Bill Text: NJ A4036 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires organizations training disabled veteran assistance dogs to register with Division of Consumer Affairs and provide disabled veteran assistance dogs with vests and harnesses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [A4036 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4036-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires organizations training disabled veteran assistance dogs to register with Division of Consumer Affairs and provide disabled veteran assistance dogs with vests or harnesses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning disabled veterans and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this act:
"Disabled veteran assistance dog" means a service dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a veteran with a disability.
"Division" means the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
"Handler" means a veteran with a disability.
2. a. A non-profit service dog training organization which trains disabled veteran assistance dogs shall not operate in this State unless the organization is registered with division in accordance with the provisions of this section.
b. The non-profit service dog training organization shall annually register with the division on a form and in a manner prescribed by the division. The form shall include the name and address of the organization and any other information that the division shall prescribe by rule. The division may set forth requirements for registration, including, but not limited to, a requirement that the organization be registered with or accredited by an organization that provides accreditation for organizations that train assistance dogs or that otherwise accredits service dog training organizations. The application shall be accompanied by a reasonable fee, set by the division, in an amount sufficient to defray the division's expenses incurred in administering and enforcing this section.
3. a. A non-profit service dog training organization registered with the division pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
(1) shall provide every disabled veteran assistance dog which the organization trains, upon request by the handler of the disabled veteran assistance dog, a vest or harness that identifies the dog as a working animal. The vest or harness shall:
(a) be labeled, in clearly visible block letters, with the words "DISABLED VETERAN ASSISTANCE DOG" or the acronym of
"DVAD" for "disabled veteran assistance dog";
(b) be printed or decorated with an identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, denoting the dog as a disabled veteran assistance dog; or
(c) have a patch decorated with the logo or symbol developed by the organization pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection affixed to it; and
(2) shall provide, upon request, the handler of a disabled veteran assistance dog which the organization trains with an identification card, printed or decorated with an identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, containing the following information:
(a) the name of the handler of the disabled veteran assistance dog to whom the card has been issued;
(b) the name and breed of the disabled veteran assistance dog;
(c) the name of the non-profit service dog training organization that trained the handler's disabled veteran assistance dog; and
(d) any other information the non-profit organization deems appropriate for identification purposes.
b. Nothing in subsection a. of this section shall be construed to authorize the use of the term "disabled veteran assistance dog" by any non-profit service dog training organization that is not registered with the division.
c. A vest or harness provided by a non-profit service dog training organization pursuant to subsection a. of this section may be worn by a disabled veteran assistance dog whenever the dog accompanies its handler in any place where the general public is allowed.
4. It shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.) for any organization to violate any provision of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
5. In accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act, including the requirements that a non-profit service dog training organization must meet in order to register with the division in accordance with the provisions of this act.
6. This act shall take effect on the first day of the eighteenth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
The bill stipulates that a non-profit organization that trains a disabled veteran assistance dog is prohibited from operating in this State unless the organization annually registers with the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety. As used in the bill: "disabled veteran assistance dog" means a service dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a veteran with a disability. Under the bill, a non-profit organization registered with the division is to provide every disabled veteran assistance dog the organization trains with a vest or harness that identifies the dog as a working animal, if requested by the dog's handler. The vest or harness is to: (1) be labeled, in clearly visible block letters, with the words "DISABLED VETERAN ASSISTANCE DOG" or the acronym of "DVAD" ; (2) be printed or decorated with an identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, denoting the dog as a disabled veteran assistance dog; or (3) have a patch decorated with the logo or symbol developed by the organization affixed to it. The vest or harness may be worn by a disabled veteran assistance dog whenever the dog accompanies its handler, defined in the bill as a veteran with a disability, in any place where the general public is allowed.
The organization training a disabled veteran assistance dog will additionally, upon request by the dog's handler, provide the handler with an identification card that includes an identifiable logo or symbol providing: (1) the name of the handler; (2) the name and breed of the disabled veteran assistance dog; (3) the name of the organization that trained dog; and (d) any other information the organization deems appropriate for identification purposes.
The bill provides that it is an unlawful practice and a violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act for any organization to violate any provision of the bill.
The bill requires the division to adopt requirements that a non-profit service dog training organization must meet in order to train disabled veteran assistance dogs in the State.
