February 22, 2019
Illinois House Bill 1645, which is scheduled for consideration by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, February 26 would make it a petty offense to knowingly make a false claim that a pet is a service animal in an attempt to gain admission to a public place or obtain a reasonable housing accommodation.
The AKC strongly condemns those who characterize dogs as service animals when they are not, or who attempt to benefit from a dog’s service dog status when the individual using the dog is not a person with a disability.
For more information, read UPDATED – Misuse of Service Dogs Hurts the Disabled and Responsible Dog Owners.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
The AKC encourages all concerned dog owners in Illinois to contact the members of the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, listed below, and express support of this legislation.
Representative Justin Slaughter, Chairman
Phone: (217) 782-0010
Email: justin@repslaughter.com
Representative Kelly M. Cassidy, Vice Chairman
Phone: (217) 782-8088
Email: repcassidy@gmail.com
Representative Terri Bryant, Republican Spokesperson
Phone: (217) 782-0387
Email: staterepterribryant@gmail.com
Representative Kambium Buckner
Phone: (217) 782-2023
Representative John M. Cabello
Phone: (217) 782-0455
Email: Cabello@ilhousegop.org
Representative John Connor
Phone: (217) 782-4179
Email: repconnor@gmail.com
Representative Will Guzzardi
Phone: (217) 558-1032
Email: will@repguzzardi.com
Representative Michael Halpin
Phone: (217) 782-5970
Email: RepHalpin@gmail.com
Representative Jay Hoffman
Phone: (217) 782-0104
Email: repjayhoffman@gmail.com
Representative Tony McCombie
Phone: (217) 782-3992
Email: McCombie@ilhousegop.org
Representative Margo McDermed
Phone: (217) 782-0424
Email: McDermed@ilhousegop.org
Representative Lindsay Parkhurst
Phone: (217) 782-5981
Representative Delia C. Ramirez
Phone: (217) 782-0150
Email: info@repdeliaramirez.com
Representative Anne Stava-Murray
Phone: (217) 782-6578
Representative Arthur Turner
Phone: (217) 782-8116
Email: arthurt@ilga.gov
Representative Maurice A. West II
Phone: (217) 782-3167
Email: Assistance@StateRepWest.com
Representative Blaine Wilhour
Phone: (217) 782-0066
Representative Patrick Windhorst
Phone: (217) 782-5131
Representative Michael J. Zalewski
Phone: (217) 782-5280
Email: info@repmikezalewski.org
For more information on HB 1645 or other Illinois legislation, contact the Illinois Federation of Dog Clubs and Owners at schipnut58@yahoo.com or AKC’s Government Relations Department at doglaw@akc.org.