[nagdu] Hawaii

Wed Dec 8 16:08:20 UTC 2010

Thanks much Julie. 

I think we would all like to simply travel to anywhere in the world without
restrictions but reality doesn't always permit that. 

The reason there are in fact such requirements as submission of titer tests
and a health certificate is that the vaccine has not been 100% proven to
prevent Rabies. In the opinion of the Hawaiian government, this is not
sufficient to insure the safety of the state. Although federal law regarding
access rights and other civil rights does trump state law in most cases,
when it comes to public health, things get messy. 

The other issue rearing its ugly head is fraud. We all know Julie and her
dog and that she is a competent owner-trainer. What about the guy who buys a
harness on line, and there are lots of places one can do just that, or a
service dog vest or patches, and calls his well behaved family pet his
service dog, just so it can go to Hawaii with him on vacation. During that
vacation, the dog is allowed to run on the beach and maybe even around the
time share property freely as a pet, because after all, what do pets do? 

This scenario did actually play out. I got a phone call at 11:00pm one night
from someone in the Hawaii Quarantine office. Someone had come through the
airport with a dog claiming it was a guide dog, but the airline knew nothing
about it, allowed the person on the plane, big no-no to start, and then
didn't notify the quarantine office about the person's arrival. The dog was
not a guide and was never tracked down. The airline admitted they screwed up
in not asking any questions, but did assure the quarantine office that the
person wasn't blind. How they knew this is a mystery to me, but let's just
say the Hawaiian government was not happy. 

The reason I got this call was that they were trying to figure out if the
guide dog schools or GDUI kept a registry of people and could they check
names against it. I said that each school had a list of its active
graduates, but they'd have to call each one to find this out. Let's just say
that time was of the essence and they were not in the mood to deal with
this. It happened shortly after the settlement went into place so I suspect
someone read all the PR articles and thought, ehy, let me try this. 

Though I'd love to have a way for people to get into Hawaii with the least
amount of paperwork, some is going to be necessary. I think local licensing
as an assistance dog will work in terms of proof of identity but I'll need
to check that one out. Local licensing is about the only means someone who
owner trains has of proof of identity anyway if he or she wants to travel to
another country that has such a quarantine or other ID requirements. 

I suspect that as budgets tighten around the country, the less paperwork
required and the less staff time required to achieve anything will win out.
So, you never know what or how the requirements will be changed. 

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:13 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii

Jordan and Dan,

I have pretty well stayed out of the Hawaii debate this time around.  We've 
talked about it in the past and I've been free with my opinion.  So I guess 
I'll throw caution to the wind and share my thoughts. *smile*

I agree with the two of you.  It isn't fair that people with guide dogs have

to go through so many extra steps to travel to Hawaii.  furthermore as an 
owner trainer, I am unsure that it is even possible for me to travel to 
Hawaii.  I am very much in favor of improving ease of travel to Hawaii.

but I'm also torn because Hawaii is rabies free.  I can understand how 
devastating it would be to introduce rabies to the islands.  However I would

think that proof of the vaccine or proof of immunity through a titer test 
would be sufficient.  not sure how to accomplish that without some sort of 
extra paperwork requirement.

I would also like to acknowledge the great work Of Jenine Stanly and GDUI 
for working diligently to improve the situation.  I don't think it's fair to

expect massive social change overnight, but Jenine made an incredible leap 
forward from where things were previously in Hawaii.  I totally completely 
agree with her when she talked about getting as much as they could in the 
settlement and working on the rest later.   "It is better to do something 
imperfectly than nothing perfectly." that's a quote I read yesterday, sorry 
I can't remember whose quote it is.

Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jordan Gallacher" <jgallacher1987 at gmail.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii

> Thanks Dan.   You seem to be one of the few on this group who see things 
> the
> same way I do.
> Jordan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Dan Weiner
> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:15 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>
> What is of concern to me, Dan, anyway, is that we have to show any
> paperwork, have international health certificates, blood tests, and so on,
> for a state of the USA in order to be accompanied by our guide dogs.
> This is something I've only had to do when I travel to other countries. If

> I
> had to do this every time I traveled to another state here, I'd be forced
> not to bring my dog with me often and I'm a safer traveler with a dog.
>
> Yes, I know it may never be resolved, but that's my opinion and what I at
> least find objectionable.
>
> Dan W.
>
>
>
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