Section 955.011 | Registration for guide, leader, hearing or support dogs to be free and permanent.
(A) When an application is made for registration of an assistance dog and the owner can show proof by certificate or other means that the dog is an assistance dog, the owner of the dog shall be exempt from any fee for the registration. Registration for an assistance dog shall be permanent and not subject to annual renewal so long as the dog is an assistance dog. Certificates and tags stamped "Ohio Assistance Dog-Permanent Registration," with registration number, shall be issued upon registration of such a dog. Any certificate and tag stamped "Ohio Service Dog-Permanent Registration," with registration number, that was issued for a dog in accordance with this section as it existed on and after November 26, 2004, but prior to June 30, 2006, shall remain in effect as valid proof of the registration of the dog on and after November 26, 2004. Duplicate certificates and tags for a dog registered in accordance with this section, upon proper proof of loss, shall be issued and no fee required. Each duplicate certificate and tag that is issued shall be stamped "Ohio Assistance Dog-Permanent Registration."
(B) As used in this section and in sections 955.16 and 955.43 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Person with a mobility impairment" means any person, regardless of age, who is subject to a physiological impairment regardless of its cause, nature, or extent that renders the person unable to move about without the aid of crutches, a wheelchair, or any other form of support, or that limits the person's functional ability to ambulate, climb, descend, sit, rise, or perform any related function. "Person with a mobility impairment" includes a person with a neurological or psychological disability that limits the person's functional ability to ambulate, climb, descend, sit, rise, or perform any related function. "Person with a mobility impairment" also includes a person with a seizure disorder and a person who is diagnosed with autism.
(2) "Blind" means either of the following:
(a) Vision twenty/two hundred or less in the better eye with proper correction;
(b) Field defect in the better eye with proper correction that contracts the peripheral field so that the diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than twenty degrees.
(3) "Assistance dog" means a dog that has been trained by a nonprofit or for-profit special agency and that is one of the following:
(a) A guide dog;
(b) A hearing dog;
(c) A service dog.
(4) "Guide dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in training to assist a blind person.
(5) "Hearing dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in training to assist a deaf or hearing-impaired person.
(6) "Service dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in training to assist a person with a mobility impairment.
Last updated September 25, 2023 at 2:53 PM
Available Versions of this Section
- September 29, 2011 – House Bill 153 - 129th General Assembly [ View September 29, 2011 Version ]
- April 6, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 281 - 134th General Assembly [ View April 6, 2023 Version ]
- October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 3, 2023 Version ]