Takko unleashes bill to admit dogs in training

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By Don Jenkins - The Daily News Longview, Washington.

A Longview lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require restaurants, stores and other public places to let in guide dogs in training, though guide-dog users and schools say they fear a mandate will cause a backlash against working guide dogs and their owners.

House Bill 2461 would grant puppies being groomed to lead visually or hearing impaired people the same access now guaranteed by state and federal law to working guide dogs.


Some states, including Oregon, have adopted such laws. Washington establishments can exclude dogs in training.

"How are you going to train a dog if they don't have the ability to go places?" asked Democratic Rep. Dean Takko, who filed the bill Thursday. It's one of 284 bills already introduced for the 2006 legislative session, which convenes Monday.

Takko said he sponsored the bill at the request of Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning, whose wife, Angela, is training a guide dog.

Warning said Friday that a lodge and hotels have refused to let the dog in. "We've had very little trouble locally, it's mostly been out of town," he said.

A law would remove the barrier and relieve restaurants and other establishments the burden of setting a policy that satisfied its customers, Warning said.

Guide Dogs for the Blind spokeswoman Joanne Ritter said she didn't know of any problems the law has caused in states that have adopted the policy.

Still, the organization, which has schools in California and Boring, Ore., tells trainers to not enter places without permission, even in states that guarantee access, Ritter said.

"If the establishment says 'no,' we ask the trainees to offer education in a positive manner and leave if they're still not welcome," she said.

"You don't want to do anything that creates a backlash against the access people who are blind or disabled have fought so hard to obtain," Ritter said. "We want our puppy trainers to generate positive community support and not force the issue."

Guide Dog Users of Washington State President Joleen Ferguson of Walla Walla said the group has opposed previous attempts to push the mandate through the Legislature. "I think it opens a can of worms."

Guide-dog trainers depend on the goodwill of businesses, she said.

Good relationships between business and guide-dog trainers could be hurt if managers believe they have to put up with unruly puppies, even though the law allows them to evict troublesome dogs, she said.

Generally, trainers have not had a problem finding places they can take their dogs, she said. "I don't think it's a problem. There might be an isolated problem in certain communities."

Takko said he still plans to pursue the legislation despite the cold reception.

"To me, it's a good idea," he said. "Right now, a dog in training doesn't have the right to go anywhere. It's just a dog."