[Ct-nfb] FW: bill 6289 is not what guide dog users are upset about

Tue Feb 12 18:29:34 UTC 2019

From: Passaro, Cara [mailto:Cara.Passaro at cga.ct.gov] 
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2019 11:16 AM
To: Elizabeth Rival <erival at comcast.net>
Subject: RE: bill 6289 is not what guide dog users are upset about 

Hi Elizabeth,

Here is another bill which may be of interest to you:

H.B. No. 7106 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING SERVICE ANIMALS.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2019/TOB/h/pdf/2019HB-07106-R00-HB.PDF

There is a public hearing scheduled for Friday at 11:00 am at the
Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Please let me know if you would
like to testify or submit written testimony. The guidelines are below. I
would be happy to sign you up so that you don't have to come early or submit
your written testimony.

Best,

Cara

The Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on Friday, February 15,
2019 at 11:00 A.M. in Room 1D of the LOB. Public speaker order will be
determined by a lottery system. Lottery numbers will be drawn from 9:30 A.M.
to 10:30 A.M. in Room 2500 of the LOB. Speakers arriving after the
completion of the lottery will have their names placed at the end of the
speaker list. Please submit 50 copies of written testimony to the Committee
staff, any day prior to but no later than 10:30 A.M., in Room 2500 of the
LOB. Written testimony submitted by a person(s) or organization(s) which
exceeds five (5) single-sided pages per bill or resolution will only be
posted on the Judiciary Committee's website at the discretion of the
Judiciary Committee chairs. Testimony received after the designated time may
not be distributed until after the hearing. Please email written testimony
in Word or PDF format to JUDtestimony at cga.ct.gov
<mailto:JUDtestimony at cga.ct.gov> . Testimony should clearly state testifier
name and related Bills. The Committee requests that testimony be limited to
matters related to the items on the Agenda. The first hour of the hearing is
reserved for Legislators, Constitutional Officers, State Agency Heads and
Chief Elected Municipal Officials. Speakers will be limited to three minutes
of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written
statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement.
Unofficial sign-up sheets have no standing with the Committee. All public
hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it
may be made available on the Judiciary Committee's website and indexed by
internet search engines.

From: Elizabeth Rival [mailto:erival at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2019 11:25 AM
To: Passaro, Cara
Subject: bill 6289 is not what guide dog users are upset about 

February 2019

>From Elizabeth Rival National Federation of the blind of Ct.

erival at comcast.net <mailto:erival at comcast.net>  

860 828 8378 

Dear chairperson and committee

 Sorry, NFB of CT. is not concerned so much with housing bills. NFB of cT.
is however very concerned with loose pets that are distracting and causing
injury to our guide dog teams. Pets need to be restricted. Their
interference in malls, stores, restaurants and airports has to be stopped.
Thankyou for any help on a bill that you can do for us.  

I am totally blind and use a Highly trained and certified guide dog. My
guide dog is not a pet. She acts as my guide so I can travel and have a
mobile and independent life...   The affiliate for the blind is the National
Federation of the blind of cT.  I have served as president and vice
president and am still on the board. I have used a guide dog for the last 20
years of the 25 years of my blindness. 

 A guide dog or vet dog, should be approved. A pet with, quote fake quote
service animals with credentials, exhibiting unacceptable behavior, should
be dealt with , by businesses or restaurants or other public locations   On
a case by case basis. This problem should not be put on persons with
disabilities who rely on their highly trained, well dash behaved, service
animals, and only seek to be independent people. 

Emotional support dogs found biting small children, you may want to consider
rewriting safety and procedure. Documents. Emotional support animals are
different then trained service animals. Our dogs have people that have been
trained for 3 years to become an apprentice, then they work 3 more years to
become trainers, from accredited schools, which there are only 12 in the
U.S. There are many fake on line sites, where you purchase fake info to
bring your dogs into the public, if you pay a fee. Fake certifications are a
problem. Beterans with disabilities, have legitimate needs .Pet owners are
taking advantage of the system, and on line companions. 

18 states have introduced laws to make it a crime, to introduce a fake
animal. Or to represent a service animal. You can tell if a dog is a real
professional animal by its work. What is the harm of fake service animals?
It puts guide dog users and veterans that use dogs in harm's way. The safety
of us is at risk. Dog owners are letting their pets go wherever they want,
under the ruse of the canines are emotional support animals on line
purchased harnesses and blankets and vests, and identification cards meant
to prove it. There is a growing sense of entitlement that people want what
they want and they don't care about anyone else. This is plain and simple
selfishness. There are therapy dogs trained dogs that help with post
tramatic stress disorder. They can save your life from a seizure. They aid
military veterans and civilians, suffering from post tramatic stress
disorder, and that includes dogs going into a school after a school
shooting. There are diabetic alert dogs that senses when a persons sugar is
too high or low. Dogs for the deaf. Dispite the intense training pet owners
are taking advantage of on line accouterments. Getting doctor letters,
emotional support letters, causing the illusion of legitimacy. Those pet
dogs jeopardize the safety of those truly dependant on their service dog.
The problem is our guide dogs are harassed by and attacked by dogs off
leash. It will put a guide dog out of commission. Ruin thousands of hours of
training and $60 thousand dollars on average per dog that is invested in
each dog. Also, it ruins the partnership between the guide dog and his
handler. The other problem is establishments will ban all dogs even
legitimate ones. Business owners are afraid to ask the legal question of any
dog user, which is what does that dog do for you? Covered under the American
with disabilities act, or ADA. Some states have begun inacting legislation
to address this problem, including California, Colorado, Florida, Mass., but
Connecticut has yet to adopt laws to curb this problem. Airlines have
already recognized this issue. 

Your bill in Ct. should start with, an act relative to the misrepresentation
of a service animal. 

Thank you, Elizabeth Rival N.F.B. of ct. 

860 828 8378 erival at comcast.net <mailto:erival at comcast.net> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org/attachments/20190212/c9f15ad5/attachment.html>