The Drive for Sharia (Arf, Arf)

Sue-Ann Levy and her little dog, Kishka, were snubbed upon their late night return from Florida by drivers who balked at transporting a pooch. Ms. Levy, a Toronto Sun columnist, did a little digging and discovered the following:

What I realized is that this occurs quite often not only at the airport but in Toronto proper and is happening due to religious reasons — that is, because dogs are considered unclean in certain religions.

In fact, Gail Beck-Souter, general manager of Beck Taxi that operates about 900 cars in Toronto, confirms that if certain Muslims take a dog in their vehicle, they are required to go home and shower afterwards (before they pray).

It would seem that the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) which licenses limos that pick up at Pearson airport and the companies that operate out of the airport have bent over backwards to accommodate the religious demands of their drivers — who clearly have strength in numbers.

McIntosh Limousine manager Anne Ruddy claimed the driver who turned me down, a gentleman from India, did so because he “doesn’t have to” take dogs.

But the driver would have to take Kishka if he was a service dog — that’s the “law,” she said.

She denied Muslim drivers in their fleet would ever turn down dogs for religious reasons contending it has more to do with “them being scared” of dogs.

Asked how she felt about a woman being denied a ride at 1:30 a.m., Ruddy said she “hates the idea” but they have to “abide by the GTAA rules” — they “don’t have a choice.”

I had to laugh when I read the description of their drivers on the McIntosh website, most particularly this gem: “Our drivers have taken sensitivity training...”

Sensitivity, schmensitivy. Doggies are haram, and that's that. I'm waiting for someone with a service dog to be turned down for a ride, and see whether the driver will actually face any penalty. Given how "sensitive" the police are these days, I tend to doubt it.