[nfbmi-talk] Service Dogs

[Terry D. Eagle]

Military veterans  and their service dogs - would get new protections under
Michigan bills | MLive.com

on April 22, 2015 at 1:27 PM, updated April 22, 2015 at 4:25 PM

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LANSING, MI - When Tom Jones took his family on a summer vacation to Higgins
Lake, the hotel nearly turned him away when he tried to check in with a
service

dog. Staff tried to switch his room, he said, and told him he couldn't take
the animal outside.

 

Jones, a U.S. Army veteran from Livonia who served in Iraq with a field
artillery unit, doesn't have any physical disabilities that visibly explain
his

need for a service dog.

 

But like many vets who have "seen the worst that man has to offer," Jones
said he has a hidden injury: post-traumatic stress disorder.

 

Baxter, a service dog he was paired with through a non-profit in February of
2014, has played an important role in Jones' re-integration upon return from

Iraq, but he explained that observers do not always understand the animal's
role.

 

"From putting his head in my lap when I'm anxious, to waking me up from
nightmares. He's the companion I need. My co-pilot. He goes to work with me
everyday,"

said Jones.

 

Jones joined Michigan lawmakers at the state Capitol on Wednesday to
announce the pending introduction of new legislation designed to protect
military veterans

with service dogs from discrimination.

 

The bipartisan, bicameral four-bill package would expand current statutes on
service dogs for the blind or physically disabled to include protections for

military veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries or other psychological
disorders.

 

One measure would create a volunteer application process with the Michigan
Department of Civil Rights allowing veterans to receive state-issued
identification,

dog tags and service dog vests.

 

State Sen. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, said the package would help educate
business owners and their employees about the needs of military veterans
with

service dogs.

 

"The restaurant owner, the store owner, they don't want to discriminate
against a veteran," said O'Brien. "They just don't realize. That's what
these bills

will do."

 

Jones' hotel story is not unique, according to state Sen. David Knezek, a
Iraq War veteran who served in the Marines. He said there have been similar
instances

across the state and country.

 

"We obviously want to be pro-active and make sure we never have these
instances again - whether it's in a restaurant, whether it's in a movie
theatre, whether

it's a veteran who's flying on the plane and using their service animal to
help deal with the stress of going though turbulence," said Knezek,
D-Dearborn

Heights.

 

The bicameral, bipartisan package is sponsored by Sens. Knezek and O'Brien,
along with Reps. David Rutledge and Tom Barrett. Rutledge, D-Superior
Township,

is a veteran who served in the Air Force. Barrett, R-Potterville, is an Army
veteran who served in Iraq.

 

"This is just as imperative as a sleep apnea machine or a wheelchair or
anything else that the V.A. prescribes for somebody with a service-connected
disability,"

said Jones. "Just because it's not visible doesn't mean it doesn't affect
the person on a daily basis."

 

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group.

Email him,

 

Source:

 

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/04/military_veterans_and_th
eir_se.html