Arizona bill would fine residents for misrepresenting service animals

PHOENIX — An Arizona lawmaker is pushing a bill that would make it illegal for someone to misrepresent their pet as a service animal.

Arizona State Sen. John Kavanagh said his bill would charge pet owners $250 if they are caught claiming that their animal is a service animal when it is not.

Kavanagh said he is pushing for these protections because he believes this is a major problem in the state.

“Under current law, anyone can buy a $20 vest online, put it on their pet and tell store owners or airlines or any establishment that it’s a service dog, which gives the dog free reign to wreck havoc,” he said.

“These untrained animals give a very bad reputation and cast a cloud of suspicion over legitimate service animals,” Kavanagh added.

The state senator said he believes that the passage of his bill will “reduce the fraudulent misrepresentation of these animals.”

But not everyone is on board: Some disability advocates worry that the bill could lead to people with real service animals having to disclose personal information about their medical conditions in order to avoid being fined.

KTAR News’ Griselda Zetino contributed to this report. 

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