HB 1562-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
08/04
HOUSE BILL 1562-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to assistance dogs.
SPONSORS: Rep. Tilton, Merr 6; Rep. Fields, Belk 2; Rep. Butynski, Ches 4
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill:
I. Renames service dogs as assistance dogs.
II. Requires that all assistance dogs wear an identifying tag.
III. Allows the advisory council on emergency preparedness to use New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag registration information to prepare for emergencies.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2588
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to assistance dogs.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Purpose. The general court finds that the governor's commission on disabilities, the department of emergency management and homeland security, and all town clerks through shared efforts, can enhance the safety of persons with disabilities who require assistance dogs, and enhance the safety of assistance dogs trained to meet the specific needs of the individual persons with disabilities who must depend on their assistance dogs. The general court further finds that the department of emergency management and homeland security, the governor's commission on disability, and the town clerks throughout New Hampshire have a joint need to collect necessary and accurate data on persons with disabilities who require assistance dogs to meet their specific needs. The data collected will serve the needs of the department of emergency management and homeland security in planning for special emergency sheltering of persons with disabilities with their assistance dogs; the governor’s commission on disabilities will require the same data for planning purposes, and the proposed issue of the special visual identifier New Hampshire assistance dog identification tags; and the town clerks will need the data before issuing the annual license and tag free to all people with disabilities who require an assistance dog.
2 Assistance Dogs. Amend the title of RSA 167-D to read as follows:
[HEARING EAR DOGS, GUIDE DOGS, SERVICE] ASSISTANCE DOGS,
AND SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS
3 New Paragraph; Assistance Dogs. Amend RSA 167-D:1 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:
I-a. “Assistance dogs” means hearing dogs that assist those who are deaf or hearing impaired, service dogs that assist people who are mobility impaired, dog guides that assist people who are blind or visually impaired, seizure response dogs that alert and respond to on-coming seizures, and medical alert dogs that alert and respond to challenges such as an oncoming heart attack, stroke, or other medical conditions that may require an emergency medical response.
4 New Paragraph; Assistance Dog Trainer. Amend RSA 167-D:1 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a. “Assistance dog trainer” means any person who is an employee or volunteer for an organization generally recognized by agencies involved in the rehabilitation of people who are deaf or hearing impaired, mobility impaired, blind, or visually impaired, people with seizure disorders, and people with disabling medical conditions that require assistance dogs; and who facilitates the training of assistance dogs for persons with disabilities. Assistance dog trainers and the dogs they are training shall be allowed the same privileges given to people with disabilities when accompanied by their individual assistance dogs.
5 New Paragraph; Professional Dog Trainer. Amend RSA 167-D:1 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:
VIII-a. “Professional dog trainer” as used in this chapter relative to assistance dogs means a person certified by a professional organization that trains people to train dogs.
6 Assistance Dogs; May Accompany. Amend RSA 167-D:3 to read as follows:
167-D:3 Dogs May Accompany. It is lawful for any [hearing ear dog, guide dog, or service] assistance dog or assistance dog in training to accompany his or her [deaf or hearing impaired, blind or visually impaired, or mobility impaired master or a master with a seizure disorder diagnosed by a physician] assistance dog trainer or person with a disability who requires an assistance dog into any public facility, housing accommodation, or place of public accommodation to which the general public is invited, provided the assistance dog trainer has documentation to verify that the dog is an assistance dog in training subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons.
7 Qualification by Certification; Training Assistance Dogs. RSA 167-D:4 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
167-D:4 Qualification by Certification from Specialty Schools for Training Assistance Dogs.
I. Dogs trained by specialty schools which provide training of specific assistance dogs for individual persons with disabilities shall have passed strict tests in skills and socialization required to meet the specific needs of a person with a disability. The owner or person with a disability may register the dog for the New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag by showing the certificate or certification card received from the specialty school which identifies the dog as an assistance dog.
II. The owner or person with the disability may register the dog with the town clerk as an assistance dog and receive a New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag by showing a formal, written statement signed by a licensed physician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, other licensed professional provider of rehabilitation services, or in an area of professional practice specifically related to the individual’s disability, stating that the person has a disability and requires an assistance dog (without stating the disability); a signed document or certificate showing that the assistance dog has been trained by a professional dog trainer, to provide specific tasks for the needs of the owner or person with the disability; and a document or statement from the professional dog trainer that the dog has successfully passed all sections of the standard Assistance Dog International (ADI) Public Safety Access Test for socialization on a specific date.
III. The owner or person with the disability may register the dog with the town clerk as an assistance dog and receive a New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag. By showing a formal, written statement, signed by a licensed physician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, other licensed professional provider of rehabilitation services or in another area of professional practice specifically related to the individual’s disability, stating that the person has a disability and requires an assistance dog (without stating the disability); an affidavit signed by the person with the disability which states that the dog has been self-trained to meet the specific needs of the person with the disability by that person, by another individual with a disability, by a person known to train dogs for other persons with disabilities, or by a private dog trainer; and a signed document or certificate from a professional dog trainer who administered the standard Assistance Dog International (ADI) Public Safety Access Test for socialization that confirms the assistance dog passed all sections of the ADI Test on a specific date.
IV. The professional dog trainer shall provide the person with the disability using an assistance dog a signed document or certificate which states that on a specific date, the assistance dog passed all sections of the standard Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Public Access Test for socialization. The professional dog trainer shall be held harmless.
V. The owner or person with a disability requiring an assistance dog shall be held responsible for the dog’s future behavior. As mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the public has a right to expect appropriate behavior from an assistance dog. If the assistance dog behaves inappropriately, any member of the public present, or the proprietor of an establishment or property may require that the owner or person with a disability remove or give permission for another person to remove the assistance dog from the premises. The person who tested the dog shall not be liable for any damage the dog does, so long as the dog passed the ADI test on a specific date.
8 Assistance Dog Identification. RSA 167-D:5 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
167-D:5 Assistance Dog Identification.
I. The New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag registration shall be a one-time process, and the assistance dog identification tag shall remain with the specific assistance dog for the duration of its working lifetime. There will be a one-time fee of $10. Certified or otherwise qualified assistance dogs will be identified by a New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag which shall be round, 2 inches in diameter, and of a unique color exclusively for New Hampshire assistance dog identification tags, of metal and boldly imprinted with “NH ASSISTANCE DOG” and an individual assistance dog identification number on one side, with the first 2 digits being the first 2 digits of the year in which the dog is registered as an assistance dog, and the last 3 digits beginning with 001 and distributed in consecutive order. On the reverse side it shall say “Return to New Hampshire Commission on Disabilities.” At no time may the New Hampshire assistance dog identification tag be transferred for use by any other dog and it shall be returned to the New Hampshire Commission on Disabilities at the end of the assistance dog’s service.
II. After registering the assistance dog and receiving the New Hampshire assistance dog tag, as long as the dog remains a working dog, the assistance dog’s annual, local license and dog tags will be free as defined in RSA 466:8.
III. No New Hampshire municipal, annual dog license tags shall be of a similar color, size or shape, or have an imprint similar to that of the permanent New Hampshire dog identification tag. Any tags made to replicate New Hampshire assistance dog identification tags are illegal. The creation and distribution of such tags shall be a felony.
9 Assistance Dogs; Licensing. Amend RSA 167-D:6 to read as follows:
167-D:6 Licensing. [Hearing ear dogs, guide dogs and service] Assistance dogs shall be licensed as provided in RSA 466.
10 Assistance Dogs; Prohibitions. Amend RSA 167-D:7 to read as follows:
167-D:7 Prohibited Acts.
I. It is unlawful for a person, directly or indirectly, either to prohibit, hinder, or interfere with a [visually, hearing, or mobility impaired] master with any disability who otherwise complies with the limitations applicable to persons with normal [hearing, sight, or mobility] abilities.
II. It is unlawful for any person to fit a dog with a tag, collar, leash, or harness of the type which represents that the dog is [a hearing ear dog, guide dog, or service] an assistance dog, if in fact said dog is not and to thus use the dog to misrepresent the physical status of said person.
III. It is unlawful for any person to willfully interfere or attempt to interfere with [a service] an assistance dog, as defined in RSA 167-D:1, [IX] I-a.
IV. It shall be a class B felony to copy a New Hampshire assistance dog tag with the intent to misrepresent a dog as an assistance dog.
11 Assistance Dog; Nonuse. Amend RSA 167-D:8 to read as follows:
167-D:8 Nonuse of [Hearing Ear Dog, Guide Dog, or Service] Assistance Dog. A deaf or hearing impaired, blind or visually impaired, or mobility impaired person not using a guide dog in any of the places, accommodations or conveyances listed in RSA 167-D shall have all of the rights and privileges conferred by law upon other persons; and the failure of a deaf or hearing impaired, blind or visually impaired, or mobility impaired person to use [a hearing ear dog, guide dog, or service] an assistance dog in those places, accommodations, or conveyances shall not be held to constitute nor be evidence of contributory negligence.
12 Penalties. Amend RSA 167-D:9, II to read as follows:
II. Any person who purposely tortures, beats, kicks, strikes, mutilates, injures, or disables [a service] an assistance dog, or who purposely causes the death of [a service] an assistance dog shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
13 Annual Registration. Amend RSA 466:8 to read as follows:
466:8 Exemption From. No fee shall be required for the registration and licensing of a dog which has served with the forces of the United States and has received an honorable discharge therefrom. No fee shall be required for the annual registration and licensing of [a guide dog which is used as a guide for a blind person, a hearing dog which is used by a deaf person, or a service dog which is used by a mobility impaired person] an assistance dog. When a person who is blind, [a] deaf or hearing impaired, [or] mobility impaired [person], or impaired by a seizure disorder, or a person with emergency medical challenges is applying for a license, he or she shall present a proper [identification card from a recognized guide dog hearing ear dog, or service dog, training agency or school] documentation listed in RSA 167-D:4 in order to receive the annual dog license.
14 Restaurants and Food Stores. Amend RSA 466:44 to read as follows:
466:44 Restaurants and Food Stores. No person shall bring any animal into any restaurant or any store that sells food; and no person shall allow any animal to enter or remain in any restaurant or in any store that sells food, except for guide dogs leading blind persons, and the [hearing ear dog and the service dog] assistance dogs as provided in RSA 167-D. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation.
15 Emergency Preparedness. Amend RSA 21-P:37-a to read as follows:
21-P:37-a State Policy for Service Animals. In cases of emergency, it shall be the policy of the state that service animals shall not be separated from the persons they serve. Every effort shall be made to keep service animals and the persons they serve together, and all appropriate state emergency planning and state sponsored emergency training shall be based on such assumptions. The advisory council on emergency preparedness may use New Hampshire assistance animal identification registrations to formulate such a policy.
16 Repeal. RSA 167-D:1, X, relative to the definition of service dog trainer, is repealed.
17 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.