Did you know that local laws which prohibit a specific breed of dog do not apply to service animals? Below is The Department of Justice’s revised final regulations definition of a service animal:
Dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. It also states that service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
Some examples of tasks that are directly related to a disability include alerting someone who is deaf, guiding someone who is blind, calming someone during an anxiety attack due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, pulling a wheelchair and protecting someone who is having a seizure.
A service animal may not be excluded because of a stereotype or assumption about a service animal’s behavior based on its breed. However, if the service dog is not housebroken or is out of control the person with the disability may be asked to remove the service animal from the premises.
For over 20 years Access Advocates have specialized in ADA accessibility compliance. If you or someone you know have any questions or would just like to comment please contact us today. We’d love to hear from you!