A special Senate Study Committee tasked with looking at the state’s certification process for service animals in Georgia heard from representatives of the Georgia Department of Veterans Services and the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities in a special hearing Tuesday morning at the Capitol.
Sen. Renee Unterman (R–Buford) chairs the committee on Service Animals for Physically or Mentally Impaired Persons — which was created through Senate Resolution 467 during the 2018 Legislative Session.
The committee is composed of five members of the Senate and is currently looking at laws related to the certification process for service animals to determine if there is a need for “a uniform certification process or the issuance of information cards” in Georgia.
Additionally, the committee is looking into the issue of “fake service animals” and will decide if this should be considered a criminal act. The resolution states that “some individuals take their pets with them to public accommodations and facilities, claiming such pet is a service animal when, in actuality, such pet is a ‘fake service animal.’”
Dawn Alford, Public Policy Director for Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities testified that education of the new laws would be critical if legislators decided to move forward with criminalizing ‘fake service dogs.’
“We need to be aware of the unintended consequences of penalizing for this, and we need to make sure we approach this with some care,” said committee member Sen. Nan Orrock (D-Atlanta).
Representatives from the Georgia Department of Veterans Services testified that veterans are the primary users of service animals and added that the VA does not issue or require certificates of training or licensing related to service animals. He also said that if the lawmakers agree to move forward with legislation regarding his, the VA had two recommendations: the individual must have a disability and the service animal must be trained to provide a task or service.
The committee has already heard testimony for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Health.
Unterman said she expects to have one final meeting “sometime around Christmas.”
