M A I N   N E W S

Animals to come to the aid of disabled as per proposed law 
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 1
The disabled in India can finally look forward to animals as their companions and helpers. Long after the West woke up to the utility of service animals for persons with disabilities, India has also turned a fresh leaf with its new disability law mandating the facility of service animals by law.

As and when the government approves the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2011, rules and regulations would have to be put in place to train animals that can serve the disabled who seek such services.

Simply put, this means, the state governments concerned would be, by law, required to set up training facilities for animals - be it dogs or cats - to assist and guide the blind and deaf or monkeys to help quadriplegics with their daily chores.

Presented to the government yesterday (as first reported by The Tribune), the Bill covers this long-neglected issue under the head of “accessibility” and tasks the proposed National Disability Rights Authority with the formulation of regulations for service animal training centres.

It adds, “The governments and establishments shall permit and facilitate use of service animals by persons with disabilities on roads, buildings, all transport systems and public facilities. A person with disabilities needing assistance shall have the right to be accompanied by a service animal without being required to pay an extra charge for the same.”

Importantly, service animals are defined by the disability laws of most developed nations. The American Disabilities Act states: “Service animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Service animals are working animals and not pets.”