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Vernon man touts 91Ƶremarkable91Ƶ guide dog after taxi misunderstanding

Six-year-old black Labrador named Dodger helped guide Rolland Croteau home after a late night

A Vernon man is effusive with praise for his guide dog, after a misunderstanding with a Vernon taxi.

Rolland Croteau, who is legally blind, was out for his weekly trip to the Army and Navy Air Force on Jan. 26, when he called Vernon Taxi for a ride home, a company he has been using for decades.

91ƵIt was at 10 p.m. and the cab came,91Ƶ Croteau told The Morning Star. 91ƵHe put the GPS in for Pottery Road (where I live).91Ƶ

Croteau told the driver where to drop him off, as his house had a carport with a boat, but the driver struggled to find his house.

Eventually, Croteau was dropped off in a carport. But it wasn91Ƶt his home, as there was no boat in the driveway.

91ƵIt was coming to 11 p.m. and once I got out I realized it was the wrong house.91Ƶ

Unfortunately, the driver of the cab had driven away and Croteau, without a cell phone, was stuck.

Luckily, his six-year-old Labrador named Dodger came to the rescue.

91ƵWhen he (the cab) took off, I took the harness back on Dodger and I told him to find the way home.91Ƶ

Dodger, ever the adventurer, dutifully helped his owner back to his home, which was an estimated three-block journey.

91ƵI wasn91Ƶt sure that Dodger could guide me back because we had never walked in the dark before. He is good at guiding during the day but I wasn91Ƶt sure at night, but he91Ƶs not too bad at night too,91Ƶ he laughed.

On walks, Dodger has been able to nudge Croteau to proper directions, never jaywalks, and even watches for wayward branches or slippery portions on sidewalks.

91ƵHe91Ƶs just been incredible,91Ƶ Croteau said. 91ƵHe91Ƶs changed my life since I got him and I91Ƶm not afraid to go anywhere in this town with him.91Ƶ

As for the incident with the taxi, the manager for Vernon Taxi, David Kassam, profusely apologizes for the error.

91ƵWe have been driving him around for years, we all felt horrible that it happened,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵIt was a mistake and a misunderstanding.

91ƵHe got dropped off at the wrong house. I feel terrible about it. But, it wasn91Ƶt malicious. It was a mistake.91Ƶ

Croteau has since resumed using the company, including last weekend, on Feb. 2 for his typical trip to Army and Navy.

Kassam explained he took the problem 91Ƶon the chin,91Ƶ and is offering Croteau $100 worth of gift cards to his company or for a pet store, and is personally reaching out for the mistake.

The driver who dropped Croteau off had only been with the company for 91Ƶsix or seven shifts,91Ƶ and has since been off work for medical reasons.

However, it91Ƶs been a tough couple of days for Kassam91Ƶs business and drivers, as they have dealt with a litany of profanity-laced emails and phone calls from people all across the province, since a viral Facebook post and media report hit the Internet.

91ƵI got yelled at. I got phone calls from all across the province on Monday (Feb. 5) calling me every single name in the book,91Ƶ Kassam explained.

91ƵEvery single one of my staff got screamed at, saying how terrible we all are. I got 45 emails, 15 phone calls, all basically calling me every name you can think of. I had people calling asking for our drivers name and addresses.

91ƵWe screwed up. It was an honest mistake. But, we got 30 negative Google reviews from people who just heard about this on social media and had never used us before.

91ƵI haven91Ƶt had much sleep since.91Ƶ

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Bowen Assman

About the Author: Bowen Assman

I joined The Morning Star team in January 2023 as a reporter. Before that, I spent 10 months covering sports in Kelowna.
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