Frances Woodard said she now leaves her apartment less often because she is afraid to travel without her ferret, Gyno. (Courtesy of Frances Woodard)

A woman has lodged an accessibility complaint against Ottawa's public transit company after it barred her ferret — which her psychiatrist likens to a guide dog — from the city's public buses.

Frances Woodard uses a wheelchair and suffers from panic attacks. She said she relies on public transit to get around the city.

And she relies on Gyno, a weasel-like mammal about the size of a small dog, as a service animal to help her cope with her disabilities.

"But he also senses my panic attacks before I actually go into them," she said. "He'll get right up into my face, which tends to take away from the panic attacks because I have to calm him down."

She recently filed the complaint against OC Transpo with the Canadian Transportation Agency.

Woodard said she's been leaving her apartment less frequently because she's afraid to travel without Gyno.

Ontario law would allow animal on bus

A letter from a psychiatrist confirms that Gyno is Woodard's service animal, as guide dogs are for some people. Under Ontario law, that's all Woodard needs to get on the bus with him. However, because some OC Transpo buses cross into Quebec, the organization is outside Ontario jurisdiction.

Instead, it has its own policies, which state that service animals must be trained and registered with a recognized organization for the purpose of being used in therapy.

Previously, OC Transpo allowed Woodard to ride with her ferret, despite the policy, but recently it revoked the access card that allows Gyno on the bus.

A letter from OC Transpo customer relations sent in May said the decision was a result of fears about allergic reactions and phobias from other passengers and reactions from other animals, such as guide dogs.

Recently, Woodard said, OC Transpo requested that Gyno be assessed by an animal behaviour therapist to determine whether he could cause problems on the bus. She had Gyno assessed by Jessica O'Neill at her own expense.

O'Neill told CBC News that the ferret was among the most well behaved she had ever met. Her report has been forwarded to OC Transpo, but Woodard has not yet received a response.

Woodard's lawyer, Terrance Green, said he thinks service animals should be allowed on OC Transpo buses whether they have been certified by a recognized organization or not.

The Canadian Transportation Agency handles complaints about access to transportation, air, rail and marine transportation. It gives transportation service providers 30 days to respond to complaints, and allows complainants 10 days to respond to the service provider's comments.

It decides within 120 days of the complaint whether the complainant does face an obstacle to their mobility, and may order the service provider to correct those problems.