REPORT TITLE:
Service Animals; Guide Dogs


DESCRIPTION:
Exempts service animals from quarantine upon specified
conditions.  (HB2745 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2745
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO QUARANTINE. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the State has the
 
 2 responsibility to meet the needs of its resident disability
 
 3 community, as well as visitors with disabilities visiting the
 
 4 State, including persons with disabilities who use service
 
 5 animals to maintain independent living.  Service animals are
 
 6 essential to the independent functioning of persons with
 
 7 disabilities.  Under current rules, service animals are subject
 
 8 to a thirty day quarantine, which separates them from their
 
 9 owners.  This prolonged separation causes service animals to
 
10 suffer loss of effectiveness that seriously undermines the safety
 
11 of their owners.
 
12      The legislature further finds that the risk of spreading
 
13 rabies from service animals, particularly dogs, is virtually
 
14 nonexistent.  Due to a high level of care, including regular
 
15 veterinarian care, the probability of a service animal
 
16 contracting the rabies virus is infinitesimally remote.  Service
 
17 animals undergo prolonged periods of training, are isolated from
 
18 other animals during that time, are under constant strict
 
19 controls and surveillance during training, have well documented
 

 
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 1 health records, receive regularly scheduled vaccinations for
 
 2 prolonged periods, have no history of rabies exposure, and are
 
 3 positively identifiable by tattoo or implanted micro chip.
 
 4 Service animals are so valuable that they receive constant
 
 5 control and medical care far in excess of the common household
 
 6 pet.
 
 7      The legislature further finds that the administrative rule
 
 8 amendments in 1998 of the department of agriculture for the
 
 9 quarantine of guide dogs for the blind has proven that the safety
 
10 of the public can be ensured while protecting the rights of
 
11 persons with disabilities, other than blindness, who also use
 
12 service dogs that assist with daily living.
 
13      The purpose of this Act is to provide for an exemption from
 
14 quarantine, with qualifying conditions, of service animals owned
 
15 by persons with disabilities.
 
16      SECTION 2.  Chapter 142, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
17 by adding a new section to be appropriated designated and to read
 
18 as follows:
 
19      "§142-    Quarantine exemption for service animals.  (a)  A
 
20 service animal that has been vaccinated with a modified live
 
21 rabies vaccine within six months prior to entry to the State
 
22 shall be exempt from quarantine upon entry into the State;
 
23 provided that in lieu of vaccination with a modified live rabies
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 vaccine, a service animal shall be exempt if:
 
 2      (1)  The animal has received two killed rabies vaccines
 
 3           administered by a veterinarian, with the first to be
 
 4           administered no later than four months prior to
 
 5           departure to the State; provided that the veterinarian
 
 6           shall be accredited by the United States Department of
 
 7           Agriculture pursuant to title 9, chapter 1, parts 160,
 
 8           161, and 162, Code of Federal Regulations, and licensed
 
 9           under the laws of the state in which the veterinarian
 
10           practices veterinary medicine;
 
11      (2)  The owner of the animal has obtained a small animal
 
12           health certificate from the United States Department of
 
13           Agriculture prior to departure to the State; provided
 
14           that the certificate is still effective at the time the
 
15           animal enters the State;
 
16      (3)  The owner of the animal has obtained a signed affidavit
 
17           from a licensed veterinarian attesting to the fact that
 
18           an identifying micro chip has been surgically implanted
 
19           in the animal;
 
20      (4)  The animal has been tested twice before departure to
 
21           the State for the presence of a positive rabies virus,
 
22           antibody titer, using the rapid fluorescent focus
 
23           inhibition test method; provided that the results of
 

 
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 1           the test for the rabies virus antibody shall not be
 
 2           valid unless the test is conducted in a laboratory
 
 3           certified by the state department of agriculture;
 
 4      (5)  The owner of the animal executes an affidavit attesting
 
 5           to the nature of the owner's disability and the fact
 
 6           that the animal, if a dog, and the owner of the dog
 
 7           have successfully completed a training course for guide
 
 8           dog teams, service dog teams, or signal dog teams;
 
 9           provided that the affidavit shall include the name and
 
10           location of the training facility and any other
 
11           information that the state department of agriculture
 
12           may require by rule; and
 
13      (6)  The animal has been immediately tested upon entry into
 
14           the State for the presence of a positive rabies virus,
 
15           antibody titer, using the rapid fluorescent inhibition
 
16           method; provided that the results of the test for the
 
17           rabies virus antibody shall not be valid unless the
 
18           test is conducted in a laboratory certified by the
 
19           state department of agriculture.
 
20      (b)  All service animals not under subsection (a) shall be
 
21 subject to quarantine.
 
22      (c)  The department of agriculture shall adopt rules for the
 
23 purpose of this section, including but not limited to:
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (1)  Forms and procedures for verification; and
 
 2      (2)  A schedule of fees to defray costs to the department in
 
 3           the implementation of this section; provided that all
 
 4           personal expenses incurred by the owner of the service
 
 5           animal in complying with this section shall be borne by
 
 6           the owner.
 
 7      (d)  Notwithstanding section 142-12, a person who violates
 
 8 this section shall be subject to:
 
 9      (1)  Immediate seizure and quarantine of a service animal in
 
10           this State at the owner's expense;
 
11      (2)  A fine of up to $100 for each offense; provided that
 
12           each day of violation shall be considered as separate
 
13           offense; and
 
14      (3)  Denial of permission to enter the State with a
 
15           nonresident service animal for up to two years from the
 
16           date of the violation, unless the animal is quarantined
 
17           upon entry to the State.
 
18      (e)  This section shall apply to all service animals
 
19 entering the State on or after January 1, 2001.
 
20      (f)  As used in this section:
 
21      "Guide dog" means any dog individually trained by a licensed
 
22 guide dog trainer for guiding a blind person by means of a
 
23 harness attached to the dog and a rigid handle grasped by the
 

 
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 1 person.
 
 2      "Nonresident service animal" means a service animal that has
 
 3 not lived in Hawaii with its owner resident.
 
 4      "Service animal" means any guide, signal, or service dog or
 
 5 other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for
 
 6 the benefit of an individual with a disability, including but not
 
 7 limited to, guiding an individual with impaired vision, alerting
 
 8 individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds,
 
 9 providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a
 
10 wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.
 
11      "Service dog" means a dog individually trained by a service
 
12 dog trainer to:
 
13      (1)  Impart motion to a person confined in a wheelchair by
 
14           means of a harness attached to the dog and a handle
 
15           grasped by the person; or
 
16      (2)  Assist a nonambulatory person with a physical
 
17           disability in performing certain essential activities
 
18           of daily living.
 
19      "Signal dog" means a dog that is trained to alert a deaf
 
20 person to intruders or sounds.
 
21      SECTION 3.  Section 142-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
22 amended to read as follows:
 
23      "§142-6 Quarantine.  [The] Except as provided in section
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 142-   , the department of agriculture may quarantine any
 
 2 domestic animal known to be affected with or to have been exposed
 
 3 to any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and
 
 4 destroy the same, when in the opinion of the department, such
 
 5 measure is necessary to prevent the spread of the disease, and
 
 6 provide for the proper disposition of its hide and carcass; and
 
 7 disinfect premises where the disease may have existed."
 
 8      SECTION 4.  Section 142-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended to read as follows:
 
10      "§142-9 Quarantine between islands. [Live] Except as
 
11 provided in section 142-   , live animals passing between the
 
12 islands of the State may be quarantined as provided by law, at
 
13 either the port of shipment or of delivery, on good cause shown
 
14 to the department of agriculture at the port of entry nearest to
 
15 the port of shipment or delivery."
 
16      SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
17 New statutory material is underscored.
 
18      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on __________.