10 DIGIT ID CODE

TEXAS SERVICE DOG LAWS

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DEFINITIONS

Under Title 8, "RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:

“Assistance animal” and “service animal” mean: A canine that is specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability and that is used by a person with a disability.

“Housing accommodations” means: All or part of real property that is used or occupied or is intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more human beings, except a single-family residence whose occupants rent, lease, or furnish for compensation only one room.

“Person with a disability” means a person who has: a mental, intellectual disability, deafness, speech and visual impairment, a post-traumatic stress disorder, or any health impairment that requires special ambulatory devices or services.

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ACCOMMODATION LAW

A person with a disability of a state is entitled to have a leave of absence without a deduction in salary for the purpose of attending a training program to acquaint the employee with an assistance dog to be used by the employee. The leave of absence provided by this section may not exceed 10 working days in a fiscal year. V. T. C. A., Government Code § 661.910

 

Any persons with disabilities have the same right as persons without disabilities given with the full use and enjoyment of any public facility in the state. None of them may be denied for admittance to any public facility in the state because of the person's disability.

There is no common carrier like, airplane, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar, boat, or other public conveyance or mode of transportation operating within the state may refuse to accept as a passenger a person with a disability because of the person's disability, nor may a person with a disability be required to pay an additional fare because of his or her use of a service animal, wheelchair, crutches, or other device used to assist a person with a disability in travel. V. T. C. A., Human Resources Code § 121.003

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HARASSMENT OF/INTERFERENCE WITH SERVICE DOGS

Under Title 8, Rights and Responsibilities of Persons with Disabilities:

A person may not assault, harass, interfere with, kill, or injure in any way, or attempt to assault, harass, interfere with, kill, or injure in any way, an assistance animal.

The person with a disability deprived of his or her civil liberties may maintain a cause of action for damages in a court of competent jurisdiction, and there is a conclusive presumption of damages in the amount of at least $300 to the person with a disability. V. T. C. A., Human Resources Code § 121.004

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DRIVING LAW

The driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection or crosswalk where a pedestrian is guided by an assistance animal, crossing or attempting to cross shall take necessary precautions to avoid injuring or endangering the pedestrian; any driver who fails to take such precautions is liable in damages for any injury caused the pedestrian. V. T. C. A., Transportation Code § 552.010