[nagdu] Hawaii and access for guide dogs

[Jenine Stanley]

Jordan, et al, 

First of all, just a note to clarify something Megan said. Hawaii is indeed
a Rabies-free zone but it is by no means flea free. :) Unfortunately, any
place with the right amount of heat and moisture will harbor fleas and some
of the Hawaiian islands are infamous for serious flea infestation. A friend
of mine goes to Hawaii at least once a year from the mainland. She treats
her dog for fleas prior to leaving with the typical topical flea products
and every year he comes home with fleas. The joke is that Kawai actually
means land of fleas in Hawaiian. It really doesn't, but try to prove that if
you vacation there with your dog. :) 

About the Rabies-free status: This is a designation made by public health
officials and applies to any animal entering the islands. Hawaii put the
quarantine in place in 1912 to try to prevent Rabies from occurring on the
islands and devastating local wildlife, like mongooses. 

For many years there were no exemptions for guide dog handlers to bring
their dogs to Hawaii. If you went there, your dog either stayed home or
stayed in the quarantine facility, a kennel, located fairly far from
civilized Honolulu. At some point in the 1980's, an apartment was added to
this facility so that if someone with a guide dog wanted to stay there with
the dog, he or she could do so. This meant getting a taxi anytime you wanted
to go anywhere, and of course leaving the dog behind. 

Why? Weren't Rabies shots proof enough that any dog wouldn't spread the
disease or bring it in? One would think so, but you have to understand what
it's like to live on a group of islands. Rabies could wipe out significant
numbers of animals and pose a serious threat to people. Hawaii is not a
well-off state and rural poverty is pretty common. Rabies poses a huge
threat to people along with animals and being so far from mainland help is
also a huge point of concern. 

In the late 1970's NFB did try to get some type of exemption for guide dog
handlers but the state was not convinced that the existing Rabies vaccines
provided enough protection or proof that a dog would not contract and spread
the disease. Keep in mind there was a lot of outmoded thinking about a lot
of things back then, not the least of which was the state's attitude toward
blind people. 


In the early 1980's ACB entertained the idea of having a convention in
Hawaii. This is when GDUI got involved in trying to prove that a quarantine
exemption could work. 

In the early 1990's we, and I say we because by that time I was involved at
the board level of GDUI, asked the World Health Organization for help in
gathering statistics about the Rabies vaccines available. We also had a
member who was willing to file a lawsuit against the state regarding his
access to services, programs and activities. By then the ADA had been signed
into law as well and this was shaping up to be a classic battle of state's
right, the right of Hawaii to determine public health standards and the
federal government's right to determine access rules for people with
disabilities. 

The person filing the lawsuit worked in the banking industry and lived in
California. His job required him to travel to Hawaii frequently and he
wanted to work his dog while there. It just so happened that his cousin was
the Attorney General of Hawaii, Michael Lily. By the time we got the suit
arranged, Michael was out of office but had seen how his cousin's dog worked
and was 100% behind our efforts. 

Like many things in life this whole process had compromises. We had to show
that yes, there had never been a documented case of Rabies in a guide dog
from the US mainland. This sounds like a no-brainer but the state wanted
proof, not just our word. They wanted to know that all dogs working as
guides receive the same level of care, from puppyhood on and that handlers
are taught about health concerns and take their dogs to the vet regularly.
These were all things that, with the help of the US Council of Dog Guide
Schools, we were able to prove. 

In 1996 the Department of Justice signed onto our lawsuit. By that time we'd
been through several appeals to the federal court system. Our next stop
should our efforts fail again would have been the Supreme Court, had they
taken the case. As then GDUI president, that had me slightly nervous. :) 

Luckily, we came up with a settlement agreement that wasn't perfect but that
gave the state enough security to feel as if its public health concerns were
being respectfully addressed while allowing people with guide dogs to travel
with minimal restrictions. The initial settlement terms only covered guide
dogs, no service dogs, and only guides trained by members of the US Council
schools. Why? Because the state wanted proof that these dogs were really
guides. The number of people wanting to bring their pet dogs along on the
Hawaiian vacation is still incredible and the last thing the state wanted
was for someone to sneak in. If you said it was a guide dog, you'd better be
able to show that ID and allow them to check it. 

There's a story about Morris frank and one of the railroads. They insisted
on having Buddy crated while Mr. Frank traveled on their railroad. He did it
because he wanted to get where he was going and he wanted to show them how
much difficulty it would pose. I don't have the exact story, but Morris
Frank had no legal backing either. He had to crate the dog or not travel.
Sometimes we do things to prove a point and he certainly did. Seeing Eye
folks can probably recite the story better, but I don't think it took much
time for the railroad to realize that having Buddy in the passenger cars
wasn't going to disrupt anything. 

The same was true for Hawaii. The only way we were going to gain access was
to just do it, following the quarantine settlement, and show the state that
their excessive bureaucracy was more than enough. 

The original settlement was for 5 years, beginning in June of 1998. I'd say
it was amended well before that time to relax some of the early
requirements. The overall quarantine for pets is now I believe only 120 days
instead of 6 months. Testing requirements are reduced from several blood
tests prior to and upon arrival to 2 blood tests. 

Yes, you do need an international health certificate to fly there with your
dog and you do need to notify the Hawaiian Department of Agriculture. 

Once there though, I believe Hawaii has some of the strictest access law
penalties in the country. 

To show you though how different thinking is in the Hawaiian culture, and I
mean the culture of the state, not the native Hawaiian people, there is no
requirement for Rabies vaccines for pets who don't travel to the mainland.
If you think about it, wouldn't you want all appropriate animals vaccinated
against a disease just in case, rather than relying on a quarantine that may
or may not work? 

We on the outside are pretty powerless to change that kind of thinking. 

Even before the settlement agreement had ended, Michael Lily was working on
ways for service animal handlers and those with owner or privately trained
dogs to access the state. They now have similar requirements that wouldn't
have happened had we not gone ahead with the settlement and had scores of
blind people not just gone through the regulations and traveled to Hawaii. 

My husband and I were the first people to come from the mainland to Hawaii
under the new quarantine exemption in August of 1998. It was an incredible
experience as we also were on hand to witness the formalizing of the
settlement in federal court in Honolulu. 

It's hard in this day and age when we take the protection of federal law for
granted, to imagine what it was like when we only had state by state laws
and very little support for federal requirements. You literally had no leg
to stand on if state law didn't cover your dog and your right to work it.
It's important to keep that in mind, as well as everything about compromise
and principles of public health versus civil rights when looking at issues
like Hawaii. 

Besides, if you have ever been to Hawaii, you may ask yourself if it really
is in the US. :) For those Hawaiian residents on list, no offense meant but
you know what I mean. You can't understand it either unless you've been
there. It's a truly unique place. 

I'm dying to go back too, especially on days like today when it's literally
0 outside. :)

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com