Tyler Hurd, 23, has left a teacher-training program (warning: some comments on the linked story may be offensive) in St. Cloud, Minnesota, after he says a student threatened to kill his service dog, Emmitt. Emmitt is trained to assist and protect Hurd during and after seizures, which occur weekly due to a childhood injury. According to Hurd and school officials, the thread came from a Somali student who is a Muslim. Hurd aspires to become a special education teacher.
Some Muslims believe that dogs are unclean and that angels will not enter a home where dogs are present. Hurd says that most Somali students at Talahi Community School eventually warmed to Emmitt and would pet the dog, using paper as a barrier between their hands and Emmitt. However, when Hurd transferred to Technical High School, he says students taunted his service dog and that he finally left after Emmitt's life was threatened.
While some are concerned that all American Muslims share the views of the student who threatened Emmitt, the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic relations sided with Hurd and his service dog. "The moral and legal need to accommodate individuals using service dogs far outweighs the discomfort an individual Muslim might feel about coming into contact with a dog, which is one of God's creatures," said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley.
In addition, Engage Minnesota, a blog calling itself "a voice for Minnesotan Muslims" notes that many Muslims use service and guide dogs themselves. According to Engage Minnesota, touching the saliva of dogs invalidates ritual cleansing prior to Muslim prayer, so it has become a cultural norm for Muslims not to keep dogs in their houses.
Tyler Hurd has been described as "a good and committed young man," and will continue his training in the same district where the threat occurred. 10 hours of training have been waived by officials, in order to allow him to leave Technical High School and begin student-teaching outside a high school setting.
