Disabled Iraq Veteran Evicted Over Service Dog "Pet Fee"

Army vet, service dog evicted over unpaid 'pet fee' 
KENS 5
Dillon Collier
January 15, 2015

"Section 504 of the Fair Housing Act states service animals are not pets. It goes on to outline how housing providers cannot enforce pet policies on residents who use service animals."

Checkers is David Palasek's service dog. (Photo: Jason Gonzales)

David Palasek, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Army and the Army National Guard, was evicted Dec. 22.

BANDERA, Texas -- A disabled Army veteran and his service dog were evicted from a Bandera mobile home last month, following a months-long dispute over an unpaid "pet fee."

David Palasek, whose seven years of military service included tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Army and the Army National Guard, was evicted Dec. 22.

He refused to pay the pet fee, citing the Fair Housing Act, which protects people who use service dogs from being discriminated against.

"If it's happening to me, it's going to happen to other people," said Palasek, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and injuries to his neck, spine, knee and shoulder in a Humvee accident and separate IED attack in Iraq. Palasek is also a cancer surviver, beating testicular cancer in recent years.

Doctors told Palasek his gunner's harness contributed to the disease, which he received treatments for at hospitals at Lackland Air Force Base and later Fort Sam Houston. Paperwork from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs indicates Palasek is 90 percent disabled.
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