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Woman claims her and her family were kicked out of Maryland hotel due to service dog

Monique Spann and her kids, who had school the next day, wound up spending the 25 degree night in their car.

WASHINGTON -- A D.C. woman said her family was harassed and kicked out of a local hotel because of her service dog.

Monique Spann’s has had her service dog, Brownie, for seven years.

“I haven’t always had a disability, but since I’ve had one, it just makes my life a little easier," said Spann.

She said she has stayed in many other hotels before, without issue. She said she made this reservation over the phone, and the operator said her service dog would be welcome.

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But on Monday night, Spann said she was harassed and kicked out of the WoodSpring Suites Extended Stay Hotel in Hyattsville, Md.

“I had unpacked everything, and maybe around 8 o’clock they started calling saying they didn’t know I had a dog," she said.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is illegal for a hotel to refuse entry to a service dog.

For privacy, it’s also illegal to ask anything other than whether the dog is required, and what it’s trained to do.

Spann said she went above and beyond that. She showed documents that Brownie is a service dog, and has up-to-date shots.

The hotel said they wanted to move her to a different floor and require her to sign a form that could have the dog forcibly removed if it barked.

“I just didn’t understand the lack of inhumanity. And I mentioned that to the manager, and she was very combative and hostile, you know she just didn’t care," said Spann.

When Spann said she wanted to check out and get a refund for the $700 she paid, she said the hotel refused.

Spann was staying with her two teenagers, a 13-year-old and 15-year-old, in the first place because of a mold issue in her apartment. She was using insurance funds to pay for the room.

“They knew that I was displaced, I told them that. And I’d made a reservation for a few weeks," said Spann.

Spann and her kids, who had school the next day, wound up spending the 25 degree night in their car.

She said she’s speaking out so the hotel won’t do this to other people.

We reached out the hotel for comment and were referred to hotel’s parent company Choice Hotels International.

Despite repeated phone calls and email, the company did not respond by the time of this report. The hotel has not reimbursed Spann the money she paid to stay at the hotel.

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