[NFBMT] Montana Service Dog Representation Bill Receives Pushback

[d m gina]

Not understanding what I read,

I can't be aford it or against it.
Guess I will drink the fifth.

Original message:
> Montana Service Dog Misrepresentation Bill Receives Pushback



> golden Labrador



> by Andy Jones

> March 24, 2017



> Disability Rights Montana is opposing a bill introduced into the state house
> that makes it a crime to fraudulently misrepresent a service dog.



> House Bill 364, heard by the state's House Human Services Committee on
> February 13, would punish such actions as a misdemeanor, punishable up to
> $500 for each violation.



> Disability Rights Montana contends that the bill is overly broad and would
> encourage unnecessary conflict between people in need of service animals and

> owners of business and other places of public accommodation.



> The ADA allows owners to ask people with disabilities whether their service
> animals are, in fact, service animals, as well as what tasks they are trained

> to perform. However, the ADA prevents them from requiring people with
> disabilities from presenting documentary proof of their animal's status, in
> part

> because there is no nationally recognized organization for certifying service
> animals.



> "Inevitably, this will encourage business owners and law enforcement to make
> inquiries of people with service animals about the legitimacy of that
> animal,"

> Disability Rights Montana said in a news release. "If the inquiry occurs,
> many legitimate service animal users will not have documentation to defend
> themselves.



> "We believe this will create unnecessary conflict and confrontation which is
> not the result that anyone wants. Although we, as a disability rights law

> firm, have heard stories of frustration about individuals who have
> misidentified their animals as service animals, our firm has received far
> more reports

> of people with legitimate service animals having difficulty using their
> animals in schools, at work, and in private businesses."



> A similar bill in Wyoming, House Bill 114, passed out of the state's Senate
> Travel Committee on February 16.



> Similar legislation already exists in Florida, passed in 2015, and in

> Colorado, which passed last legislative session.



> 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.



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