Category Archives: Service Animals
Is your club truly private? Piper the Service Dog vs. Boca Ciega Yacht Club
Piper is a dog, but she also has an uncanny talent for killing bees. This talent has aided her partner, Samantha Ring, who lives with severe allergies to bees and sunflower seeds and has a history of anaphylactic reactions to both. Piper saved Ms. Ring’s life by killing a bee while Ms. Ring was out on her boat without her EpiPen, so she decided to keep Piper and train her to be a service dog. On July 12, 2021, Piper the Dog finally got her day. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his partner’s case and found that there are certain questions of fact that need to be resolved before deeming the Boca Ciega Yacht Club in Gulfport Florida, a “private club” for purposes of the private club exemption under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Florida Legislature Animal Bill Update and Positions
Since its inception in 2002, Disability Independence Group has been active in enhancing options for persons with disabilities to benefit from the assistance and companionship of animals. Our advocacy ranges from ensuring that service animals and emotional support animals are permitted in housing and employment to embedding therapy animals in social services agencies that… Read More »
What to do with your Emotional Support Unicorn? – HUD’s New Guidance on Assistance Animals
On January 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published new guidance on Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act. The goal of the document is to provide both housing providers and persons with disabilities guidance on what is required to… Read More »
New Guidance on Emotional Support Animals for Air Carriers – What does it mean?
By Matthew Dietz Introduction: Almost nothing has engendered more controversy than turkeys, peacocks, and pigs on commercial aircraft. As a result of the many passengers who choose to bring their animals on aircraft, airlines have been establishing new guidelines without oversight or guidance from the Department of Transportation and their view of enforcement of… Read More »
Matthew Dietz – New Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Florida Bar
I am so excited and proud to be the Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Florida Bar. At the 2019 Florida Bar Convention, we educated the mind and soul of the membership of The Florida Bar.
A Landlord Cannot Force you to Declaw your Emotional Support Cat or Charge you a Cleaning Deposit for your Emotional Support Dog!
For a person with depression and anxiety, an emotional support animal provides the impetus to wake up in the morning and go to school or work. For Austin Cline, a student at Hillsborough Community College, Luna, his dog, gives him the ability to leave his parents house, go to college and then go… Read More »
No Wheelchair Users Allowed in a Miami Beach Condo!
Turns out that the least of Abbot House Condominium’s worries should have been whether Rachel Siler would not be able to get around in her wheelchair and would injure herself. Maybe instead of assuming she was an invalid who sleeps with her personal assistant, the Condominium Board should have started with the premise that she had a job, a life, and a passion for helping others. The real liability was the failure to acknowledge Rachel Siler as the die-hard disability advocate who works to help others destroy attitudinal barriers and harmful stereotypes.
Kiddle Ordinance passes in Hallandale Beach
By: Michele Lazarow, Hallandale Beach Commissioner I have always wanted to fight for those who could not fight for themselves. Once I realized that putting an official title in front of my name would be the best way to impact change, I ran for political office. I am now a Hallandale Beach City Commissioner…. Read More »
Florida’s New Service Animal Statute — Section 413.08
By: Matthew Dietz This legislative term, Florida Representative Jimmie T. Smith, from Citrus and part of Hernando Counties, sponsored one of the most progressive service animal bills in the United States, Florida Statute 413.08 (2015). As a veteran, Rep. Smith has become a leader for the Florida House when it comes to issues dealing… Read More »
Litigation Update: Anthony gets to keep Stevie in School!
By: Matthew Dietz On February 10, 2014, United States District Court Judge Beth Bloom ruled that Broward County School District violated Anthony Merchante’s rights, as a child with a disability, by denying his right to have a seizure alert animal accompany him at his elementary school. Anthony’s mother, Monica, requested that the school allow… Read More »