[nagdu] Bill looks to protect guide dogs in VT

[Jewel S.]

Does anyone know what other states do not have protection against
aggressive dogs? Shouldn't this bill also protect people who are
walking their non-aggressive dogs, at a lesser fine or jail time?
People who have aggressive dogs need to keep those dogs properly
contained or give them to someone who can. Many of these aggressive
dogs got that way due to neglect, abuse, or an owner who wanted to
"toughen" their dog for guarding. These three ways of a dog becoming
aggressiver are inexcusable, so I applaud Vermont for joining the
states who protect people and dogs from aggressive dogs.

On 3/24/10, cheryl echevarria <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I know what this is like, even walking down my own street, the neighbors
> refuse to put there dogs on a leash and think it is funny when I am walking
> home and they know I cannot see and that maxx is a guide dog, to have them
> not run out and go after maxx or having to try and restrain maxx from trying
> to talk to them.  I yell out that those dogs cannot be running around
> without a leash on since NY State does have a leash law, and dog also need
> licenses, they don't care.  They think it is funny.
>
> Cheryl Echevarria Independent Travel Consultant http://Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574 http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com Affiliated as an Independent Contractor
> with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
>
>
>
>> From: gingerKutsch at yahoo.com
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:32:10 -0400
>> Subject: [nagdu] Bill looks to protect guide dogs in VT
>>
>> Bill looks to protect guide dogs in Vermont
>> Rutland Herald, Vermont
>> Mar 23, 2010
>> By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU
>> MONTPELIER - People whose unrestrained pets attack the guide dogs
>> of visually impaired Vermonters could face up to a year in
>> prison, under legislation up for consideration in the Statehouse.
>>
>> The bill, already approved in the House, would for the first time
>> impose criminal sanctions for reckless interference with guide
>> dogs. Carolyn Clapper, with the Consumer Advocacy Council of the
>> Vermont Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, told
>> Senate lawmakers Thursday that unleashed, aggressive dogs can
>> impede the mobility of visually impaired residents.
>>
>> Clapper, who is legally blind, recounted her own experience at
>> her home in West Charleston, where an aggressive dog attacked her
>> guide dog, Aladdin.
>>
>> "Two years ago, as I was walking to church, and this dog came out
>> of nowhere and dove right into Aladdin," Clapper told the Senate
>> Judiciary Committee. "And of course a fight resulted as Aladdin
>> tried very hard to protect himself and me."
>>
>> Despite repeated conversations with the dog's owner, Clapper
>> said, the loose animal continued to harass her dog. Under current
>> criminal statutes, according to Stan Greenburg, vice president of
>> the Vermont Council of the Blind, people like Clapper have no
>> legal recourse to solve the problem.
>>
>> "I don't believe we as guide dog owners are asking for very much
>> but a quality of life where we don't have to stay confined to our
>> houses," Clapper said.
>>
>> Greenburg suffered his own horror story while walking with his
>> guide dog in Burlington. A snarling yard dog jumped into the
>> sidewalk and took a bite out of his dog's ear. Despite 12
>> stitches and $250 in veterinary fees, Greenburg said he was
>> unable to get any compensation from the dog's owner, largely
>> because Vermont laws don't address the kind of incident he
>> experienced.
>>
>> Greenburg said he isn't looking to criminalize innocent mistakes,
>> or to arrest people for simple interference, like petting.
>>
>> "We can handle that. We don't want people petting our guide dogs,
>> but we can handle it," Greenburg said. "What we are concerned
>> about is people who have their aggressive dogs loose and put us
>> and our guide dogs in danger."
>>
>> The bill would amend existing animal cruelty statutes by
>> including a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison,
>> for dog owners who repeatedly allow their animals to recklessly
>> interfere with guide dogs. The criminal sanction would apply only
>> to dog owners who are warned after a first or second offense. The
>> bill includes new civil fines for first offenders.
>>
>> "There are no penalties, no redress at this point in Vermont,"
>> said Greenburg, who said similar legislation has been passed in
>> about 30 other states. "If I walk down the street and someone
>> attacks my dog, there is essentially no redress for me to
>> pursue."
>>
>> Greenburg said the attacks traumatize guide dogs, sometimes to
>> the extent that they can no longer function effectively.
>>
>> "Schools that train guide dogs . spend about $40,000 per dog on
>> that training," he said. "Sometimes when these attacks take place
>> the dog is rendered useless, because he is so afraid he's unable
>> to do his work."
>>
>> Greenburg said the law is particularly important as more visually
>> impaired Vermonters take up residence in rural areas.
>>
>> "Vermont isn't the way it was years ago," Greenburg said. "Blind
>> people walk on country roads, they walk in small towns, we walk
>> all over the place. It may be that leash laws need to be more
>> universal than they are, but at the very least we should be
>> protected from attack."
>>
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