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by windwalker18 on 18 August 2009 - 22:08
My sister sent me this from a Disabilities group she is part of and I thought it should be passed on
"Disabilities: DOJ Offers Guidelines for Service Animals
by David Morrison
For those who are not aware of the laws pertaining to service animals, here’s some information about the Federal ADA laws. The Department of Justice, the federal agency responsible for ADA compliance, provides us with answers to “COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT SERVICE ANIMALS IN PLACES OF BUSINESS”.
1. Q: What are the laws that apply to my business?
A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.
2. Q: What is a service animal?
A: The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.
Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include:
_ Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.
_ Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.
_ Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.
A service animal is not a pet.
3. Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet?
A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.
4. Q: What must I do when an individual with a service animal comes to my business?
A: The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from other customers.
5. Q: I have always had a clearly posted “no pets” policy at my establishment. Do I still have to allow service animals in?
by windwalker18 on 18 August 2009 - 22:08
A: Yes. A service animal is not a pet. The ADA requires you to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by a person with a disability. This does not mean you must abandon your “no pets” policy altogether but simply that you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.
6. Q: My county health department has told me that only a guide dog has to be admitted. If I follow those regulations, am I violating the ADA?
A: Yes, if you refuse to admit any other type of service animal on the basis of local health department regulations or other state or local laws. The ADA provides greater protection for individuals with disabilities and so it takes priority over the local or state laws or regulations.
7. Q: Can I charge a maintenance or cleaning fee for customers who bring service animals into my business?
A: No. Neither a deposit nor a surcharge may be imposed on an individual with a disability as a condition to allowing a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if deposits are routinely required for pets. However, a public accommodation may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal causes damage so long as it is the regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for the same types of damages. For example, a hotel can charge a guest with a disability for the cost of repairing or cleaning furniture damaged by a service animal if it is the hotel’s policy to charge when non-disabled guests cause such damage.
8. Q: I operate a private taxicab and I don’t want animals in my taxi; they smell, shed hair and sometimes have “accidents.” Am I violating the ADA if I refuse to pick up someone with a service animal?
A: Yes. Taxicab companies may not refuse to provide services to individuals with disabilities. Private taxicab companies are also prohibited from charging higher fares or fees for transporting individuals with disabilities and their service animals than they charge to other persons for the same or equivalent service.
9. Q: Am I responsible for the animal while the person with a disability is in my business?
A: No. The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of his or her owner. You are not required to provide care or food or a special location for the animal.
10. Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?
A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.
Although a public accommodation may exclude any service animal that is out of control, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises.
11. Q: Can I exclude an animal that doesn’t really seem dangerous but is disruptive to my business?
A: There may be a few circumstances when a public accommodation is not required to accommodate a service animal–that is, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. Generally, this is not likely to occur in restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities. But when it does, for example, when a dog barks during a movie, the animal can be excluded.
by windwalker18 on 18 August 2009 - 22:08
If you have further questions about service animals or other requirements of the ADA, you may call the U.S. Department of Justice’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TDD).
Service animals of any kind are a vital tool for some persons with disabilities, please remember to treat the animal with the same respect as the individual. This may seam like common sense but at the same time it is not a topic that is often discussed. Think of the animal not just as a tool, but as an extension of the owner as well. Feel free to share your experiences with this topic or ask additional questions here on the blog or via email.
David can be reached at david.morrison87@yahoo.com or on Twitter @dmorriso87"
by ilovemypoodlefluffy on 19 August 2009 - 08:08
ah yes. very familiar with those laws myself. a local organization here in duluth, minnesota has done such a good job telling people that service dogs are not required to wear vests or i.d. that many people are taking untrained dogs with them, and when those dogs growl, bark, bite, or relieve themselves indoors or otherwise act inappropriately, local businesses crack down on disabled individuals with service dogs and harass them unless they do present an i.d. from a state-recognized training program. usually the disabled individual with a self-trained dog does not have the money to take such discrimination to court, and alot of arguments result over rights, etc. i believe for the sake of all true service dogs that the law should be much stricter. JMHO.
by cledford on 19 August 2009 - 10:08
I hate to say it as I feel I should be pro service dog - but this is exactly the sort (in my opinion) of overreaching, draconian, BS legislation and/or regulation that is destroying our country. To make matters worse, with (seemingly) everyone getting service dogs these days, you know, to help with panic attacks, PTSD, anxiety, phobias, etc. it appears to be a situation ripe for exploitation. The guidelines seem to provide very detailed requirements for business owners regarding what they *must* and *must not* do, but what about the owners and their obligations? What protection do they have from having to clean up after one of these "service dogs" or from having to pay costly cleaning fees to ensure other "disabled" people (with pet allergies) aren't impacted? What happens when one of the pet allergy disabled decides that the business owner should put in expensive air filtering systems so they aren't impacted while the other disabled are there with their service dogs? Where does it stop?
You know, I'm not one for more regulation from the government, but given how much burden is placed on business owners to permit service dogs, why aren’t there federal guidelines for certification, justification of need and identification that must be carried when the dog is out in public? Would it been too much to expect a person to at least have *proof* the dog is a certified service animal and be able to display such proof when out in public?
-Calvin
by Wise Guy on 22 August 2009 - 01:08
Thank you to Windwalker18 for the info!
As for those who believe that these priveleges are being abused: I don't know where you are from but I have yet to see one person who has attempted to pass off a pet as a service dog.
The rules say that any (service) dog that is disuptive needs to be removed by the owner. If a dog messes or bites someone, there are laws that cover such things as they apply to ALL dogs.
I have seen more people with actual service dogs be harrassed by people who don't know the laws or don't care.
Considering the prevalence of PTSD, and the fact that real treatment for this condition is hard to come by, I don't know why you should take offense when someone like a combat vet has a psychiatric service dog. If the dog allows the person a way to get back to a more normal way of life, would you deny him or her that little?
And not all service dogs need to be certified. It is acceptable for a person to purchase a puppy and train the animal themselves as long as they have the ability to do so. It is not always easy to get a service dog, or to be able to afford one if it means not waiting years.
I can understand a certain amount of envy of people who have trained, well-behaved dogs that they would also like to have with them. The point of having a service dog at all is that the handler has a disability or health condition that may otherwise prevent the person from being independent and a part of the world, to be able to shop, to eat at a restauraunt, to have an apartment, to enjoy certain recreations. I know someone who has balance problems. Before the dog she had fallen and had people think she was stoned or drunk. She even had someone start screaming at her. Not only is the dog a physical support but a lot of that fear about being alone and dealing with nastiness and abuse is gone. Since the dog she has not experienced any verbal abuse and has even had people go out of there way to offer assistance.
The people I know who have service dogs usually do their best to make their dog's identifiable because doing so affords their dog the extra protection that service dogs have - as well as to let people know the dog is working, is trained, and they need not fear it. Or that they need to let it do its job and not distract it.
Anyone who injures a service dog, or allows their dog to injure one, can be fined up to $1000, and be responsible for vet bills to treat that injury. They may also be completely liable to replace the dog with one of equal value should the injury prevent the dog from working again.
As for those who believe that these priveleges are being abused: I don't know where you are from but I have yet to see one person who has attempted to pass off a pet as a service dog.
The rules say that any (service) dog that is disuptive needs to be removed by the owner. If a dog messes or bites someone, there are laws that cover such things as they apply to ALL dogs.
I have seen more people with actual service dogs be harrassed by people who don't know the laws or don't care.
Considering the prevalence of PTSD, and the fact that real treatment for this condition is hard to come by, I don't know why you should take offense when someone like a combat vet has a psychiatric service dog. If the dog allows the person a way to get back to a more normal way of life, would you deny him or her that little?
And not all service dogs need to be certified. It is acceptable for a person to purchase a puppy and train the animal themselves as long as they have the ability to do so. It is not always easy to get a service dog, or to be able to afford one if it means not waiting years.
I can understand a certain amount of envy of people who have trained, well-behaved dogs that they would also like to have with them. The point of having a service dog at all is that the handler has a disability or health condition that may otherwise prevent the person from being independent and a part of the world, to be able to shop, to eat at a restauraunt, to have an apartment, to enjoy certain recreations. I know someone who has balance problems. Before the dog she had fallen and had people think she was stoned or drunk. She even had someone start screaming at her. Not only is the dog a physical support but a lot of that fear about being alone and dealing with nastiness and abuse is gone. Since the dog she has not experienced any verbal abuse and has even had people go out of there way to offer assistance.
The people I know who have service dogs usually do their best to make their dog's identifiable because doing so affords their dog the extra protection that service dogs have - as well as to let people know the dog is working, is trained, and they need not fear it. Or that they need to let it do its job and not distract it.
Anyone who injures a service dog, or allows their dog to injure one, can be fined up to $1000, and be responsible for vet bills to treat that injury. They may also be completely liable to replace the dog with one of equal value should the injury prevent the dog from working again.
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