For the purposes of this chapter, an animal helper shall mean any animal that has been trained to accompany and aid a person with hearing, visual, or mobility disability, or a disability of any other kind, which is certified as an animal helper by a trainer qualified therefor, and said training may be proven by a card, document, or tag on the animal’s collar.
In those cases that the animal is not wearing a tag which duly identifies it as a trained animal, the person with disabilities shall have in his possession and offer for examination at the request of the owner or person in charge of the vehicle, business, park, site, or establishment, the card or document which shall be issued, as well as the tag, by a recognized training school for animal helpers, accrediting the fact that the animal is duly trained and does not constitute any danger whatsoever to the general public.
The animal shall also have a health certificate issued by a veterinarian licensed to practice the profession in Puerto Rico, or by the competent authorities of the country of origin of the animal helper, to the effect that it does not suffer from any contagious disease whatsoever. Said certificate shall be valid for the term of one year and shall be renewed upon expiration of the said term. If the animal helper does not meet said health requirement, the person with disabilities cannot avail him/herself of the benefits of this chapter.
History —May 29, 1970, No. 51, p. 117, § 2; Dec. 21, 1994, No. 141, § 1.