[nagdu] PA Evans'Bill to Help Protect Service Animals Receives House Endorsement

[Lisa Irving]

Please tell me how you deal with identifying the offending dog owner. During 
the past 15 or so years I've had my  guide dog (first one) attacked twice. 
No one stepped forward to give a description to the police. They told me 
there was nothing they could do without a description of the offending dog 
owner.

Lisa and Bernie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Passle Helminski" <passle at roadrunner.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 4:54 PM
Subject: [nagdu] PA Evans'Bill to Help Protect Service Animals Receives 
House Endorsement


>>>
>>>>Please cross post.
>>>
>>>Thank you,
>>>
>>>Passle
>>>
>>>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2011
>>>>
>>>>Evans' Bill to Help Protect Service Animals Receives House Endorsement
>>>>
>>>>HARRISBURG, PA - Legislation that will help protect service animals from 
>>>>attacks by other animals has won the endorsement of the Pennsylvania 
>>>>House of Representatives, said Rep. John Evans (R-Erie/Crawford), author 
>>>>of the measure.
>>>>
>>>>"Service animals, in particular, are trained not to fight back in an 
>>>>attack with another animal, and as a result, can suffer even greater 
>>>>injuries," said Evans, who has been working to obtain legislative 
>>>>approval for this bill for the past three sessions.
>>>>
>>>>Specifically, House Bill 165 would set criminal and civil penalties on 
>>>>individuals who own or co-own a dog that kills, maims or disfigures the 
>>>>guide dog of an individual who is blind, a hearing dog of an individual 
>>>>who is deaf or audibly impaired, or a service dog of an individual who 
>>>>is physically limited.
>>>>
>>>>If found to be in violation, the offender would face a first-degree 
>>>>misdemeanor and face up to $1,000 and/or jail time of up to two years. 
>>>>In addition to any other fine or penalty, a person convicted under this 
>>>>new law would be required to make reparations for veterinary costs in 
>>>>treating the guide, hearing or service dog and, if necessary, the cost 
>>>>of a replacement dog.
>>>>
>>>>"These service animals reflect a significant investment of the time, 
>>>>training and expense of their owners," Evans said. "For owners of dogs 
>>>>that are prone to attack to recklessly and willfully allow their animals 
>>>>to seriously injure a service dog and then to escape civil and criminal 
>>>>liability is unfair. Our laws must address this type of irresponsible 
>>>>behavior on the part of these pet owners."
>>>>
>>>>Evans pointed out that his legislation is not designed to punish 
>>>>responsible pet owners, but to add teeth to state law so that owners who 
>>>>purposely allow their dogs to run loose will be more accountable for 
>>>>their dog's actions.
>>>>
>>>>The legislation now heads to the state Senate for consideration.
>
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