[nagdu] Hawaii and access for guide dogs
Jordan Gallacher
jgallacher1987 at gmail.com
Tue Dec 7 19:28:41 UTC 2010
As I said they are not a foreign country. We have every right to go to HI
without going through this process. It's ridiculous and as a U.S. state,
they have no right to treat us as some one coming from a foreign country.
Jordan
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 1:20 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii and access for guide dogs
I just want to point out and this gives full description of access to Hawaii
from the main land.
Located on the NAGDU.org website
HAWAII
THE HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS THE PORT OF ENTRY FOR ALL DOGS AND
CATS ENTERING HAWAII. THIS INCLUDES GUIDE DOGSAND SERVICE DOGS.
GUIDE DOGS AND SERVICE DOGS THAT MEET THE FOLLOWING DEFINITIONS CAN COME
INTO HAWAII WITHOUT QUARANTINE PROVIDED THEY FOLLOW THE STEPS OUTLINED
BELOW. "Guide dog" means any dog individually trained by a licensed guide
dog trainer for guiding a blind person by means of a harness attached to the
dog and a rigid handle grasped by the person. "Service dog" means any dog
that is individually and professionally trained to: alert a person with
impaired hearing to the presence of people or sounds;assist a person with
disabilities involving mobility by pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped
items, or otherwise aiding the user in accomplishing a variety of tasks;
alert a person with a seizure disorder to the onset of a seizure or to alert
another person or organization at a remote location to the seizure; or alert
a person to an impending life-threatening medical crisis and assist in
mitigating the consequences of such a crisis; and that belongs to a citizen
of the United States with a disability that substantially limits a major
life activity.
KEY POINTS FOR QUALIFYING AS A SERVICE DOG OR AN EXEMPTED GUIDE DOG
- The dog must have current rabies vaccination. (Documentation of the
vaccination must include the product name, the lot or serial number, and the
expiration date of the lot.)
- The dog must have a microchip implanted that can be read with an Avid
scanner (Avid or Home Again chip).
- Prior to arrival the dog must have passed two OIE-FAVN tests with a level
of 0.51.U. rabies antibody or greater. The time interval between the tests
must have been at least 30 days. The laboratory will not perform the tests
unless the microchip number accompanies the test request form.
- The dog must have a standard health certificate issued not more than 14
days prior to arrival in Hawaii.
- For a service dog, there must be a physician's statement which certifies
as to the disability, and that the service dog provides assistance having to
do with that disability.
- The Animal Quarantine Branch must receive notification at least 24 hours
in advance of arrival information and location where the dog will be
staying. Information can be faxed to 808-483-7161 or telephoned to
808-837-8092.
- On arrival in Hawaii, the dog must be brought by the airline to the
Airport Animal Quarantine Holding Facility for verification of compliance
with the above requirements, the dog examined for external parasites, and a
final OIE-FAVN sample taken.
- If all is in order, the dog will be released at that point.
If you have questions, please contact:
Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Animal Quarantine Station
99-951 Halawa Valley Street
Aiea, Hawaii 96701-5602
Telephone (808) 483-7151
FAX (808) 483-7161
E-mail: rabiesfree at yahoo.comThe biggest compliment you can pay me is to
recommend my services!
Cheryl Echevarria
http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
1-866-580-5574
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Absolute Cruise and Travel Inc.
join my yahoogroup
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@yahoogroups.com>
----- Original Message -----
From: Tamara Smith-Kinney<mailto:tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
Users'<mailto:nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 1:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii and access for guide dogs
Jenine,
Fascinating history! I always love hearing how things came about that I
just take for granted.
Tami Smith-Kinney
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org<mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org>
[mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 5:38 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: [nagdu] Hawaii and access for guide dogs
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<mailto:jeninems at wowway.com>
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