Hooray for Michigan

The state of Michigan, where Debby (and now Trooper) and I spend May through October, now offers two sensible new tools for people with disabilities who use service animals: a card officially identifying dog and handler as a registered service animal team, and an official state patch to apply to the animal’s vest.

The state hopes the new law will help schools, restaurateurs, shopkeepers and the like separate true service dog or miniature horse teams from fraudulent ones. 

It doesn’t conflict with the U.S. Justice Department’s guidelines, which declare that service animals and their handlers are not required to possess any kind of identification for access anywhere the public is allowed. The new Michigan tools are entirely voluntary.

If one prefers to go incognito, that’s fine. If one prefers some kind of visible official flag to help identify one’s dog or horse as a genuine service animal, that’s also fine.

I approve wholeheartedly. In fact, I’m going to apply for the tools. Even though my legal residence is in Illnois, the law provides for out-of-staters as well.

Now I'm hoping Illinois follows suit.

Details of the new Michigan law can be found here.