Requires organizations training disabled veteran assistance dogs to register with Division of Consumer Affairs and provide disabled veteran assistance dogs with vests or harnesses.

A1263

ASSEMBLY, No. 1263

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Flynn and Assemblyman Scharfenberger

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires organizations training disabled veteran
assistance dogs to register with Division of Consumer Affairs and provide
disabled veteran assistance dogs with vests or harnesses.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning disabled veterans and supplementing Title
56 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� a.� As used in this act:

���� �Disabled veteran assistance
dog� means a service dog that is individually trained to do work or perform
tasks for a veteran with a disability.

���� �Division� means the Division
of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

���� �Handler� means a veteran with
a disability.

���� 2.� a.� A non-profit service
dog training organization which trains disabled veteran assistance dogs shall
not operate in this State unless the organization is registered with division
in accordance with the provisions of this section.

���� b.� The non-profit service dog
training organization shall annually register with the division on a form and
in a manner prescribed by the division.� The form shall include the name and
address of the organization and any other information that the division shall
prescribe by rule.�
The division may set forth
requirements for registration, including, but not limited to, a requirement
that the organization be registered with or accredited by an organization that
provides accreditation for organizations that train assistance dogs or that
otherwise accredits service dog training organizations.
� The application
shall be accompanied by a reasonable fee, set by the division, in an amount
sufficient to defray the division�s expenses incurred in administering and
enforcing this section.

���� 3.� a.� A non-profit service
dog training organization registered with the division pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� (1) shall provide every
disabled veteran assistance dog which the organization trains, upon request by
the handler of the disabled veteran assistance dog, a vest or harness that
identifies the dog as a working animal.� The vest or harness shall:

���� (a) be labeled, in clearly
visible block letters, with the words �DISABLED VETERAN ASSISTANCE DOG� or the
acronym of

�DVAD� for �disabled veteran
assistance dog�;

���� (b) be printed or decorated
with an identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, denoting
the dog as a disabled veteran assistance dog; or

���� (c) have a patch decorated
with the logo or symbol developed by the organization pursuant to paragraph (2)
of this subsection affixed to it; and

���� (2) shall provide, upon
request, the handler of a disabled veteran assistance dog which the
organization trains with an identification card, printed or decorated with an
identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, containing the
following information:

���� (a) the name of the handler of
the disabled veteran assistance dog to whom the card has been issued;

���� (b) the name and breed of the
disabled veteran assistance dog;

���� (c) the name of the non-profit
service dog training organization that trained the handler�s disabled veteran
assistance dog; and

���� (d) any other information the
non-profit organization deems appropriate for identification purposes.

���� b.

�Nothing
in� subsection a. of this section shall be construed to authorize the use of
the term �disabled veteran assistance dog� by any non-profit service dog
training organization that is not registered with the division.

���� c.� A vest or harness provided
by a non-profit service dog training organization pursuant to subsection a. of
this section may be worn by a disabled veteran assistance dog whenever the dog
accompanies its handler in any place where the general public is allowed.

����
4.�
It shall be an unlawful practice and a violation of P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et
seq.) for any organization to violate any provision of P.L.��� , c.���
(C.������ ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� 5.� In accordance with the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall
adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act,
including the requirements that a non-profit service dog training organization
must meet in order to register with the division in accordance with the
provisions of this act.

���� 6.� This act shall take effect
on the first day of the eighteenth month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� The bill stipulates that a
non-profit organization that trains a disabled veteran assistance dog is
prohibited from operating in this State unless the organization annually
registers with the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and
Public Safety.� As used in the bill:� �disabled veteran assistance dog� means a
service dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a
veteran with a disability.� ���� Under the bill, a non-profit organization
registered with the division is to provide every disabled veteran assistance
dog the organization trains with a vest or harness that identifies the dog as a
working animal, if requested by the dog�s handler.� The vest or harness is to:�
(1) be labeled, in clearly visible block letters, with the words �DISABLED
VETERAN ASSISTANCE DOG� or the acronym of �DVAD� ; (2) be printed or decorated
with an identifiable logo or symbol, developed by the organization, denoting
the dog as a disabled veteran assistance dog; or (3) have a patch decorated with
the logo or symbol developed by the organization affixed to it.� The vest or
harness may be worn by a disabled veteran assistance dog whenever the dog
accompanies its handler, defined in the bill as a veteran with a disability, in
any place where the general public is allowed.

���� The organization training a
disabled veteran assistance dog will additionally, upon request by the dog�s
handler, provide the handler with an identification card that includes an
identifiable logo or symbol providing:� (1) the name of the handler; (2) the
name and breed of the disabled veteran assistance dog; (3) the name of the
organization that trained dog; and (d) any other information the organization
deems appropriate for identification purposes.

���� The bill provides that it is
an unlawful practice and a violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act for
any organization to violate any provision of the bill.

���� The bill requires the division
to adopt requirements that a non-profit service dog training organization must
meet in order to train disabled veteran assistance dogs in the State.