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Who cares
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Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the misrepresentation of guide dogs
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Operations · Sponsor Phil Steck
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S5406
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil rights law, in relation to the misrepresentation of guide dogs
Purpose
To prohibit people from misrepresenting their pets as service animals in order to take advantage of the accommodations allowed under state and federal law to persons with disabilities and their service animals.
Summary of provisions
A new Subdivision 2-a is added to Section 47-b of the Civil Rights Law to provide that no person shall knowingly affix any special identification tag, collar, leash, harness, vest or other gear in order to misrepresent that a dog or animal is a guide dog, hearing dog, service dog or other service animal and seek to receive the accommodations afforded to guide dogs, hearing dogs, service dogs or service animals under this article or under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Justification
State and federal laws prohibit businesses and facilities which are open to the public from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Furthermore, these laws ensure that persons with disabilities may be accompanied by service animals in places of public accommodations and in the workplace.
Unfortunately, some people without disabilities have been shamelessly and selfishly abusing these laws by misrepresenting their pets as service animals just so they can bring them into places where pets are not allowed. Not only is this disrespectful and insensitive to persons with disabilities, it generates problems for the entire service dog community.
There are a variety of reasons why businesses and public places may restrict pets. State and federal laws create an exception for service animals, recognizing that these are not pets but are working animals which provide essential services to persons with disabilities.
Guide dogs, hearing dogs, service dogs and other types of service animals have undergone extensive training in order to provide needed assistance to a person with a disability. They have also been trained to deal with social situations and distractions.
In contrast, problems are much more likely to occur in public areas and businesses from the behavior of untrained pets and their non-disabled owners. This unfairly creates a negative perception which increases the likelihood that a disabled person with a service animal will encounter resistance and suspicion in the future.
In addition, when pets encounter service animals in these places, the untrained pets often react in a way that can antagonize or initiate conflicts, distracting service animals from their important responsibilities in protecting and assisting individuals with disabilities.
Several other states have already enacted laws to prohibit the misrepresentation of pets as service animals. This bill would establish a similar prohibition in New York State law.
Legislative history
S.7519 of 2014
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.