[Njagdu] NJ Association of Guide Dog Users October 1st Meeting

Mon Sep 17 10:53:07 UTC 2012

Hi Vinny,
I will be on the call and so will Pat McKenna who used to be with Seeing Eye!

Trisha 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Vincent Chaney Jr. 
  To: New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users 
  Cc: Joe Ruffalo 
  Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 2:57 AM
  Subject: [Njagdu] NJ Association of Guide Dog Users October 1st Meeting

  To All NJAGDU (New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users) Members and Those Whom Wish to Join,

  Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 1, 2012 at 8 PM EDT.  Due to availability conflicts the October meeting was moved to Monday, October 1st. Please let me know if you will or will not be able to attend.

  The conference call will be using the following number for our meeting:

      Dial-in number: 1 218 339 4600

      Conference Code: 462721#

  A reminder message will be sent a few days prior to the meeting, especially due to the change of our regular scheduled time for the meeting.

  The agenda will cover:

      1. Follow-up information and Activities in support of "Dusty's Law"

         A. A2728 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A3000/2728_I1.HTM

         B. S1907 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/S2000/1907_I1.HTM

      2. DMV Committee Status Overview

      3. NJAGDU Division plans for the NFBNJ 2012 State Convention

      4. Questions and Discussion time

  Please also share of our New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users with anyone whom may not know of our division.

  Thank you for your reply to my message and hope you will be available to attend...

  Minutes from the September 11, 2011 NJAGDU meeting:

  The agenda will cover:

      1. Follow-up information and Activities in support of "Dusty's Law"

         A. A2728 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A3000/2728_I1.HTM

         B. S1907 http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/S2000/1907_I1.HTM

      2. DMV Committee Status Overview

      3. NJAGDU Division plans for the NFBNJ 2012 State Convention

      4. Questions and Discussion time

  Call to order:

  Meeting of the NJAGDU Division was called to order at 8:05 P.M> on Tuesday, September 11, 2012.

  Roll call:

  The following (11) persons were present on the call:

  Vincent Chaney

  Michele Chaney

  Alice Eaddy

  Stephanie Zundel

  Lydia Jane Keller

  Kathy Rawa

  Lester Cameron

  Lynn Reynolds

  Trisha Ebel

  Andrew Rees

  Sue Tillett

  Old Business:

  Part of our resolution presented in 2009 was used in the wording of Dusty's Law(as reprinted here):

  Resolution 2009-02

  Regarding Legislation for the Protection of Guide Dog Teams 

  WHEREAS, uncontrolled dogs that attack or interfere with guide dog teams are a serious and widespread threat to the safety and welfare of blind citizens of this state; and

  WHEREAS, these incidents are in part attributable to the failure of owners to confine and properly train and control their dogs; and

  WHEREAS, when a guide dog is attacked or subjected to interference, the blind person's travel is suddenly and severely restricted, often without any warning; and either or both team members become instantly vulnerable to harm by the uncontrolled dog, vehicular traffic or other environmental dangers, since the blind traveler suddenly finds himself without orientation, and the guide, who is bred and trained to be non-aggressive, is also restricted by being harnessed and leashed; and

  WHEREAS, the physical and psychological trauma from attacks and interference can be costly in terms of injury, veterinary care, medical care, retraining, replacement and loss of mobility for the blind handler; and

  WHEREAS, the cost of the dog and services from a guide dog school can range up to $50,000 per person/dog team; and

  WHEREAS, existing laws at the local level do not address the problem of uncontrolled dogs attacking guide dogs: Now, therefore,

  BE IT RESOLVED by the NFB of NJ, in Convention assembled this 8th day of Nov. 2009, in the Township of Clark, NJ, that this organization call upon our state legislators to pass legislation making it a criminal offense to permit loose or uncontrolled dogs to attack or interfere with guide dog teams and requiring restitution to the blind individual for veterinary and medical expenses, lost wages, transportation, rehabilitation and other expenses directly related to the temporary or permanent loss of the service animal; and to the school where the guide dog was trained to cover the expenses of replacement or retraining of the guide dog team.

   The older version of Dusty's Law was A262 and was reworked and introduced with the same name as A2728.

  The Legislature is meeting tomorrow in Trenton it is hoped that the speaker of the house will put it on the schedule and bring it to the floor. The Assembly will begin its' process in about two weeks so there is still time to continue to push for additional sponsorship or co-sponsors. If you have written or called, thank you. If you have not received a response as to your representative positively supporting the bill, please contact them again and urge their support.

  I am including the information to contact each of our state Senators and Assembly-persons.

  We, the New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users, support Assembly A.2728 and Senate S.1907, designated as "Dusty's Law". We request all NFBNJ members, family, friends and New Jersey citizens to advocate for these bills to become law by contacting their Senators and two (2) Assembly-Persons today.  Please let your legislators know you support the bills, Assembly, A.2728 and Senate S.1907, and you are asking them to become a sponsor or co-sponsor.  Please share this message with anyone without email to open this call to everyone.

  Should you not know who your Assembly-Persons or Senator are, you could do one of the following to obtain their name, phone number and email address:

                  1. Call the Office of Legislative Services

                     Office of Public Information

                     Phone:      609-847-3905

                     Toll Free: 800-792-8630

                                  2. Contact your local library

                  3. Call your Town Hall

                  4. Click on the link: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp

                                  On this page, look for your city/town by browsing through the District list or use a screen reader "find" to search for your town.

                                  The link above the list of towns within a district gives Senator and Assembly-Person names, phone numbers, address, etc. The link below the towns gives professional background information of each representative.

  If this step (4) was not working for you, you may wish to click on the next link. This will break down the towns and cities further. When you click on your town though, it will bring you back to the point of the above step (4), but you will know where your town/city would be included as you will be focused in your appropriate district.

  To determine your district number by the Municipality (town or city name) if you had a problem:

  http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp#O

   Kathy discussed hotel pet friendly policies. Les mentioned that the police must determine if an incident  is an arrestable offense or domestic disagreement.

  If it becomes law the police have to respond as a priority. We want to get the public to recognize that the police will respond and that people would have to go to court.

  Guide dog users are to be treated as an elite service animal with more training than other service dogs--they have our lives in their paws other folks with service animals have a recourse or could navigate around a potential problem situation but we need police intervention because we cannot visually save ourselves.

  There was some discussion of the identifier that we use to describe ourselves i.e. service dog user or guide dog user or seeing eye dog user. It was explained that there is an organization called Guide Dog For the Blind in California and that the term "Seeing Eye" is trademarked for the Seeing Eye specifically although it is used as a generic name East of the Mississippi.

  Lisa Yakomin will stay with as as an advocate and adviser and Assemblyman Bramnick will step of if Assemblyman Schroeder, Robert has to step down as Primary Sponsor for Dusty's Law.

  Update regarding DMV Committee:

  New Jerseys' drivers manual has wording that targets blind pedestrians but no pictures. The test questions relevant to blind pedestrians with or without a guide dog should be in the first twelve questions. There are at present no questions that mention guide dogs or cane users.

  New Business:

  Pre-convention it is anticipated that due to our growth for 2012-2013 it is planned to expand the board. This measure is to provide for need quorum, as we take on more projects. A three person nominating committee is also need to present a slate for interview and Vincent will open the floor for nominations. one board member for two years and another for one.  

  At the National convention our division was recognized as the fastest growing affiliate and provided the most complete report of it's activities to date.

  The division is contemplating doing a dogie gift basket with a fort-five dollar maximum expense- some items were suggested.

  Vincent is working on a press release that uses quotes from Senator Bucco and Assemblyman Bramnick.

  Adjournment:

  President Vincent Chaney adjourned the meeting at 9:54 p.m. although questions and discussion time continued for quite some time afterwards.

  The next meeting will be October 1st.

  Minutes submitted by: Alice Eaddy

  ____________________________________________________________

  Vinny

  Vincent G Chaney Jr

  732-251-8650

  President, NFBNJ New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users

  President, NFBNJ Diabetes Division

  Vice President, NFBNJ Technology Division

  Webmaster: nfbnj.org http://www.nfbnj.org

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