[Cagdu] FW: DOJ document: Q & A on the facts on the ADA and service animals (long)

Tue Oct 21 08:14:59 PDT 2008

Subject: ] DOJ document: Q & A on the facts on the ADA and service animals
(long)

This is cut and pasted here for your convenience. For the formatted
document, please use the url that is given. 

It is important for all service animal handlers to know the facts. /smile/ 

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HYPERLINK
"http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm"http://www.usdoj.-gov/crt/ada/-qasr
vc.htm

Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section

Department of Justice Seal

horizontal border

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT

SERVICE ANIMALS IN PLACES OF BUSINESS

1. Q: What are the laws that apply to my business?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

2. Q: What is a service animal?
Block quote start

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:
Block quote start

_ 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.
Block quote end

A service animal is not a pet.
Block quote end

3. Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a
pet?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

4. Q: What must I do when an individual with a service animal comes to my
business?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

5. Q: I have always had a clearly posted "no pets" policy at my
establishment. Do I still have to allow service animals in?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

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?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

7. Q: Can I charge a maintenance or cleaning fee for customers who bring
service animals into my business?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

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?
Block quote start

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.

Block quote end

9. Q: Am I responsible for the animal while the person with a disability is
in my business?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

10. Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or
otherwise acts out of control?
Block quote start

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.
Block quote end

11. Q: Can I exclude an animal that doesn't really seem dangerous but is
disruptive to my business?
Block quote start

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.

Block quote end

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).

July 1996, updated January 14, 2008 Reproduction of this document is
encouraged.
HYPERLINK
"http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm"http://www.usdoj.-gov/crt/ada/-qasr
vc.htm

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