N.S. introduces law to protect rights of service dog users

Military veteran Cole Lyle, who suffers with PTSD, and his dog Kaya, wait in the hallway of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, April 14, 2016. (AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia is moving to certify service dogs, protecting the growing number of people who have trained service dogs by restricting those who get to claim that status for their pets.

Justice Minister Diana Whalen outlined the Service Dog Act Friday, saying the new law will ensure users won't be denied access to public places like grocery stores or buses, or refused tenancy rights.

"It ensures that all service and guide dog users are treated with the respect in public that they need to be," said Medric Cousineau, one of several certified service dog users on hand for the announcement at Province House.

"Conversely, the public has a right to ensure that those dogs that share their public spaces...truly are what they are supposed to be."

The legislation makes Nova Scotia one of the few provinces to offer such protections for people who need the animals.

Whalen said it became clear during consultations last summer that rules were needed for people who use the dogs for a range of medical and emotional needs, such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

"Service dogs are highly trained medical aids that provide their handlers with a level of support that is essential to their daily activities," she said, as half a dozen service dogs wearing special vests slept in front of her at their handlers' feet.

"People who rely on service dogs are facing increasing difficulties associated with discrimination."

The law, if passed, will establish a registrar to oversee application, certification and identification standards to help businesses determine which service dog users qualify for rights protection. That will include a card for the dog handlers, indicating they are certified.

It will also set out penalties ranging from $500 to $3,000 for people who deny access to service dog users and for anyone who falsely represents a service dog team.

Whalen said the law is modelled after similar legislation in British Columbia, one of only a few provinces in the country along with Alberta that has such laws.

Cousineau, who sat with his four-year-old service dog Thai at Province House Friday, said the long-awaited legislation should help distinguish between professionally trained animals and those who are being passed off as service animals but who do not have proper training.

Cousineau uses the blond lab to help him cope with PTSD related to his military service. He says Thai, who received extensive training on how to help him, can sense when he is becoming stressed and wakes him if he is having night terrors.

"When I start to ramp up, she gets on me and says, 'Whoa, buddy,"' he says, moments after Thai sidled close to him as he became emotional. "People have stereotypes -- 'You don't look blind to me.' Well, I'm not, but my dog provides a very valuable function."

Kim Gingell, who also suffers from PTSD related to years of military service, said she hopes the new legislation will address barriers to access she and her three-year-old dog Omega have faced.

She said she has been shooed out of stores and questioned on whether her dog is a certified service animal, something that has been difficult to prove without provincial recognition.

"I went into one of the grocery store chains and staff would come running at me (saying), 'You can't have that dog here,"' she said. "It would happen all the time."

The head of one of the country's largest private sector organizations also welcomed the legislation.

Jim Cormier of the Retail Council of Canada said the legislation will provide retailers with clear rules on how to handle customers and their service dogs. He said business owners are at times forced to deal with untrained dogs and their owners, who threaten to file complaints if they're not allowed into their stores.

"It puts the retailer in an untenable situation," he said, describing one grocer who complained of having an untrained "comfort" dog come into a store and head straight to the meat counter.

It's estimated that about 200 people in Nova Scotia use service dogs, Whalen said.