2008 Updated Maine State Service Dog Laws: Maine Human Rights Commission Site

Summer is near!

Are you visiting Maine soon? Going camping or touristing? If you are bringing your service dog you will be happy to know that Maine now provides the protection that the ADA provides for you plus some!

Thanks to the Maine Human Rights Commission, http://maine.gov/mhrc/about/index.html I am able to post the documents that will inform those who wish to (or need to) know the updated service dog laws for the State of Maine. A lot of hard work was put into rewriting these laws and I feel that these revisions do not step on anyone's toes and allows for public access for people with all sorts of disabilities protecting their right to utilize service dogs in Maine communities. Perhaps this will never be a hassle free thing (to use a service dog when one has no apparent disability) but this is a big and great step forward for the state. In the future, Maine will be taking an active role in educating the public and Maine places of businesses about service dogs... not just informing them of the handler of the service dog, but also their rights as business owners... many do not even know they have rights at all.

Here is the rewritten definition of Service Dog...

http://mainegov-images.informe.org/mhrc/laws/Final_Proposed_Rule_files/052008%2094-348%20Proposed%20Changes.pdf

Maine State Revisions to the Statutory Definition of Service Dog

http://mainegov-images.informe.org/mhrc/laws/Service%20Animal%2006%202008.pdf

Above photo: Governor Baldacci attends Bangor, Maine's Memorial Day Ceremony. He is a resident of Bangor. I shook his hand and thanked him for signing the bill.

It was really awesome (though at times very discouraging) to be a part of the task force that worked so hard on these changes. I am hoping I will not have to jump in and take part in another task force for a while as I am still recovering.

Read some of my earlier posts to see why I am still recovering from this whole experience.

If anyone has any questions, please leave me a message on my blog and I will see if I can answer them for you.