[Cagdu] FW: The disabled fret new service-animal law Rights

[Ken Volonte]

It all has to do with defining what the dog does.  In the case of Mr. Carey, 
his dog Lexi performs a specific task and is in absolute control.

    We all know what this new law was meant to address; the "comfort dog" 
who is just there: jumping at our guides, barking and growling in the 
theater and making life miserable for everybody all because an anxious 
person would rather inflict their rotten dog on the public than get medical 
treatment for the underlying cause of the anxiety.  "Why should I subject my 
body to drugs when I have sweet little Nitro here.  She wouldn't hurt a 
fly."  Nitro has a comment too.  "Gurrrrr, rasp and flash of teeth, 
gurrrrrr."

    The people with comfort dogs are the same people who say, "My grand son 
does the same thing and he walks with a cane.  Why are you so special"?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tina thomas " <tinadt at sbcglobal.net>
To: <cagdu at nfbcal.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 4:20 PM
Subject: [Cagdu] FW: The disabled fret new service-animal law Rights


> Subject: The disabled fret new service-animal law Rights
>
> The disabled fret new service-animal law Rights SLC advocate says 
> confusion
> is 'biggest concern.'
> By Julia Lyon
> The Salt Lake Tribune
> Updated: 03/11/2009 10:51:37 AM MDT
>
> The smell of raw meat or the chaos of Wal-Mart can launch Edward Carey 
> back
> to a time when saving soldiers' lives in Iraq was his job. Now the former
> combat medic is home and Lexi, a border collie, is trying to save his.
>
> A service dog-in-training, the 8-month old black and white puppy yanks the
> veteran back to reality with a tug on his pants when a panic attack 
> begins.
> Often, Carey says, she knows one is coming before he does.
>
> Plagued by anxiety, Carey hopes a new state law won't stop people like him
> from healing.
>
> Lawmakers have eliminated references to emotional support animals allowed 
> in
> private and public places, leaving some Utahns with disabilities concerned
> about what the future may hold for their service.
>
>     The newly passed bill, SB 173, sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton would
> replace SB 192 (2007), sponsored by Sen. Scott McCoy.
> or comfort animal. They worry the law will step on the rights of the
> disabled, preventing them from getting the animal assistance they need.
>
> "Our biggest concern is the confusion it's going to cause," said Alison
> Smith, an advocate at the Disability Law Center in Salt Lake City, noting
> that "service animal" under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act
> (ADA) is broadly defined.
>
> Which animals are permitted and where they can go may leave their owners 
> and
> businesses puzzled, she said. Emotional support animals had been broadly
> defined as one identified by a mental health therapist and needed in a
> specific location to address a mental health issue.
>
> Others see the new law as potentially exclusive, eliminating a disabled
> person's ability to take their animal out in public depending on its
> technical status.
>
> "What the state is doing is they're trying to usurp a federal law, which 
> is
> illegal," said Alan Rawley, a former public health inspector who lives in
> Bountiful.
>
> But one specialist says the new law now just restates what's in the ADA. 
> The
> prior law had been too broad and become abused, critics say.
>
> "I think we have gotten out of control with allowing emotional support
> animals," said Linda Robinson, executive director of Gateway to Canine
> Partnerships, which teaches people to train their service dogs. "As much 
> as
> I love cats ... I don't think a cat can be trained to go in public with 
> you.
> I don't think a rabbit can be trained to be a service animal."
>
> Trained service animals that perform tasks and emotional support animals
> that soothe and comfort are different, said Mary Ann Cowen, the Salt Lake
> County ADA coordinator.
>
> "A lot of these people who claim they're going to be discriminated against
> ... they probably have the wrong name on their service animal," she said.
>
> People like Carey would still be permitted to go out and about with their
> animal because the dog helps mitigate his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
> Cowen said.
>
> That would be good news for the veteran.
>
> "I now go everywhere with a battle buddy," he said. "She keeps me in the
> here and now."
>
> jlyon at sltrib.com
> Source: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11881348
>
>
>
> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> Morristown, NJ
>
>
>
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