LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A bill to make training service animals easier will take effect March 1, 2023. Businesses will no longer be permitted to request service animals in training to leave the premises unless they are “out of control” or improperly house trained.

Paws with a Cause, a nonprofit that custom-trains assistance dogs for people with disabilities, worked closely with State Representative Tommy Brann to get the new law passed. Alexis Bolo Neal, Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator, says she believes it will help the organization better train their service dogs to fit the needs of each individual client.

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“[The dogs] need to go out and get public access in order to be able to understand and work with their client without disruption,” she said, “but we have not always been able to go into the places where a client may potentially need to be.” Until recently, she said, a few local businesses had been letting them train their service dogs indoors, but that wasn’t always ideal for clients who wanted their dogs acclimated to a specific location or environment.

According to Neal, education about the laws will be the best way to ensure that everyone benefits from the changes. “The laws are there to protect people and to help those with disabilities, but if we do not educate ourselves on what the current laws are, it’s not going to matter.” She added that Paws with a Cause regularly helps clients who have been turned away from businesses because of their fully trained service dogs, even though this discrimination has been federally illegal since 1990.

Some worry that the new law could make it easier for people to disguise pets as service animals. Doing so is already a misdemeanor that carries a possible sentence of 90 days in jail, a fine of no more than $500, and 30 days of community service. Untrained animals can be dangerous to service dogs, and businesses are limited in what questions they can ask to determine whether a dog’s qualifications are legitimate. Neal hopes that as the new law brings the topic into the public spotlight, more people will recognize the safety issues inherent in fabricating a dog’s training history.

Brann, who sponsored the bill, recognizes that this may be a concern for businesses but says they have recourse in certain situations. “They’re worried about businesses that maybe have the service dog act out, the businesses wouldn’t have the opportunity to have them leave, but they do,” he told WZZM. “So the bill is flexible that way.”

As the new law takes effect, Heal is optimistic that people will become better educated about service animals and disability laws. “I think this [law] is a really great step forward, and we’re really happy about it,” she said. “We’re hopeful that with new laws like this … that the community and business owners will continue to be educated and ask questions.”