[NFBMT] Layla's Law

[Dan Burke]

It is interesting. Have you researched what's already on the books in
Montana regarding guide and service dogs?

On 8/23/17, Bruce&Joy Breslauer via NFBMT <nfbmt at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I found this extremely interesting.  I think Layla's Law was passed in
> Washington in the early 2000s.  If we ever want to go to the legislature
> and
> pass a law regarding guide and service dogs, which I think we should do and
> which was attempted last year, this information may be helpful.  Joy
>
>
>
> From the guide Dogs for the Blind web site:
>
>
> Snip snip
>
>
> Layla's Law - Interfering With Service Animals
>
>
> Guide Dogs graduate Hy Cohen, 24, of Mountlake Terrace, Wash., was the
> principal writer and lobbyist for "Layla's Law." The bill was named after
> his
> black Lab guide (the duo are pictured, left, in front of the Washington
> State
> Capitol building). For almost a year, he and Layla were accosted by an
> aggressive off-leash dog whenever they were leaving or returning home. The
> dog would charge out of the neighbor's yard, and threaten Layla with
> barking
> and intimidating behavior, often causing them to stop in the middle of the
> street.
>
> These constant confrontations started to have an affect on Layla. She began
> to avoid all dogs, thus impairing her guidework and the team's safety.
> Guide
> Dogs sent an instructor to help bring Layla's confidence back to a safe
> working level. The city charged the owner of the loose dog with having his
> dog off-leash, and asked him to pay the lowest allowable fine of $75.
> According to Hy, city officials said there were no current laws other than
> the "leash law" which were appropriate to use against the owner of the
> loose
> dog.
>
>
>
> Although he had no prior experience with the legislative process, Hy
> decided
> that action was necessary to help prevent such horrifying experiences from
> hampering the disabled. He decided to work to change the laws in his state
> so
> that guide dogs and other service animals would be put in a different class
> than pets, because of their special role in helping people with
> disabilities.
>
> ESSB 5942, officially called "Layla's Law," was the product of Hy's hours
> of
> research with guidance from Guide Dogs' Graduate Services staff. The bill
> was
> overwhelmingly received by the Washington State House of Representatives
> and
> Senate and signed by Governor Locke in a special ceremony (during which
> Layla
> rested her chin comfortably on the Governor's foot). "Layla's Law" makes it
> illegal for any person or their dog to interfere with the use of a dog
> guide
> or any other service animal, or for any person or their dog to injure,
> disable or cause the death of a dog guide or any other service animal.
> "Layla's Law" also makes it illegal for anyone to take unauthorized control
> of a dog guide or any other service animal.
>
> If someone is found guilty of violating this law, not only may they be
> fined
> and/or jailed, they will also be required to cover all expenses for the
> animal's training, health care or replacement, as well as any loss of
> income
> to the disabled person resulting from the incident.
>
> Snip snip
>
>
>
> This is from a blog in 2015.
>
> Snip snip
>
> October 4, 2015
>
>
> Article on Problems using Washington State Layla's Law, Aug 12, 2010- Trina
> Baker
>
>
> This is a very relevant article. It discusses the issues and problems that
> face Guide Dog and Service Dog users after the law was passed. What do
> people
> think about it? What do people think will happen after Bill 17 becomes Law?
> Will a Government ID Card guarantee access for you and your Guide Dog to
> work
> in Public? What regulations need to be put into place?
>
> August 12, 2010
> Law protecting service & guide dogs
>
> I was part of the group that lobbied hard to obtain passage of Layla's Law
> in
> Washington State.
>
> The Assistance Dog Club of Puget Sound had one member who was an attorney,
> and he wrote up the bill and all of our club worked to get it passed in the
> state legislature. The idea was begun by Hy Cohen, for his guide dog Layla,
> who had been threatened daily by the neighbor's dog.
>
> We were the first state to pass such legislation and it has been copied by
> many other states since then. When I later moved to Oregon, I worked with
> the
> Guide Dog Users of Oregon to get a bill like Layla's Law passed in Oregon,
> but we were opposed there by the dog food manufacturing companies, as the
> contaminated dog foods were a big issue at that time.
>
> The manufacturers did not want to be held responsible for perhaps $150,000
> if
> their bad food killed a guide or service dog. The Oregon bill failed
> because
> of the dog food makers' opposition. We had strong support from the
> legislature until the time that the dog food scare occurred.
>
> Layla's Law holds any person, or that person's pet dog, responsible for
> interfering with or injuring or killing a service or guide dog. The Law
> also
> punishes any person who steals a service or guide dog. Once the court finds
> the person guilty of himself hurting or interfering, or allowing his dog
> to,
> that becomes a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on whether the person
> intended harm or just wasn't paying attention. Repeated negligence rises to
> felony level once the person has been warned.
>
> Once the disabled person obtains a criminal conviction, he may then sue for
> civil damages.
>
> Layla's law was the first to attach more than $300 value to the dog. We
> made
> the guilty person responsible for the cost to train a new dog (about
> $40-50,000), plus the cost to care for the injured dog, plus the cost to
> retire him and maintain him as a pet for the rest of his life,
>
> plus the costs of finding human attendants to do the work of the guide or
> service dog for all the time the disabled person waits for the new dog to
> be
> trained (even if that's several years).
>
> Layla's Law is a great law. Our troubles have been in getting prosecution.
>
> 1. We have great difficulty getting the county or state governments to pay
> for the attorney to handle the case. Most attorneys will not take such a
> case
> "on contingency", that they are paid with a share of the winnings, after
> they
> win. Therefore, the disabled person has to pay the several thousand dollars
> to the attorney to get the case to court.
>
> 2. We have found difficulty getting police to write thorough enough crime
> reports so that a case can win in court.
>
> My service dog and I were attacked by a loose pet dog. The attack caused
> injury that later caused my dog to die. I could not get the county attorney
> to prosecute the case, even though it was her duty to. I did not have the
> money to hire a private attorney. The police attached low value to my dog
> when I reported the crime and asked for an officer to come to the scene and
> write a report. The police department sent their newest officer, just hired
> out of the training academy. He didn't know how to write a report or how to
> question a belligerent suspect.
>
> My recommendation is to write Layla's Law for your province, and get it
> enacted into law.
>
> Then start educating the police force and educating the disabled people who
> have guide and service dogs. Then educate the attorneys (perhaps through
> their magazines) of your law and how they can collect significant winnings
> if
> they will take a case on contingency. In the States, a contingency attorney
> gets 30% of the winnings in any type of lawsuit. It would be wise to
> include
> in your law the legal fees as something the perpetrator will have to pay
> for
> if he is convicted.-that will make attorneys more willing to accept a case
> on
> contingency.
>
> And when you go to the attorney, make sure he understands how much money
> you
> will be asking for, because otherwise he will assume he's only going to get
> 30% of a few hundred dollars.
>
> Among people who have sued successfully, one thing they found helped
> greatly
> is to have had photos and home movies of the dog while working, showing him
> guiding across a busy street or pushing an elevator button or carrying an
> object. You will be claiming that you lost all those services, so your dog
> will be on trial to prove how valuable he actually was. This also will help
> you get your bill passed if you can show pictures of what the dogs can do,
> because pictures tell much better than words.
>
> The best bribe I know of to get the legislators to pass your bill --meet
> with
> them and let them pet your dog. It might be bad etiquette in everyday life,
> but it tipped the scales for our group.
>
> We took many types of dogs to the legislature to testify and then to meet
> informally with the legislators after the session. The senators were
> impressed with the dogs but otherwise not overly enthusiastic. After they
> got
> to pet the dogs or shake hands with them, that did it
>
> At the beginning of your testimony, have the leader of your group point to
> each dog who is in attendance and recite what each dog does. Instead of
> saying this is a hearing dog, say this dog tells his person when the
> doorbell, the alarm clock and the fire alarm are sounding, and when a
> friend
> is calling to his person. Instead of saying this is a service dog, say this
> dog helps John walk without falling, picks up dropped objects, picks up the
> dirty laundry, unloads the washer, and fetches the neighbors for help when
> John is injured. You will be stunned at how little these educated
> legislators
> actually know about service dogs. They don't see great value in service
> dogs
> because they think they are mostly for companionship. Be sure to mention
> that
> each dog is helping a person who, without that dog, would probably be in a
> nursing home or other supervised housing that the government would have to
> pay for. For the legislators who aren't particularly charmed by dogs, you
> want to explain why the dogs are financially beneficial to the government
> --they save the government a lot of money.
>
> Trina
>
> Snip snip
>
>
>
> Joy Breslauer, President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Montana
>
> Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org/>
>
>
>
> Live the life you want
>
>
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>
>


-- 
Dan Burke
My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal