| A Service Dog is defined in the Americans With Disabilities Act as "any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including but not limited to guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items." Service Dog is commonly used as a general term for this broad classification of working dogs, as is Assistance Dog. However, Service Dog can also be used to mean specifically those dogs who aid people with physical disabilities. Hearing Dogs aid people with hearing impairments, and Guide Dogs aid those with vision difficulties. There are also relatively new classes of Service animals who help with things such as psychiatric disabilities, seizure disorders, fibromyalgia, and numerous other medical conditions. It should be noted that not all Service Animals are dogs, there are other animals who can be trained to help as well, such as guide horses for the blind (tiny miniature ponies) and Helping Hands monkeys who are trained to help para- and quadriplegics. Service Dogs MUST be "individually trained" to help a person with a disability in order to be covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act and allowed to go into public places that don't normally allow pets. If an untrained animal is passed off as a Service Animal, it puts the public and the handler at risk. This is why several states have instituted penalties within their laws for "Misrepresentation of Disability," or pretending to be disabled, and passing an untrained animal off as a Service Dog. Service Dogs should be well-behaved, and may not bark disruptively or act in an aggressive manner. If a service dog barks, try to find out what happened; did the dog get stepped on? Was it performing it's job? Some dogs will bark once or twice to alert their owners to something as part of their duties. That said, trained Service Dogs must be allowed to go anywhere their handler goes, including restaurants, schools, buses, taxis, airplanes, stores, movie theatres, concerts, sporting events, doctor's offices, and any other public place. It is REQUIRED under federal and state laws that they be allowed. They do not have to wear any specific identifying gear, including vests. Many Service Dog users choose to dress their dogs in a vest or other identifying apparel in order to make access easier, as it avoids many questions and confrontations. This is a personal choice, and is NOT REQUIRED UNDER THE LAW. It is illegal to ask for any special identification from Service Dog partners. Some carry ID cards, and may present them voluntarily, but this also is not required, and should not be expected. You may NOT ask for "proof" or certification of the dog's training as a condition of entry into your business. If a Service Dog misbehaves and places someone in danger, you as a business owner have the right to ask the partner to get control of the animal, or please leave. This should be only an isolated incident, and can not be used to determine future access based upon what "might" happen or has happened in the past. A person with a Service Dog cannot be refused entry based on the actions of another Service animal. Example: You cannot say "Oh, that last Service Dog team that was in here left a mess, so I'm not letting any Service Dogs into my store anymore." This is discrimination and can be punishable by law. Remember, too, that Service Dogs are just that, DOGS, and they can have bad days just like people can. They are not robots, and cannot be expected to act perfectly all the time. |
| Website Copyright B. Brake 2004 |
| Service Dogs Save Lives! |
| What Is A Service Dog? |
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