- What is the definition of a Service Animal under the new ADA regulations?
- Can miniature horses also be considered service animals?
- Where is a Service Animal allowed?
- Are there other requirements regarding service animals?
- Can a service animal ever be asked to leave?
- Can a business owner or staff person ask if the dog is a Service Animal?
- Can restaurants refuse to allow a service animal where food is cooked or prepared?
- If a person with a disability requests food to be prepared for their service animal, must the restaurant comply?
- Can a restaurant or a theater request that a person with a service animal sit in the back away from other customers?
- How do I have my dog certified as a service animal?
- My employer asked for a letter from my doctor stating why I need my service animal at work. Must I give this to him?
- My landlord said I can’t keep my service animal. Isn’t that against the ADA?
- Our hotel has a pet deposit fee. Can I charge a deposit when a guest has a service animal?
- The taxi cab driver said I couldn’t bring my service animal in the cab. Isn’t that against the ADA?
- How does the ADA apply to service animals in restaurants?
- Can a person have more than one service animal?
- What if someone who does not have a disability brings in a dog that she says is a service animal in training?
- Can I deny entrance of a service animal if employees are afraid of dogs?
- If an apartment or housing complex or a place of business will not accept a service animal, who do I contact to file a complaint?
1. What is the definition of a Service Animal under the new ADA regulations?
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Service dogs are working animals; they are not pets. The work or task a service dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
Examples of this would include:
- guiding people who are blind,
- alerting people who are deaf,
- pulling a wheelchair,
- or alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure.
Other tasks might be:
- reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications,
- calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties.
Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.
It’s important to understand that the ADA definition of a service animal does not affect—or limit—the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act.
Some State and local laws also define a service animal more broadly than the ADA does. Information about these laws can be obtained from your State Attorney General’s office and from state statutes.
2. Can miniature horses also be considered service animals?
Miniature horses that have been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities are also allowed under the ADA, but there are some exceptions.
Miniature horses generally range in height from 24 inches to 34 inches measured to the shoulders and they generally weigh between 70 and 100 pounds.
Places covered by the ADA – including state and local governments and private businesses – must modify their policies to permit miniature horses where this is reasonable.
The regulations set out four assessment factors to assist places in determining whether miniature horses can be accommodated in their facility. The assessment factors are:
- whether the miniature horse is housebroken;
- whether the miniature horse is under the owner’s control;
- whether the facility can accommodate the miniature horse’s type, size, and weight; and
- whether the miniature horse’s presence will not compromise legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operation of the facility.
3. Where is a Service Animal allowed?
Under the Titles II and III of the ADA, state and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go.
For example, in a hospital it would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment.
Title I of the ADA deals with employment rights, and it does not include a definition of a service animal. In employment situations, service animals are considered on a case by case basis as a reasonable accommodation.
An important thing to remember is that in cases where the state or local laws or public health codes do not agree with federal law, the law that is less restrictive for the person with the disability is the law that takes priority.
So if the ADA gives more “freedom” to the person with a disability than a local law does, then the ADA is the law to be followed. If a local law gives more freedom, then the local law is the one that is to be followed.
4. Are there other requirements regarding service animals?
Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In this case, the individual must maintain control of the dog through voice, signal, or other effective controls.
5. Can a service animal ever be asked to leave?
Yes, it can, under two circumstances:
A person with a disability can be asked to remove his service animal from a business if:
- the dog is out of control and the person with a disability does not take “effective action” to control it or
- the dog is not housebroken.
However, when there is a legitimate reason to ask that a service animal be removed, staff must still offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal.
What this means is – if the animal is displaying bad behavior, then the animal can be removed, but not the individual with the disability.
6. Can a business owner or staff person ask if the dog is a Service Animal?
When it is not obvious what service the dog provides, staff or business owners may ask two questions—and only these two questions:
- is the dog required because of a disability, and
- what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.
Staff or business owners cannot
- ask about the person’s disability,
- require medical documentation,
- require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or
- ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.
7. Can restaurants refuse to allow a service animal where food is cooked or prepared?
People with service animals can go anywhere the general public is allowed to go, and this includes restaurants. So restaurants must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.
This means that the service animal must be allowed to accompany its owner to the salad bars or buffet—but the service dog cannot go into the kitchen where food is cooked or prepared or other areas “off limits” to the general public.
8. If a person with a disability requests food to be prepared for their service animal, must the restaurant comply?
No, restaurants are not required to provide care or food for a service animal.
9. Can a restaurant or a theater request that a person with a service animal sit in the back away from other customers?
No, people with disabilities who use service animals cannot be isolated from other people or treated less favorably than others.
10. How do I have my dog certified as a service animal?
The ADA makes it unlawful to require proof of a disability or identification for a service dog. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are no requirements for licensing, certification or identification of service dogs. Also, service animals are not required to wear special collars, vests or harnesses.
It is always important to remember that when dealing with service animals, businesses are only allowed to two questions of dog owners: Is the dog required because of a disability? And, what task or service has the dog been trained to do?
11. My employer asked for a letter from my doctor stating why I need my service animal at work. Must I give this to him?
Because more people are using service animals, employers are asking more questions about service animals in the workplace.
As I said earlier, according to the EEOC, Title I does not require employers to automatically allow employees to bring their service animals to work.
Instead, allowing a service animal into the workplace is a form of reasonable accommodation. And, if an employer can find a different accommodation that is equally effective, the ADA permits employers to decide on that accommodation instead.
When it comes to reasonable accommodations under the ADA, employers have the right to request reasonable documentation that an accommodation is needed. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. In addition, if the disability is not apparent, the employer can request medical documentation that explains why the employee meets the ADA definition of disability.
However, according to informal guidance from the EEOC, employers need to be aware that sometimes the documentation is not going to be from a doctor or another health care professional. In the case of a service animal, the appropriate documentation might come from whoever trained the service animal.
12. My landlord said I can’t keep my service animal. Isn’t that against the ADA?
This issue is very complicated, but the main point to remember is that the definition of a service animal is different in housing situations than it is under the ADA.
Housing is covered by the Fair Housing Act and regulations developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The ADA definition of service animal is different from the definitions used in these two laws.
Under these two laws, people with disabilities in housing situations may request reasonable accommodation for their assistance animals, including emotional support animals. The reasonable accommodation provisions of both laws must be considered in situations where persons with disabilities use (or seek to use) service animals or assistance animals in housing even where the provider forbids residents from having pets or otherwise has restrictions or conditions relating to pets and other animals.
For more information about service animals and housing, please call your regional ADA Center at 1-800-949-4232.
13. Our hotel has a pet deposit fee. Can I charge a deposit when a guest has a service animal?
No. Remember, service animals are not pets. So even if a business requires a deposit or fee to be paid by customers with pets, it must waive the charge for service animals.
In addition, the ADA requires hotels to allow service animals throughout the facility even if you have a “no animals” policy.
However, if a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may also be charged for damage caused by him or by his service animal.
14. The taxi cab driver said I couldn’t bring my service animal in the cab. Isn’t that against the ADA?
Service animals are always permitted to accompany their users in any private or public transportation vehicle or facility. This means that they must be allowed to ride with the person with a disability.
One of the most common misunderstandings about service animals is that they are limited to being guide dogs for persons with visual impairments. But dogs used as service animals are trained to assist people with a wide variety of disabilities, including individuals with hearing and mobility impairments.
One more thing: charging extra fees to carry a service animal and an individual with a disability would also be a violation of the ADA.
15. How does the ADA apply to service animals in restaurants?
A patron at our dinner theater brought her dog to one of our shows. She was carrying it in a little bag. She told the ticket taker that it was her service animal. During the meal, the dog sat in her lap, ate off her plate and went under other tables looking for scraps. Other patrons complained after the show. What can I do if she comes back with the dog?
This question covers a lot of issues.
- A person with a disability can be asked to remove her service animal from the premises if the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it.
- Allowing the animal to roam around the restaurant while looking for scraps of food would signal to an observer that the animal may not be a service animal or it is not under the handler’s control.
- Allowing the animal to eat from her plate should have been addressed quietly between management and the patron.
- It is not normal practice to have animals eat from people’s plates, and they should not come into contact with serving dishes, utensils, tableware, linens, paper products or any other items involved in food service operations.
Finally,
- Service animals that are not under the control of the handler may be asked to leave the premises, although the person with the disability must be allowed to return without the service animal.
16. Can a person have more than one service animal?
A lady came into my business with two dogs. She said they are both service animals. Can a person have more than one service animal?
A person may have two service dogs for a couple of reasons.
- It could be because he or she needs help with different tasks and one dog can’t do both jobs. For example, one dog may have been trained to be an alert dog while another was trained to pick up items or help with mobility. It depends on what the dogs were trained to do.
- Sometimes people may have two dogs that do the same job, and this is usually because one is nearing retirement and one is just starting, but normally the handler won’t work the dogs at the same time
17. What if someone who does not have a disability brings in a dog that she says is a service animal in training?
The ADA does not apply to service animals in training. However some State laws do cover service animals that are being trained. Call your regional ADA Center at 1-800-949-4232 to see what your State allows.
18. Can I deny entrance of a service animal if employees are afraid of dogs?
I own a hair salon. A customer came in with a service dog last week. One of my employees is afraid of dogs. Next time, can I tell this customer that the dog has to stay outside because my employee is afraid?
Fear of dogs or because someone is allergic are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals.
Remember: A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove their service animal unless: (1) the dog is out of control and the person with a disability does not take “effective action” to control it, or (2) the dog is not housebroken.
If an employee is afraid of dogs, perhaps arrangements could be made for that employee to work at a different station while the customer is in your salon.
19. If an apartment or housing complex or a place of business will not accept a service animal, who do I contact to file a complaint?
This question has a two-part answer. To file a housing complaint, you go online to hud.gov/complaints where you can either file your complaint online or you can find the phone number for your regional HUD office. Your housing discrimination complaint will be reviewed by a fair housing specialist to determine if it alleges acts that might violate the Fair Housing Act.
If a business has refused to allow you in with your service animal, this complaint would be handled by the US Department of Justice. To learn more about filing an ADA complaint, visit ada.gov/filing_complaint.htm. You may also file a complaint by E-mail at ADA.complaint@usdoj.gov.
If you need further information, please call our toll-free line for technical assistance at 1-800-949-4232.