(CNN) -- One mall Santa might be getting some coal in his stocking this year. Last week, Santa Claus and a helper elf from The Shops at Mission Viejo in California turned away a 7-year-old girl with autism and her service dog, a pit bull named Pup-Cake. According to the Orange County Register, Abcde Santos, who pronounces her first name "ab-suh-dee," and Pup-Cake stood in line for 30 minutes to meet with the unnamed mall Santa. But he declined to meet the girl because he feared the 5-year-old pit bull. "After the Santos family offered to remove the dog from the area, the building, Santa still refused to see the child," Julie Miller, a family friend who runs a Facebook page dedicated to Pup-Cake and service animals, told the Register.
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A mall Santa in California reportedly turned away a child
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The 7-year-old has autism and a pit bull as a service dog
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Santa company says he and his helper elf have been assigned other duties
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Miller told the paper the family is pleased with the decision to replace the @placeholder and hopes it will lead to better awareness.
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"They want people to get educated not about autism or pit bulls, but about the disabilities act so that little girls like @placeholder won't go and see Santa and end up crying," she said.