[nagdu] Fw: Proposed Act Regarding Service Dogs from the state of Maine.

Mon Mar 2 19:58:59 UTC 2015

I can't speak for everyone but for me it boils down to criteria.

In order to get a handicap parking placard, the applicant needs to provide
some sort of medical or physical proof that he or she cannot walk a certain
distance.  Here in Alberta, I think it's 300 feet, but I could be mistaken.

Regardless of the cause of the mobility problem, there is an objective
criteria that needs to be met, and that threshold is fairly easy to
evaluate.

With service dogs, there are a number of people who benefit from a number of
different things the dogs can be trained to do, and there are a number of
ways the dogs can provide that assistance, it is unreasonable to assume that
any single entity or organization can accurately evaluate every possible
permutation.  Hence, some groups will benefit from any given registration
scheme while others could be disadvantaged once again.

Personally, I don't have a problem showing my ID card when asked to do so,
but that is a touchier issue for those who train their own Guides.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Skewis, Brian at DCA
via nagdu
Sent: March-02-15 12:17 PM
To: The Pawpower Pack; NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide
Dog Users; Debby Phillips
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: Proposed Act Regarding Service Dogs from the state
of Maine.

Hi all,

I want to genuinely thank you all for your posts regarding service dog
legislation.  I have been following the legislation in Florida, Arizona, and
Maine quite diligently and I am truly grateful to be able to see your
responses regarding the topic.  

I work for the California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind; a
consumer protection board that licenses and regulates guide dog schools and
instructors in California.  I get calls and emails on a regular basis from
people asking questions about guide dogs and service dogs in general.  These
questions range from business owners asking access questions, to questions
about how to register or license a service dog, to questions from members of
the legislature regarding how to "fix" the fake service dog issue.  

I understand that the ADA specifically protects a service dog user from
having to show any documentation to gain access to a place of public
accommodation, but a question I have yet to have answered is how this is
different from an individual with a disability having to display a placard
on their vehicle or license plate in order to use an accessible parking
place.  How is displaying a license on a service dog different than
displaying a placard on a vehicle?  Is it because the individual leaves the
vehicle and then can assume personal privacy from that point?  I ask because
I have seen this analogy used several times in articles, but I haven't heard
both sides of the argument.

Regarding the legislation in Maine, Arizona, and Florida, my personal
opinion is that because federal law is so broad, that it makes it very easy
for people to fraudulently hold their pet dogs out as service animals with
little to no repercussions.  There either needs to be a service dog club on
the national or state level (meaning some way to identify legitimate service
dog teams and exclude illegitimate teams), or the aversion of animals in
public needs to change along with the education of businesses in their right
to request that a poorly behaved dog leave the premises.  

Thank you again for your continued education and fascinating stories
regarding guide dogs and your lives with your "fluffy durable medical
equipment" as I read earlier, which literally made me laugh out loud.
Although I'm not a guide dog user, my chocolate lab gives me so much
happiness, I identify with you all on that level.              

Regards,

Brian Skewis
California State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind
Email: brian.skewis at dca.ca.gov 
www.guidedogboard.ca.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of The Pawpower Pack
via nagdu
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 10:19 AM
To: Debby Phillips; NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide
Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: Proposed Act Regarding Service Dogs fromthe stateof
Maine.

Under the ADA, most stores are required to give a certain number of feet to
aisle clearance space. If the store is not doing this, then they are IMHO,
asking for trouble.  This is not just a service dog or blind issue, but the
same struggle would be faced by someone with a wheelchair, or walker.
If I go into a store, and cannot get through the aisle, either with a dog or
in a wheelchair, and something gets broken, the store is responsible to make
sure there is enough clearance. 

It is the responsibility of the store to make sure that they are ADA
compliant. 

 Rox and the kitchen Bitches: 
Mill'E, Laveau, Soleil
Pawpower4me at gmail.com
Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 2, 2015, at 12:12 PM, Debby Phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> 
> Whether I liked it or not, I would have to pay for such.  There are lots
of shops where aisles are narrow and there's stuff everywhere.  As for
dessert trays, they will put them where they can be seen and who better to
see them and want them than children? It's a matter of taking responsibility
for what my dog or my child, if I had one, does.    Debby
> 
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