Mall Santa sends away 7-year-old autistic girl because of her service dog

Mall Santa sends away 7-year-old autistic girl because of her service dog

What should have been a joyful moment turned to sadness when a 7-year-old autistic girl was turned away by Santa Claus at The Shops at Mission Viejo on Sunday afternoon. 

St. Nick was apparently afraid of her service dog, a 5-year-old pit bull. 

Abcde Santos, who pronounces her first name "ab-suh-dee," and her service dog Pup-Cake stood in line for 30 minutes to see Santa Claus, said Julie Miller, a family friend and service animal advocate. The shopping center hosts visits with Kris Kringle for its holiday festivities. 

The Santos family wasn’t taking interviews, said Miller, who is in charge of the Pup-Cake the Service Dog Facebook fan page. But she shared the family’s sentiments toward the ordeal that left the girl “heartbroken.” 

“For an autistic child to wait in line for 30 minutes, that’s an accomplishment in itself,” Miller said. 

The Santa’s real name is unknown. He was hired by the mall through an outside agency. The Santos family soon contacted representatives from the shopping center, who Miller said immediately responded. 

“We do not condone the behavior displayed by Santa and have worked with our partners at Noerr, the company that hires our Santas, to replace this Santa with one that is more compassionate to our guests’ needs,” The Shops at Mission Viejo said on its Facebook page. “We look forward to welcoming back the Santos family and Pup-Cake for a special Santa experience.” 

Mall representatives declined to comment further Monday. Noerr, the Santa company, didn’t return calls seeking comment. 

“After the Santos family offered to remove the dog from the area, the building, Santa still refused to see the child,” Miller said. 

When the family tried to explain to Santa that Pup-Cake was a trained service dog and was lawfully allowed to be present, “Santa suddenly became allergic,” according to a post on the pup’s Facebook page. 

Miller said this is not the first time the family has “gotten grief for having a pit bull as a service dog.” 

“This particular dog ... she’s trained, not menacing, and she’s little,” Miller said. 

Miller said the Santos family is satisfied the mall replaced the Santa. 

Many commenters responded on Facebook with disgust and anger at the incident. 

The family wants people to be educated about the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination of people with disabilities and their service dogs, regardless of breed, she said. 

“They want people to get educated not about autism or pit bulls, but about the disabilities act so that little girls like Abcde won’t go and see Santa and end up crying.”