Blind woman told to get off bus ‘because guide dogs can’t be black’

A blind woman was told to ‘get her f*****g dog off a bus’ by a passenger who didn’t believe guide dogs could be any other colour than ‘yellow’.

Megan Taylor, 22, was on the bus with her guide dog Rowley when the unnamed woman approached her and said: ‘Why is there a f*****g dog on the bus? Get it off.’

But when Megan tried to ‘politely’ explain Rowley was an assistance dog, she claims the woman called her a liar because ‘guide dogs are yellow Labradors and your dog is black’.

Megan, from Merseyside said: ‘I tried to explain to her that guide and assistance dogs can been any colour and don’t have to be Labradors, although Rowley is. She told me I was wrong.

‘I decided at this point there was nothing I could say to educate this woman and that it wasn’t worth my time.

‘I instead chose to ignore her while she continued to talk nonsense.’

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Megan has suffered from episodic blindness since she suffered a head injury at 15, which also caused a number of other medical problems including hearing loss, impaired balance, frequent fainting attacks and vertigo.

She said the incident on Monday was not the first time she has been abused on public transport and it has left her ‘anxious’ to go on the bus again.

She told the Liverpool Echo: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had a stress free trip on public transport, that’s why I’m so nervous when using it now.

‘On other occasions I have been spat at, stepped over, pushed out of the way and accused of being “another drunk youth” when losing consciousness due to my heart condition and neurological disorder.’

Rowley helps Megan with many daily tasks including retrieving dropped items, emptying the washing machine and getting undressed.

But more importantly, Rowley can keep Megan calm and can even phone for help if she loses consciousness.

Megan added: ‘I try to stay positive and not let incidents such as what happened get me down because I am not ashamed of my disability.

‘Despite having so many negative experiences, I know that these people are the minority. Most people are good and kind.’