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TOP DOG 2017

SAVE The DATE
TOP DOG 2017
Sponsored by Guide Dog Users of Florida, Georgia Guide Dog Users and Dixieland Guide Dog Users

Event Dates: Thursday, January 12, 2017 through Sunday, January 15, 2017.

Location: Orlando, Florida, Holiday Inn and Suites Across From Universal Orlando

Room Rate: $89.00 per night with an additional 12.5% applicable taxes

Deluxe rooms are also available at reduced rates

Hotel rates are in effect three days prior and post event dates

We are bringing a very delicious and affordable food package

Guide Dog Users of Florida is excited to host Top Dog 2017 with the able assistance of our friends in Georgia Guide Dog Users and Dixieland Guide Dog Users. As we move forward with event planning, I will be sending out requests for your ideas for programming and fun activities, so start thinking about that. If you have questions or comments now, please feel free to contact me at the information below my signature.

Every Top Dog program brings us to a higher level. With your assistance and participation, we believe that Top Dog2017 will be no exception to this historical reality.

Please feel free to spread this announcement far and wide. All guide dog users and those interested in the movement are welcome to join us for exciting and educational programming and the opportunity to engage an meaningful fellowship and friendship building. Please plan to join us.

Respectfully,
Debbie Grubb, Event Coordinator

Kathleen Trutschel, Registrar

Debbie Grubb
Debbiecgrubb1@gmail.com

Smart Phones and Emergency Information

Smart phones provide many safety features, including a simple way for first responders to access your emergency contact and medical Information. In your contacts, label the person you want contacted
ICE, their name and relationship to you. ICE stands for In Case of
Emergency. Example: In my case, I have my husband’s mobile number
listed as “ICE – Darrell husband”. You can add your personal medical information (allergies, medicine you are taking, your doctor’s contact
information) under Notes in your ICE contact. It is recommended that you have list two ICE contacts.
ANYONE can use your phone, activate SIRI (press and hold the Home button on the iPhone) and say, “Call ICE” – even when your phone is locked!

Here is a good website that explains this.https://rnn10.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/how-to-set-up-an-ice-contact-on-your-iphone/

Please share this with friends, family and especially with students!

The GDUI DAPP Team

Self-Advocacy and Ground Transportation

Under the Department of Transportation (DOT) ADA regulations, transit entities must permit service animals to accompany individuals with disabilities in all vehicles and service facilities. Title II of the ADA covers publically-operated services such as buses, subways, complimentary ADA paratransit services, Amtrak, and commuter railroads. Title III of the ADA covers privately-operated transportation services such as bus lines; tour buses; shuttles; limos; and taxicabs. State laws may offer additional or greater protections for passengers with service animals.

 

How to File a Complaint Against Publically Operated Transportation Services

Questions and complaints should be directed to the DOT’s Federal Transit Administration Office of Civil Rights at (888) 446-4511.

 

How to File a Complaint Against Privately-Operated Transportation Services

Questions and complaints should be directed to The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division Disability Rights Section at (800) 514-0301

 

FAQs About Transportation Services

Frequently asked questions about the civil rights of people with disabilities regarding transit vehicles and facilities. Includes service animal related information.

Self-Advocacy and Air Travel

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) prohibits discrimination against passengers with disabilities who travel by air with service animals.  The rule applies to flights of U.S. airlines, and to flights to or from the United States by foreign airlines. When passing through security checkpoints, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for screening air travelers with service animals. Prior to travel, passengers with questions about screening policies, procedures or what to expect when they arrive at the airport security checkpoint may call TSA Cares at 1-855-787-2227 or email TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov.

 

How to File a Discrimination Complaint Against the Airline

Passengers who feel they have been discriminated against by the airline can also request immediate on site assistance from a Complaint Resolution Official (CRO) or call the Aviation Consumer Disability Hotline at (866) 266-1368.

 

How to File a Complaint Against Airport Security Checkpoints

Complaint form and instructions for filing a disability-related complaint with the Transportation Security Administration.

 

Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Air Travel of People with Disabilities

FAQ published by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. Includes several questions about service animal regulations under the Air Carrier Access Act.

 

Screening Air Travelers with Service Animals

Specific information related to screening passengers with service animals at airport security checkpoints.

ACB Lawsuit Against D.C. Taxi Companies

Guide Dog Users, Inc., a proud special-affiliate of the American Council of the Blind (ACB(, Applauds ACB and others for taking a stand against discrimination, and on behalf of all people who are blind, especially those of us who choose to partner with guide dogs! GDUI stands ready, and eager to support this action in any way, since the issues of access and civil rights brought forward by this law suit provide the context within which most of our members live our daily lives. Bravo, ACB! For more information, visit http://acb.org/cab-PR

Sincerely, Penny Reeder, President Guide Dog Users, Inc.

An Act Regarding Service Dogs in Maine

127th MAINE LEGISLATURE

FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2015

Legislative Document No. 547

H.P.

371 House of Representatives, February 26, 2015

An Act Regarding Service Dogs

Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and

ordered printed.

49

ROBERT B. HUNT

Clerk

Presented by Representative CAMPBELL of Orrington. (BY REQUEST)

Cosponsored by Senator SAVIELLO of Franklin and

Representatives: DOORE of Augusta, LAJOIE of Lewiston, MAKER of Calais, NADEAU of

Winslow, STANLEY of Medway, TUELL of East Machias.

Printed on recycled paper

 

table with 2 columns and 33 rows

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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

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Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §3922, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 664, §11, is further

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amended to read:

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  1. Service dogs. If a service dog has not been previously registered or licensed by

 

the municipal clerk to whom the application is being made, the clerk may not register the

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dog nor issue to its owner or keeper a license and tag that identifies the dog as a service

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dog unless the applicant presents written evidence to the municipal clerk that the dog

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meets the definition of “service dog.” For the purpose of this subsection “written

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evidence” means a service dog certification form approved by the department in

 

consultation with the Maine Human Rights Commission. The service dog certification

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form must include a letter signed by a physician, psychologist, physician assistant or

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nurse practitioner indicating that the owner or keeper or a member of the owner’s or

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keeper’s household requires the service dog and a certification or other document

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indicating that the service dog has completed training from an established service animal

 

training organization or has been evaluated by a certified animal trainer and found to have

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a sound temperament suitable for a service dog.

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Sec. 2. 7 MRSA §3923-B, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:

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1-A. Service dog registration tag. In accordance with subsection 1, the department

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shall ensure that, with regard to the registration and licensing of a service dog, the service

 

dog’s registration tag clearly indicates that the dog is a service animal pursuant to Title 5,

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section 4553, subsection 9-E. The department shall devise a method of ensuring that a

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service dog’s registration tag is clearly visible to the public.

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SUMMARY

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This bill requires that an individual registering a service dog present to the municipal

 

clerk a letter signed by a physician, psychologist, physician assistant or nurse practitioner

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indicating that the individual or a member of the individual’s household requires the

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service dog and a certification or other document indicating that the service dog has

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completed training from an established service animal training organization or has been

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evaluated by a certified animal trainer and found to have a sound temperament suitable

 

for a service dog. It also requires the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and

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Forestry to ensure that the registration tag of a service dog clearly indicates that the dog is

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a service animal and to devise a method of ensuring that a service dog’s registration tag is

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visible to the public.

Congratulations to the Successful Advocates for the Civil Rights of Guide and Service Dog Users in Arizona

This morning the Arizona House of Representatives held a hearing on a proposed amendment to a bill which was expected to have widespread and bipartisan support, as it dealt with amusement park safety and replaced an older law which needed to be updated. Unlike the bill, the proposed amendment would have had disastrous consequences for guide and service dog users in Arizona — requiring them to register annually as people with disabilities who needed to use service dogs, requiring their dogs to wear garments identifying themselves and their owners with photo IDs, requiring guide and service dog users to have annual medical appointments to verify their disabilities, and barring service dogs from restaurants and virtually anywhere else owners could claim health code violations. In addition, the proposed amendment would have disavowed the state’s obligation to follow the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

Notice of the proposed amendment and the hearing concerning it was released only yesterday, and you can imagine how the blindness and disability communities must have had to scramble to arrive at the hearing this morning and to sign up to testify.

 

GDUI received great news from Liz Whitlock, president of Guide Dog Users of Arizona, who was able to attend the hearing and to share the good news with all of us that advocacy worked extremely well to defeat the amendment. It went down “in flames,” by an 8 to 0 vote against its  inclusion in the bill.

 

GDUI wants to congratulate Liz and all of the members of GDUAZ on successfully defeating this proposed draconian legislation.

 

In addition to showing up at the hearing and signing up to testify, many members of GDUAZ wrote compelling letters to their representatives and to the chair of the committee who had introduced the amendment. Ron Brooks wrote one of the most effective letters related to advocacy for civil rights and against restricting those rights any of us has ever seen.

 

I am sharing Liz’s message to me concerning today’s outcome, and I know that all of you join me in congratulating GDUAZ, and the blindness and disability communities — even as we remind ourselves that we must remain ever vigilant to preserve and defend our hard-won civil rights!

 

Here is Liz’s message:

 

Hi Penny,

Good News from Arizona.   The amendment failed to the proposal, 8-0.  The

room was filled with guide dog users, service dog users, trainers, attorneys

(speaking on behalf of illegalities), agencies representing the blind and

visually impaired community, and even one person from the restaurant

industry.  I was slotted to speak, but a ways down the list.  After 16 or 17

people has spoken in opposition of the amendment, the committee recessed and

took a vote.

We are thankful that the proposition did not go through, and will keep a

close eye to ensure it does not pop up again.

 

Thanks for the support,

Liz Whitlock

 

You and your Guide Dog welcomes Penny Reeder

You and your Guide Dog welcomes Penny Reeder, the national President of Guide Dog users, Inc., tonight at 8 pm. EST.  If you wish to attend via the telephone, come by ten minutes prior to the event by calling (605) 475-6777; access code: 090807 followed by a press of the pound key.

You can also attend by computer. Go to: www.accessibleworld.org and hit h until you hear conference rooms. Then tab down to Guide Dog users Room and enter. If this is your first time, then tab down to download and enter. Download run and install our simple software and you will be prompted to reenter the room. Then put your name in the username field and tab once to log in and enter. No password is needed.

 

Hope to talk with many of you this evening.

Bob Acosta