HOUSE MEMORIAL 122

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Harry Garcia and Eliseo Lee Alcon

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SERVICE ANIMALS FOR VETERANS AND OTHER PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

     WHEREAS, many veterans and other people with disabilities use service animals to facilitate their participation in everyday life; and

     WHEREAS, some examples of services performed by service animals include: alerting a person with diabetes when the person's blood sugar reaches high or low levels; detecting the onset of a seizure and then helping the person remain safe during the seizure; picking up items for a person who uses a wheelchair; preventing a child with autism or a person with dementia from wandering away; and entering a space, checking to see that no threats are there and coming back and signaling a returning veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder that it is safe to enter the space; and

     WHEREAS, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, commonly referred to as the ADA, applies to service animals and requires state and local government agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations that provide goods or services to the public, known as "covered entities", but not federal agencies or religious institutions and organizations, to make reasonable modifications in their policies, practices or procedures when necessary to accommodate people with disabilities, including when the person is assisted by a service animal; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's Service Animal Act reflects the ADA provisions pertaining to service animals; and

     WHEREAS, "service animal" is defined in the ADA as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability that are directly related to the person's disability; and

     WHEREAS, the Service Animal Act defines a qualified service animal as a dog or miniature horse that has been trained or is being trained to work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; and

     WHEREAS, the ADA does not require professional training of service animals and does not require any certification of or licensure as a service animal; and

     WHEREAS, service animals must be under the handler's control at all times, and the handler is responsible for maintaining control of the service animal at all times and for caring for and supervising the service animal, including toileting, feeding, grooming and providing veterinary care; and

     WHEREAS, both the federal and state laws prohibit charging a person accompanied by a service animal any additional charges related to the presence of the service animal, but do provide that the person may be liable for any damage done by the service animal; provided that persons without disabilities would be liable for similar damage; and

     WHEREAS, the ADA does not require service animals to wear a vest, identification tag or specific harness; and

     WHEREAS, the ADA allows employees of covered entities to ask a person accompanied by a service animal only two specific questions:

          A. "Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?" and

          B. "What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?"; and

     WHEREAS, employees of covered entities are not allowed to request any documentation for the dog, require that the dog demonstrate its task or inquire about the nature of the person's disability; and

     WHEREAS, under the ADA, service animals are subject to local dog animal control or public health requirements, such as vaccinations, licensing and registration requirements, but are not subject to other local requirements, such as registration as service dogs or ordinances banning specific breeds of dogs; and

     WHEREAS, the ADA does not require covered entities to modify policies, practices or procedures to accommodate service animals if those modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, programs or activities provided to the public or if there are legitimate safety concerns, such as if a service animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it or if the service animal is not housebroken; and

     WHEREAS, restaurants, bars and other places that serve food and drink are required to allow service animals to accompany a disabled person but are not required to provide seating for the service animal on chairs or allow feeding the service animal at the table; and

     WHEREAS, hotels must provide a guest with a disability who is accompanied by a service animal the same opportunity to reserve any available room at the hotel as other guests without disabilities and are prohibited from charging guests to clean the hair or dander shed by a service animal, but may charge the guest for any damage done by the service animal; provided that persons without disabilities would be liable for similar damage; and

     WHEREAS, in general, hospitals and ambulances are required to allow service dogs in ambulances and patient rooms and anywhere else in the hospital that the public and patients are allowed to go; and

     WHEREAS, both federal and state law provide penalties for violations pertaining to assistance by service animals;         NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the many positive attributes and contributions of service animals to veterans and other disabled people, and the right of veterans and other disabled people to the animals' service, be recognized and embraced.

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