BY CARL MACGOWAN
February 23, 2007

With his service dog, Simba, lying quietly at his feet, a deaf Westbury teenager spoke in federal court yesterday of his anger at East Meadow school officials for barring the dog from school and the damage he sees to the animal’s training.

The 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever is supposed to learn to respond to sounds, John Cave Jr. told U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Spatt. But Simba’s education is suffering because he can’t go to school.

“I feel angry,” Cave, 14, said during 90 minutes on the stand in the Central Islip courtroom, with two sign-language interpreters taking turns conveying questions to him. “My training with him is being destroyed.”

Cave’s testimony came on the sixth and final day of the hearing. The Caves, who battled the district for more than a year before filing a $150-million lawsuit against the district earlier this month, are seeking an injunction to allow Simba into W. Tresper Clarke High School.

Spatt said yesterday he would rule Tuesday.

The canine controversy has received nationwide attention since Jan. 3, when Clarke’s principal Timothy Voels called police as the Caves attempted to bring Simba to school. District officials say Cave doesn’t need the dog and have expressed concern for the health and safety of other students and staff.

Cave, who hears with the aid of cochlear implants, was composed as he answered questions from lawyers representing his family and the district.

His speech was mostly clear, though several times his words were slurred and he was asked to repeat himself. Simba briefly scratched himself, but otherwise didn’t make a sound.

The ninth-grader, however, said the dog, who received six months of training at a Massachusetts facility, is not as disciplined as he should be.

“He’s breaking his commands at home when he’s not supposed to. He’s barking at sounds. He’s not allowed to do that,” Cave said. “He’s not doing as well because he’s not going to school.”

Cave said Simba’s job is to alert him to cars, smoke alarms and bell rings by nudging him. Without the dog, Cave said, he couldn’t respond immediately when a fire alarm sounded at school recently.

“It was a couple of minutes before I saw everybody getting up,” Cave said. “I had to ask somebody if it was a fire alarm.”

At one point, Paul Margiotta, the attorney for the Caves, mocked testimony by district officials that Simba must be included in Cave’s education plan before the dog can come to school.

“Simba can’t help you with math and reading, can he?” Margiotta asked Cave.

“No,” Cave said. “He’s a dog.”

“I’m glad you understand that,” Margiotta said.

When Cave left the stand, he received a kiss from his mother, Nancy, who was seated with Margiotta in the well of the courtroom.

Students bringing assistance animals to school is exceedingly rare, according to local educators and disability specialists. Trainers of the animals say most children are considered physically or emotionally incapable of handling an animal, even one trained not to bark or misbehave.

The hearing’s final witness, East Meadow Superintendent Robert Dillon, defended the district’s decision to bar Simba. He acknowledged the district has no policy on service dogs, but said federal law allows schools to control a disabled student’s “accommodations,” including assistance animals.

“Introducing a different accommodation could possibly mean that the least restrictive environment could be changed by the accommodation,” he said, invoking the district’s legal responsibility to supply as normal an environment as possible for disabled students.

Dillon, responding to questions from Margiotta, denied having a blanket no-dogs policy and said the district’s Committee on Special Education must approve the use of a service dog in school. The Caves did not appeal the committee’s December denial of Cave’s request to bring Simba to class.

“There’s been no need for the service dog in school,” he said. “John has full access and he’s been performing well in school.”

AN ANIMAL’S LEGAL ROLE

Excerpts from “Freedom on Four Legs: Service Animals, Individuals With Disabilities, and the Law,” Office of the New York State Attorney General, Civil Rights Bureau, June 2002. The full text can be found at www.oag.state.ny.us/press/reports/service_animal_report.pdf

“Federal and state laws accord persons who rely upon service animals the right to have their animals accompany them wherever they go.”

“Service animals - animals specifically trained to help individuals overcome the limitations of their disabilities - are akin to assistive technology such as eyeglasses, hearing aids, canes, wheelchairs and other adaptive equipment. They are not pets.” They include animals that “alert persons with hearing impairments to sounds.”

“Animals meeting the [Americans with Disabilities Act] definition are considered ’service animals’ regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government or any other public or private entity.”