[nagdu] Fw: [buddy-l] A very bad legislative effort

[Albert J Rizzi]

Absolutely. It was those states where such protections are not as clear cut
that I meant to draw attention to and to look at. 

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
CEO/Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 11:12 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: [buddy-l] A very bad legislative effort

Albert,

I didn't misread anything.  Here's your quoted message:
*>>I am happy to hear that you have worked it out and that you are able to
>> owner train your guide and do so as adeptly, although as exhaustedly as 
>> it
>> sounds.  If as an owner trainer you feel that you are sufficiently
>> protected
>> then cool!  What of our brothers and sisters in areas not so progressive
>> and
>> accepting of bending the law or turning a blind eye as it were.  Is this 
>> a
>> real concern at all? Or would as suggested by Julie enacting measures to
>> consider the repeated misrepresentation  of a pet as a service animal put
>> this entire dialogue to rest if these repeat offenders were charge 
>> legally
>> and found to be in violation of the ADA as written?
>>
>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.*
It is pretty clear that you think that either Tami or individuals training 
service dogs in states without SDIT laws are bending the law or asking 
business owners to turn a blind eye.   I do not think that is the case at 
all.  Please understand that I have trained three guide dogs.  I have read 
tens of thousands of email messages over the years from other owner 
trainers.  I have read every book on service or guide dog training I have 
found.  You do not have to bend or break the law to owner train a service 
dog, not even in states with no laws to assist your efforts.  Yes, it does 
make planning and communicating more of an effort, but it can totally be 
done.

You can still take any pet or service dog in training into establishments 
that normally allow dogs, like pet stores, hardware stores, parking lots of 
stores, local outdoor festivals, outdoor seating at cafes, agreeable friends

homes and tons of other places.  the only places your are really restricted 
from taking a pet are indoor places that serve food and medical facilities. 
Once the dog is trained with basic service tasks you can begin taking the 
dog into those places as well.

I understand what you are saying about adding criminal laws to make passing 
a pet offas a service animal illegal.  I understand that is a different 
issue from what I was discussing above.   We have talked extensively about 
that on this list too.

For me the bottom line is that trainer laws and criminal laws need to be 
made at the state level.  If I have an access issue I want to be able to 
call the police to enforce my rights.  If an ill behaved pet comes into a 
business and the business owner asks them to leave, I'm going to guess the 
business owner would prefer police back up over a federal investigation.  If

a service dog trainer wants to work on escalators, but the business doesn't 
want them there, I'll take a stab and say that the trainer would rather have

immediate and local recourse rather than resolution of the situation months 
later after the dog is finished with training.  If these laws were federal, 
who is going to enforce them?  You would have an incredibly lengthy process 
to get through to get a resolution to the problem, weeks or months or even 
years after the issue.   Marion can elaborate on how the DOJ currently takes

on discrimination cases, but I can assure you that is not even close to the 
number of requests they get.  Wouldn't it make more sense to work at the 
state level?

JMHO
Julie



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