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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Fake service dog bill passes Florida House, advances in Senate<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tuesday, March 31, 2015 | <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Palm Beach Post <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/fake-service-dog-bill-passes-florida-house/nkhwb/<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would tighten restrictions on service animals.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The reason that Cesar Silva came to Tallahassee sat under a podium on Monday as Silva urged members of a Florida Senate committee to approve a bill that would protect him and his service dog from being harassed by people who can’t see his invisible war wounds — post-traumatic stress disorder and shrapnel in his back.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sophia, a German shepherd, sat silently and still while Silva told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee about problems he has encountered when he has tried bringing her into parks and restaurants. He also said he has gone to court — and won — a legal battle over his right to enter a public park with Sophia.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“We really need this bill to define what is an invisible disability,” the Tampa man said. “I was kicked out of an iHop once because I didn’t have a service dog identification card, which doesn’t exist.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The bill (SB 414), sponsored by Sen. Thad Altman, R-Sebastian, moved a step closer to becoming law Monday as the committee passed it on a unanimous vote. The House version of the bill, HB 71, was unanimously passed by the House on Friday, after passing three committees there. The Senate version still has two more committee stops.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The bill would make interfering with the disabled and their service animals a second-degree misdemeanor, carrying penalties of up to 60 days in jail, up to $500 in fines and 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves people with disabilities or another entity, at the discretion of a judge.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Under the bill, the same crime and penalties would apply to pet owners who lie about having a disability and falsely claim that their pet is a service animal.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Service animal owners cannot be asked about their disability or whether they are entitled to have a service animal, but they may be asked if the animal is a service animal and what tasks it performs to assist its owner.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Much of the bill reiterates rights and rules already provided by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but what would make the Florida bill distinctive is the part that would make it a criminal offense to harass a disabled person with a service animal or to misrepresent a pet as a service animal.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Republican Sen. Aaron Bean of Jacksonville asked during Monday’s meeting if animals besides dogs were covered by the bill and learned it limited service animals to dogs and miniature horses.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“If I have a monkey, I’m out of luck?” Bean asked.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The bill also would allow service animals to be removed from a business or other public place if the animal is not under the handler’s control, is not housebroken or poses a serious threat to others.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Senate bill now moves Senate Community Affairs Committee.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>