The
right to use guide dogs, signal dogs and service dogs 
The California Civil Code establishes
that disabled persons are permitted to use special assistance dogs:
54.2. (a)
Every individual with a disability has the right to be accompanied by
a guide dog, signal dog, or service dog, especially trained for the
purpose, in any of the places specified in Section 54.1 without being
required to pay an extra charge or security deposit for the guide dog,
signal dog, or service dog. However, the individual shall be liable
for any damage done to the premises or facilities by his or her dog.
Section 54.2 does not apply to zoos
and wild animal parks, but requires them to make special accomodations
for the disabled person and the dog. (See section 54.7.)
Similarly, California Penal Code
protects the rights of certain disabled people to use special dogs to
assist them in their day-to-day activities:
365.5. (a)
Any blind person, deaf person, or disabled person, who is a passenger
on any common carrier, airplane, motor vehicle, railway train, motorbus,
streetcar, boat, or any other public conveyance or mode of transportation
operating within this state, shall be entitled to have with him or
her a specially trained guide dog, signal dog, or service dog.
(b)
No blind person, deaf person, or disabled person and his or her specially
trained guide dog, signal dog, or service dog shall be denied admittance
to accommodations, advantages, facilities, medical facilities,
including hospitals, clinics, and physicians' offices, telephone facilities,
adoption agencies, private schools, hotels, lodging places, places
of public accommodation, amusement, or resort, and other places to
which the general public is invited within this state because of that
guide dog, signal dog, or service dog.
(c) Any
person, firm, association, or corporation, or the agent of any person,
firm, association, or corporation, who prevents a disabled person
from exercising, or interferes with a disabled person in the exercise
of, the rights specified in this section is guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500)
(d) As
used in this section, "guide dog" means any guide dog or Seeing Eye
dog that was trained by a person licensed under Chapter 9.5 (commencing
with Section 7200) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code
or that meets the definitional criteria under federal regulations
adopted to implement Title III of the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336).
(e) As
used in this section, "signal dog" means any dog trained to alert
a deaf person, or a person whose hearing is impaired, to intruders
or sounds.
(f) As used in this section, "service dog" means any dog
individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of
an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, minimal
protection work, rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped
items.
(g)
(1) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any civil remedies
available for a violation of this section.
(2) This section is intended to
provide equal accessibility for all owners or trainers of animals
that are trained as guide dogs, signal dogs, or service dogs in a
manner that is no less than that provided by the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) and the Air Carrier Access Act of
1986 (Public Law 99-435).
(h) The exercise of rights specified in subdivisions (a)
and (b) by any person may not be conditioned upon payment of any extra
charge, provided that the person shall be liable for any provable
damage done to the premises or facilities by his or her dog.
(i) Any trainer or individual with a disability may take
dogs in any of the places specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) for
the purpose of training the dogs as guide dogs, signal dogs, or service
dogs. The person shall ensure that the dog is on a leash and
tagged as a guide dog, signal dog, or service dog by an identification
tag issued by the county clerk or animal control department as authorized
by Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 30850) of Division 14 of the
Food and Agricultural Code. In addition, the person shall be liable
for any provable damage done to the premises or facilities by his
or her dog.
|
Penalties
for interfering with the use of a guide dog or seeing eye dog
The California Penal
Code prohibits unjustified interference with the use of a guide dog or
seeing eye dog:
365.6.
(a) Any person who, with no legal justification, intentionally interferes
with the use of a guide dog by harassing or obstructing the guide dog
user or his or her guide dog, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a
fine of not less than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) nor
more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or both.
(b) As used in this section, "guide dog" means any guide
dog or seeing-eye dog which was trained by a person licensed under Chapter
9.5 (commencing with Section 7200) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code or as defined in the regulations implementing Title
III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336),
or trained by a school recognized in another state to train guide or
seeing-eye dogs.
(c) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any civil remedies
available for a violation of this section.
The California Civil Code section 54.3 provides
a person, firm, or corporation that interferes with various specified rights
of a disabled individual is liable for the actual damages of each offense
and any amount determined by a judge or jury of up to 3 times the amount
of the actual damages, but in no case less than $1,000, plus attorneys
fees. "Interfere," for purposes of this section, includes, but is not limited
to, preventing or causing the prevention of a guide dog, signal dog, or
service dog from carrying out its functions in assisting a disabled person.
An aggrieved person, potentially aggrieved person or the Attorney General
also may obtain an injunction. (Sections 55 and 56.)
It also is a crime to negligently permit
a dog to injure an assistance dog:
600.2.
(a) It is unlawful and constitutes an infraction for any person to permit
any dog which is owned, harbored, or controlled by him or her to cause
injury to or the death of any guide, signal, or service dog, as defined
by Section 54.1 of the Civil Code, while the guide, signal, or service
dog is in discharge of its duties.
(b) In any case in which a defendant is convicted of
a violation of this section, the defendant shall be ordered to make
restitution to the disabled person who has custody or ownership of the
guide, signal, or service dog for any veterinary bills and replacement
costs of the dog if it is disabled or killed.
Intentionally injuring an assistance
dog is a misdemeanor:
600.5.
(a) Any person who intentionally causes injury to or the death of any
guide, signal, or service dog, as defined by Section 54.1 of the Civil
Code, while the dog is in discharge of its duties, is guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year,
or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both
a fine and imprisonment.
(b) In any case in which a defendant is convicted of
a violation of this section, the defendant shall be ordered to make
restitution to the disabled person who has custody or ownership of the
dog for any veterinary bills and replacement costs of the dog if it
is disabled or killed.
|
Penalties
for pretending to own or train a guide, signal or service dog
The California Penal Code provides
a stiff penalty for pretending to own or train a guide, signal or
service dog:
365.7.
(a) Any person who knowingly and fraudulently represents himself or
herself, through verbal or written notice, to be the owner or trainer
of any canine licensed as, to be qualified as, or identified as, a
guide, signal, or service dog, as defined in subdivisions (d), (e),
and (f) of Section 365.5 and paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section
54.1 of the Civil Code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable
by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, by a
fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that
fine and imprisonment.
(b) As used in this section, "owner" means any person
who owns a guide, signal, or service dog, or who is authorized by
the owner to use the guide, signal, or service dog.
|
