The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) significantly impacts the rights and responsibilities surrounding service animals. This comprehensive guide addresses common questions to clarify the ADA’s provisions regarding service animals, aiming to ensure that individuals with disabilities can fully participate in everyday life with their canine companions.
Understanding Service Animals Under the ADA
A fundamental aspect of the ADA is its definition of a service animal.
What Qualifies as a Service Animal?
Under the ADA, a service animal is specifically defined as a dog that has undergone individual training to perform tasks or work directly related to a person’s disability. This training is crucial; the animal’s actions must be task-oriented and directly beneficial to the handler’s specific needs.
Defining “Work or Task”
The term “work or task” implies that the dog has been trained to take a specific action when necessary to assist an individual with a disability. Examples include a dog trained to alert a diabetic individual to critical blood sugar level changes, a dog that reminds a person with depression to take medication, or a dog trained to detect an oncoming seizure and help the individual maintain safety.
Differentiating Service Animals from Other Animals
It is important to distinguish service animals from emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals. These other types of animals provide comfort through their presence but have not been trained to perform specific jobs or tasks. Therefore, they do not meet the ADA’s criteria for service animals. However, some state or local laws may offer protections for these animals in certain public places.
Psychiatric Service Animals vs. Emotional Support Animals
The ADA differentiates between psychiatric service animals and emotional support animals. A dog trained to sense an impending anxiety attack and take a specific action to mitigate it is considered a service animal. In contrast, a dog whose mere presence provides comfort does not qualify as a service animal under the ADA.
Professional Training Requirements
The ADA does not mandate that service animals be professionally trained. Individuals with disabilities have the right to train their own dogs, and there is no requirement to use a professional service dog training program.
Service Animals in Training
Animals that are still in training are not considered service animals under the ADA. For public access, the dog must have already completed its training to perform its trained tasks. Some state or local laws, however, may extend protections to animals in training.
General Rules and Inquiries
When interacting with individuals who have service animals, staff at businesses and public facilities can only ask specific questions to determine if a dog is a service animal.
Permissible Inquiries
In situations where a dog’s status as a service animal is not immediately apparent, staff are permitted to ask only two questions:
- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
Staff are prohibited from requesting documentation, requiring the dog to demonstrate its task, or inquiring about the nature of the person’s disability.
Identification for Service Animals
The ADA does not require service animals to wear vests, ID tags, or specific harnesses. These are not mandatory for a service animal to be recognized.
Handler Responsibility for Care
The handler is fully responsible for the care and supervision of the service animal. This includes all aspects of the animal’s well-being, such as feeding, toileting, grooming, and veterinary care. Covered entities are not obligated to provide care or supervision for the service animal.
Access to Food Service Areas
Service animals must be allowed to accompany their handlers through self-service food lines and are permitted in communal food preparation areas, such as those found in shelters or dormitories.
Hotel Policies Regarding Service Animals
Hotels cannot assign designated rooms for guests with service animals or restrict them to “pet-friendly” rooms. Guests with disabilities who use service animals must be offered the same available room options as other guests. Additionally, hotels are prohibited from charging cleaning fees for hair or dander shed by a service animal. However, if a service animal causes damage to a guest room, the hotel may charge the same fee for damages as they would for any other guest.
Multiple Service Animals
Individuals may bring more than one service animal if necessary to perform different tasks or if two animals are needed for the same task (e.g., for stability). Staff can ask the two permissible questions (as noted in Question 7) about each dog. If both animals can be accommodated, they should be allowed entry. However, in certain circumstances, such as a very crowded space where two dogs cannot be accommodated, one may need to be left outside.
Service Animals in Hospitals
Generally, service animals must be allowed in patient rooms and all other areas of a hospital accessible to the public and other patients. Hospitals cannot exclude them based on the claim that staff can provide the same services. If a patient is unable to care for their service animal during a hospital stay, they should be given the opportunity to make arrangements for the animal’s care, such as having a friend or family member assist, or the hospital may arrange for boarding until the patient is released.
Service Animals in Ambulances
Service animals should generally be allowed to ride in an ambulance with their handler. However, if the ambulance is crowded and the dog’s presence would impede emergency medical staff, alternative arrangements may be made for the dog’s transport to the hospital.
Certification and Registration
The ADA does not require service animals to be certified or registered.
No Documentation Required
Covered entities cannot demand documentation, such as proof of certification, training, or licensing, as a condition for entry. Individuals and organizations selling “service animal certifications” online do not confer any rights under the ADA, and these documents are not recognized as proof of service animal status by the Department of Justice.
Local Ordinances and Registration
Service animals are subject to local animal control and public health requirements, including vaccination and licensing. However, mandatory registration of service animals by a city or college is not permissible under the ADA. Voluntary registry programs that offer benefits or serve a public purpose, like ensuring safety during emergencies, are acceptable, but they cannot be a condition for public access.
Breed Restrictions
The ADA does not restrict the breeds of dogs that can be service animals.
No Breed-Based Exclusion
Facilities cannot refuse access to individuals with disabilities based solely on the breed of their service animal. Exclusions are only permissible if a specific service animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, has a history of such behavior, or is not under the handler’s control. In such cases, the individual must still be offered goods or services without the animal present.
Exceptions to Breed Bans
Municipalities with breed-specific bans must make exceptions for service animals of prohibited breeds, unless the individual animal poses a direct threat. Exclusions must be based on an individual animal’s behavior or history, not on stereotypes about breeds.
When Service Animals May Be Excluded
While service animals are generally permitted, there are specific circumstances under which they may be excluded.
Fundamental Alteration or Safety Requirements
Covered entities are not required to modify policies if doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of their goods, services, or programs, nor must they override legitimate safety requirements. If admitting a service animal would fundamentally alter the nature of a service or program, exclusion may be permissible.
Lack of Control or Housebreaking Issues
A service animal may be excluded if it is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or if the animal is not housebroken.
Fundamental Alteration Examples
In most settings, a service animal’s presence does not cause a fundamental alteration. However, exceptions exist. For instance, at a boarding school, service animals might be restricted from specific dormitory areas for students with allergies. At a zoo, they may be restricted from areas where the displayed animals are natural prey or predators of dogs, or where their presence would agitate the displayed animals. They are generally not restricted from other areas of the zoo.
Maintaining Control: Leashes and Behavior
The ADA requires service animals to be under the control of their handler at all times. While leashes, harnesses, or tethers are typically required in public, they may be removed if they interfere with the animal’s work or if the disability prevents their use. In such cases, other effective means of control, such as voice commands, must be used. Service animals should also not bark repeatedly in quiet places. Occasional barking or barking due to provocation does not necessarily indicate a lack of control.
Disruptive Service Animals
If a service animal is being disruptive and the handler does not effectively control it, staff may ask for the animal to be removed from the premises.
Service Animals Left Unattended
Hotel guests are not permitted to leave their service animals in their hotel rooms when they leave the hotel; the animal must remain under the handler’s control at all times.
Reporting Discrimination
Individuals who believe they have been illegally denied access or service due to using a service animal can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice or file a private lawsuit in federal court.
Miscellaneous Provisions
Several other scenarios involve service animals and public access.
Service Animals in Shopping Carts
Generally, service animals should remain on the floor. However, if a person needs the animal closer for its trained task (e.g., a glucose alert dog needing to smell breath), they may carry the animal.
Seating and Feeding at Tables
Restaurants and other food service establishments are not required to allow service animals on chairs or to be fed at the table. While the handler has the right to be accompanied by their service animal, seating and food are for human customers.
Service Animals and Swimming Pools
Public health rules prohibiting dogs in swimming pools supersede the ADA. Service animals must be allowed on the pool deck and in other public areas but not in the pool itself.
Religious Institutions
Religious institutions are specifically exempt from the ADA. However, state laws may apply.
Residential Properties
The ADA applies to housing programs administered by state and local governments and to places of public accommodation. The Fair Housing Act also covers most housing, obligating providers to permit assistance animals as a reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities.
Federal Agencies and Airlines
Federal agencies are covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, not the ADA. Commercial airlines are covered by the Air Carrier Access Act.
Resources
For further information on the ADA and service animals, visit ADA.gov or contact the ADA Information Line. This publication provides informal guidance and does not establish legally binding responsibilities beyond existing statutes and regulations.
