A man has been banned from the popular Buc-ee’s store chains after taking his duck into one of the locations in Tennessee to greet shoppers and explore.
Justin Wood spends a lot of time with his web-footed “service pet” called Wrinkle, so when the pair visited the store, numerous people wanted to say hello, Fox News reported Saturday.
Shopper banned from Buc-ee’s after bringing his service duck inside Tennessee store https://t.co/FQtjYPrINO pic.twitter.com/J8RP2LEI3S
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Video footage shows Wrinkle enjoying the excursion from the comfort of her stroller until Wood takes her out to hold her. A Buc-ee’s employee tells him that pets are not allowed in the store, but he claims she is a service animal.
“I can give you three forms of identification right now if you like. Her name is Wrinkle,” he tells the worker, who eventually tells him to have a good afternoon.
Later in the video, another employee tells Wood he is welcome to come into the store but the duck has to stay outside.
“Unfortunately your animal can’t be in here … There’s no pets in here. The animal, even if it’s considered a service animal, you have to be able to contain it and it can fly out. The animal just can’t be in here. There’s no dogs, they’re all on leashes,” the woman tells him.
Wood then places an imaginary leash on the duck to try and satisfy the employee. However, she then tells him, “Okay, I’ll call the cops.”
Once the pair make it outside, a policeman tells Wood the store is asking for him to be banned. The policeman later informs him he is banned from all Buc-ee’s stores.
Despite the negative outcome, customers in the parking lot continued to enjoy petting Wrinkle and several police officers came over to say hello.
“This doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the call,” one of the officers tells Woods.
Social media users also shared their thoughts on the duck encounter, one person writing, “He now shops at Duc-ee’s.”
“That duck is cleaner than a lot of people,” another person commented.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, service animals are “Dogs, Any breed and any size of dog, Trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability.”
