The Connecticut Joint Committee on Human Services has voted in favor of an amended version of HB 6318, which has now been placed on the calendar of the full State House of Representatives for consideration. Amended HB 6318 would:
- Make technical changes to align state law terms, such as references to “guide dog,” with federal law and definitions concerning “disability” and “service animals”; and
- Require that the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities post educational materials on its website regarding (1) the differences between service animals, emotional support animals, and therapy animals; (2) the rights and responsibilities of a owners of each type of animal; and (3) the permissible methods under state and federal law for an owner of a place of public accommodation or a landlord to determine whether an animal is a service animal, emotional support animal, or therapy animal.
TALKING POINTS: The American Kennel Club (AKC) strongly supports the rights of persons who require a dog to perform essential services to access as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to be permitted to keep the service dog without regard to the dog’s size, phenotype, or breed. Dogs provide a wide variety of valuable services to the disability community and AKC encourages the continuation and further development of the training and use of dogs for these and similar purposes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Supportive residents are encouraged to email their state representative to express their support of HB 6318, as amended. You can identify your representative and get their email by clicking here and typing in your home address.
AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) will provide additional information as developments warrant. For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.