Santa Claus and one of his elves were fired from a California mall after they
refused services to a 7-year-old autistic girl and her service dog:
Pup-cake, a pit bull, had stood in line with seven-year-old Abcde Santos, who is autistic, for 30 minutes on the day of the Grinch-like rejection; the pair was hoping to have their photos taken with Santa. Unfortunately, the excitement of meeting Santa Claus was destroyed when Santa denied the photo op because of his fear of pit bulls, reported the OC Register.
According to a prior media release from the Pup-cake Facebook page, even after the dog was taken away, Santa refused to see the little girl...the rejection was understandably devastating to the child.
Fortunately, the mall's management team realized that this story was a publicity nightmare -- plus blatantly illegal. The Santa was quickly fired and the girl -- with her service dog -- has been invited back to see this new Santa.
