A legally blind woman said she was left humiliated and stranded on the side of the road in Rockingham after a Swan Taxi driver refused to let her in the cab with her guide dog.
Lee Anne Hales said she got off the train at Rockingham station around 6.30pm on Wednesday and walked to the first taxi on the rank.
But when she opened the cab door the driver told her she couldn't get in, because of her dog Viva.
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Lee Anne Hales was refused a taxi because of her guide dog
The blind Rockingham woman has since complained to Swan Taxis, saying she was left 'humiliated'
"I just looked at him completely blank...there was so much going through my head. "She is a working dog, she is not a pet dog they can't refuse her," she told Radio 6PR on Friday morning.
"When I asked the taxi driver 'why not'? he said if the owner of the cab saw a dog in the car he would lose his job.
"I said to him, 'I don't care what your owner would think', she is a working dog she is an extension of me."
The 36-year-old disability pensioner said she reminded the cab driver it was the legal requirement of his job to let her in the car with her guide dog.
"If he was allergic then that is a completely different story - he would show me his medical certificate or a letter or something saying he is allergic and I would have said 'ok thanks' and I would have got a different cab," she said.
"I said to him, 'well you are reported pal' and slammed the door on him and went to one of the drivers that was behind him.
"He was more than happy to help us."
Ms Hales said more education was needed about people travelling with guide dogs.
"Not just with taxis but with a lot of different companies," she said.
"When I have to fly, Virgin is the only airline I can get on without any hassle at all.
"Qantas wants five days notice and want all this paper work from Seeing Eye Dogs Australia.
"It's crazy. What happens if you need to fly last minute?"
Swan Taxis told 9 News Perth it couldn't comment on the incident because it was under investigation.
It had confirmed a complaint had been received and had been escalated to the Department of Transport.
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