saying, "The Cochon Volant family is both saddened and disappointed to hear this account of a veteran's experience today. Not only are we 100% aware of and in compliance with all ADA regulations regarding service dogs, we also have an acute appreciation for the service of veterans and we are happy to welcome staff members and employees who have honorably served this country."