State, City Bar Groups Issue Guide on Service Animals (New York Law Journal)
New York Law Journal, May 5, 2017
State, City Bar Groups Issue Guide on Service Animals
The New York City and New York state bar associations have released a guide to clarify the legal rights of people who use service animals and for those who must accommodate them. The “Guide to the Use of Service Animals in New York State” explains federal, state and local laws for owners and trainers of service animals, as well as employers, landlords, merchants and other property owners and managers. It also offers guidance to lawmakers, government officials, attorneys and the courts. Mark Leeds, a city government attorney who sits on the disability committees of the state and city bar, led a task force that worked on the guide for about a year. He said the goal was to “give a bottom line” about what is and isn’t legally allowed, and where. ‘The Americans with Disabilities Act says if there are local laws that provide greater rights than those under the ADA, those local laws apply,’ he said. ‘In New York City, city law applies.'”
