20071113 AP: MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Disable woman with celiac disease wants to keep tiny horse by DAVE GRAM

AP: MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Disable woman with celiac disease wants to keep tiny horse by DAVE GRAM

Tiny horse center of rights dispute

Published by AP: Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007

Disabled woman wants to keep pony in apartment to pull wheelchair

Photo by TOBY TALBOT / Associated Press

Patty Cooper sits in her wheelchair with her miniature horse, Earl, last month in Warren, Vt.

By DAVE GRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Patty Cooper's landlord normally welcomes tenants who use animals to help them get around, such as guide dogs for the blind.

So after the disabled woman bought a 32-inch-tall miniature horse to pull her wheelchair, she asked to keep the animal in her home. When her landlord rejected the request, she filed a human rights complaint.

Cooper, 50, paid $1,000 for the 1-year-old gelding named Earl, expecting to use it for trips to the bus stop and into town. The agency that owns the apartment complex in Waitsfield denied her proposal, citing concern about horse droppings, hay storage and lack of grazing space.

Cooper insists the 100-pound tobiano pinto can be house-trained and said it "just makes me so happy whenever I'm around him. I'm not lonely anymore."

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The case has drawn national attention since it was reported last month as an example of disabled people using animals other than guide dogs for the blind.

Cooper, 50, has celiac disease, a disorder in which exposure to a protein called gluten destroys the ability of the small intestine to absorb nutrients and can cause brittle bones. Cooper, who broke her back for a second time four years ago, uses a wheelchair most of the time.

Preston Jump, executive director of the Central Vermont Community Land Trust…

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