Service Animal Introduction

Overview: Many businesses have prohibited individuals with disabilities who use service animals from entering their premises, in many instances because of ignorance or confusion about the animal's appropriate use. This page is intended to educate those businesses and provide resources for people with disabilities who use service animals. Basically, a service animal team is protected in employment, healthcare, housing, or any public accommodation under various state and federal laws.

What Are Assistance Dogs/Animals?

Assistance dogs are trained to perform tasks that assist a life-functioning need. Guiding, signaling, performing physical tasks, alerting to seizures, alerting to psychological/psychiatric disabilities and providing therapeutic companionship are typically some of those tasks.

An individual need not have a visible or discernible disability in order to be partnered and benefit from the use of an Assistance Dog.

All categories of Assistance Dogs are granted access by Federal and State Laws.

Assistance Dog definition will vary from state to state. Assistance Dogs are defined as Service Dogs in the Federal American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Assistance Animal/Dog Categories

• Guide Dog Category– a dog which has been or is being specially trained to lead in harness and serves as aide to the mobility of a particular blind or visually impaired person. A guide dog will usually lead in harness.



• Hearing Dog Category – a dog that has been or is being specially trained to alert a particular deaf or hard of hearing person to certain sounds. A hearing dog may wear a blaze orange collar and leash, cape, vest or harness.



• Service Dog Category – a dog which has been or is being specially trained to the individual requirements of a physically disabled person to:
  Pull a wheelchair Provide counterbalance as a “walker dog”
  Fetch dropped items, or Provide other support services to the person.
  A service dog may be in harness, backpack or vest., or not identified.



• Alert/Response Dog Category – sometimes referred to as “seizure response dogs”, or “seizure alert dogs”, involves the training of dogs to work with individuals who have epilepsy or any of a variety of other seizure disorders. Alert/Response dogs are also trained to work with individuals who have psychological/psychiatric disabilities. An alert/response dog may be in harness, backpack or vest., or not identified.



• Therapeutic Companion Dog Category – a dog that will provide companionship to therapeutically benefit the life of a person with a disability. These dogs usually have a basic skill level and not all dogs in this category are utilized in public. This category includes dogs for children with disabilities, utilized as a parenting tool for the therapeutic benefit to the child.



• Therapeutic Companion Animal Category – an animal other than a dog that provides companionship to therapeutically benefit the life of a person with a disability. Not all dogs in this category are utilized in public.

Although public identification is not required, most dogs wear some form of visible identification to represent them as Assistance Dogs. You may see equipment such as a tag, vest, coat, harness, or backpack. Dogs can be mixed or purebred and of any size.

What Is The Difference Between Service Animal, Dog Guide, Therapy Animal?

One common misunderstanding is the difference between Service Animals, Therapy Animals, Companion/Emotional Support Animals, "Social/therapy" Animals and pets.

• A Service Animal ...
  1. is individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability
  2. is not always a dog; other animals may assist people with disabilities
  3. may be any breed and size
  4. is trained either by an organization or by an individual with a disability
  5. is not necessarily certified or licensed
  6. does not always wear a harness, sign, or symbol indicating that they are service animals
  7. is not a pet
  8. is protected by Federal and New Hampshire state laws (see below)
  9. is trained to assist people with disabilities in many different ways, such as:
     • Guiding people who are blind or have low vision and retrieving dropped objects for them;
     • Alerting people who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds and the presence of others;
     • Carrying and picking up items, opening doors, or flipping switches for people with disabilities who have limited use of hands or arms, limited use of their legs, or limited ability to bend or stoop;
     • Pulling wheelchairs;
     • Alerting people with disabilities to the onset of seizures, protecting them and cushioning them if they fall, reviving them, and performing other tasks that reduce the risk of seizure-related injury; and
     • Providing physical support and assisting people with physical disabilities with stability and balance.

   

  A Guide Dog/Animal ...

  1. is specifically trained to serve as a guide for a person with a sight impairment
  2. is usually trained and certified by a licensed school for guide dogs
  3. is specifically protected under state and federal laws

  A Therapy Animal ...

  1. is not legally defined by federal law
  2. some states have laws defining therapy animals
  3. provides people with contact to animals, but not limited to working with people who have disabilities
  4. is usually the personal pet of their handlers (who may be therapists, physicians, rehabilitation professionals) and works with their handler to provide services to others, such as in nursing homes and hospitals
  5. has no Federal laws with provisions for people to be accompanied by therapy animals in places of public accommodation that have "no pets" policies
  6. usually are not service animals
     

  A Companion or Emotional Support Animal

  1. assist people with mental or emotional disabilities who use the assistance of this type of animal to function independently
  2. has the most tenuous legal status, and as a concept it is hard, if not impossible, to differentiate them from the role of pet
  3. a Companion Animal is not legally defined, but is accepted as another term for "pet"
  4. the right to "emotional support animals" is protected under the Fair Housing Act

  A Pet

  1. is NOT a specifically trained to provide a service to a person with a disability
  2. is NOT protected under the laws allowing equal access to people with disabilities

INTRODUCTION

LINKS

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