There was unanimous agreement (125-0) as the Minnesota House passed a bill late Monday that would make it illegal for anyone to misrepresent that their animal is a service animal. Sponsor, Fosston Republican Steve Green says, “The idea was brought to me be an elderly lady whose service dog had been attacked by someone who had a dog that was impersonating a service animal, and that dog had to be put down.”
Backers say impostor service dogs are not trained on proper behavior in public places, and make it difficult for legitimate service dogs to do their job. They hope a new state law will embarrass those who misrepresent their animals into not doing it any more.