§ 21:52 — Guide or service dog; rights and privileges of owners and trainers; penalties for

Louisiana § 21:52

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 21: Hotels and Lodging Houses

Text

§52. Guide or service dog; rights and privileges of owners and trainers; penalties for
violations
A. Any blind person, visually impaired person, person who is deaf or hard of hearing,
or person with any other physical disability who is accompanied by a properly controlled dog
which such person has been taught to use as a guide or for service at a qualified dog guide
or service school, or any person who is qualified to provide training for a guide dog or
service animal and is accompanied by a guide dog in training, is entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of all public accommodation,
amusement, or resort, and other places to which the general public is invited, and shall be
entitled to take such dog into such conveyances and places, subject only to the
accommodations and limitations applicable to all persons not so accompanied, provided that
the dog shall not occupy a seat in any public conveyance.
B. Any person, firm, or corporation, or agent, representative, or employee of any
person, firm, or corporation who deprives any blind person, visually impaired person, person
who is deaf or hard of hearing, or person with any other physical disability, or any person
who is accompanied by a guide dog in training of any right conferred by Subsection A of this
Section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the parish jail for a
period not to exceed ninety days, or both, within the discretion of the judge; and for every
such offense such person shall forfeit and pay a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars to any
person aggrieved thereby, to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction in the parish
where such offense was committed.
C. The provisions of Subsections A and B of this Section shall be inapplicable unless
the person, as described in Subsections A and B of this Section, accompanied by a guide or
service dog, shall furnish evidence as to the training of the dog, which evidence shall be
obtained from the training agency or school by which the dog has been trained. If the person
is accompanied by a guide dog in training as described in Subsection A of this Section, that
person shall furnish evidence of his qualifications to provide training for a guide dog, or the
provisions of Subsections A and B of this Section shall be inapplicable.

Legislative History

Added by Acts 1954, No. 83, §1. Amended by Acts 1962, No. 33, §1; Acts 1981, No. 407, §1; Acts 1993, No. 763, §1; Acts 2009, No. 373, §1; Acts 2014, No. 811, §10, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2017, No. 146, §4.