(A) A person commits the offense of violence on a service dog when he or she:
(1) Intentionally injures, harasses or threatens to injure or harass; or
(2) Attempts to intentionally injure, harass or threaten a dog that he or she knows or has reason to believe is a dog guide for a blind or visually-impaired person, a hearing aid dog for a deaf or hearing-impaired person or a service dog for a physically limited person.
(B) A person commits the offense of interference with a service dog when he or she:
(1) Intentionally impedes, interferes or threatens to impede or interfere; or
(2) Attempts to intentionally impede, interfere or threaten to impede or interfere with a dog that he or she knows or has reason to believe is a dog guide for a blind or visually-impaired person, a hearing aid dog for a deaf or hearing-impaired person or a service dog for a physically limited person.
(C) Evidence that the defendant initiated or continued conduct toward a dog as described in subsections (A) or (B) above after being requested to avoid or discontinue such conduct by the blind, visually-impaired, deaf, hearing-impaired or physically limited person being served or assisted by the dog shall create a rebuttable presumption that the conduct of the defendant was initiated or continued intentionally.
(D) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BLIND PERSON. A person with totally impaired vision or with vision, with or without correction, which is so severely impaired that the primary means of receiving information is through other sensory input, including, but not limited to, braille, mechanical reproduction, synthesized speech or readers.
DEAF PERSON. A person with totally impaired hearing or with hearing, with or without amplification, which is so severely impaired that the primary means of receiving spoken language is through other sensory input, including, but not limited to, lip reading, sign language, finger spelling or reading.
HEARING-IMPAIRED PERSON. A person who is unable to hear air conduction thresholds at an average of 40 decibels or greater in the person’s better ear.
PHYSICALLY LIMITED PERSON. A person having limited ambulatory abilities, including, but not limited to, having a permanent impairment or condition that requires the person to use a wheelchair or to walk with difficulty or insecurity to the extent that the person is insecure or exposed to danger.
VISUALLY-IMPAIRED PERSON. A person having a visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the person’s better eye with correction or having a limitation to the person’s field of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angular distance not greater than 20 degrees.
(Ord. 598, passed 8-11-1998)
Statutory reference:
Similar provisions, see Neb. RS 28-1009.01