Service Dogs in Michigan Registration FAQ

On Tuesday October 20th 2015 Governor Snyder signed into law Public Act 145. We have received a lot of questions regarding how this impacts people with existing service dogs. We wanted to create a post to answer some of the questions we receive. Public Act 145 is an act to help product disabled people who utilize a service dog to make everyday tasks easier. This law has required the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to enact a voluntary identification card for service animals. It also requires that the department receive reports of problems encountered by a person with a disability while using a service animal. To clear up any confusion between the new law and how it relates to the Americans with Disabilities Act let me explain. This new law does not impact you in anyway other than if you have a negative experience with ab business while utilizing your service dog. It’s no secret that in the past few years the number of “fake” service dogs has sky rocketed which has caused problems for those that utilize a “real” service dog. Under the new law, there is a system which will help prevent any negative experiences, as it allows the government to sign-off on the validity of your animal.

If you decide to register your SA with the State of Michigan you will be required to submit an application, an affidavit (notorized), and your doctors will be required to sign an authorization acknowledging you should have a SD. Once you have all of those documents you will submit this to the State of Michigan. In return you will receive an ID card with your picture and dogs information and a patch from the State of Michigan to be attached to your dogs working vest.  (See picture)

In addition to these benefits of the law there are also some additions that increase the consequences for using a fake service dog.

You can read more about the bill by clicking here.

We hope this clears up any confusion.