[HumanSer] service Animals in Domestic Vilence Shelters

[JD Townsend]

Thank you Marion:

I was once not allowed to visit a client in a psychiatric hospital because I was using a service dog.  The Daytona NFB Chapter came to my support and that never happened again, but I was able to advocate for myself.  Imagine if I were an abused spouse.

Keep up the good work.

JD Townsend
Helping the light dependent to see


-----Original Message-----
From: HumanSer <humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of marion.gwizdala--- via HumanSer
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2025 11:19 AM
To: humanser at nfbnet.org
Cc: marion.gwizdala at gmail.com
Subject: [HumanSer] service Animals in Domestic Vilence Shelters

Dear All,

 

                There are many intersections among and within our individual characteristics and experiences. One intersection that concerned me over the past few months was the intersection between domestic violence and disability. My specific interest arose from the several calls Advocates for Service Animal Partners received to its hotline from survivors of domestic violence turned away from safe shelter due to the presence of their service dog.

 

                I wanted to share the following resource with those in my network with the expectation you will share it with your network and so on.
Please take two minutes to read the information below and another few seconds to forward it to your network. Somewhere down the line this information will make a significant difference in someone's life!

 

Fraternally yours,

Marion Gwizdala

 

Please  circulate the following message as widely as appropriate. If you received this message as a forward and would like to be added to our email distribution list, please follow the "Become a Partner" link below.

 

                This information contains references to domestic violence.
If you or someone you know is facing domestic abuse and needs support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached by calling 800-799-7233 or texting the word BEGIN to 8878.

 

Reading time: 2 minutes

 

                It takes a great deal of courage and strength for a survivor of domestic violence to flee their abuser. Those who perpetrate domestic violence do so through sexual, psychological, emotional, and/or financial abuse. This abuse is specifically intended to disempower the target of the abuse while giving the survivor dependency upon the abuser. I can only imagine facing increasing threats of abuse should I attempt to flee this violence and making the decision to do so in spite of the risk! The hours around the time a survivor makes the choice to flee and acts upon that choice is the most dangerous and the most frightening. These are the times most have their first encounters with a domestic violence shelter. They have come to feel supported and be kept safe.

Those of us who use service dogs regularly face discrimination by being turned away from other businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, and retail stores; however, if a domestic violence shelter turns someone away because of their service dog, the survivor may have no choice but to return to their abuser. Imagine how their abuser will react when they come  back after fleeing? Both the survivor and their service dog are in even greater danger as a warning to not flee again! The abuser is likely to become even more emboldened now that the shelter has limited the survivor's options. 

Avoiding or quickly resolving service animal access challenges is as simple as creating sound, written, legally compliant policies and protocol concerning service animals and ensuring all staff, contractors, and volunteers read and understand the policies and protocol. Without sound guidance, including specific written policies and protocol, shelter staff may turn to policies and practices more familiar to them, such as the shelter's pet policies and protocol or, lacking such, what they believe these policies and protocol ought to be. Coupling the failure to create specific service animal policies with the inaccurate online misinformation found while researching this issue, the need for a comprehensive written policy and protocol statement becomes evident. Absent proper guidance and accurate information, the failure to develop such detailed written policies and protocol can lead to well-meaning, unintentional but nevertheless, illegal discrimination. This discrimination, perpetrated by people in positions of power and influence over marginalized populations, leads to internalized disability stigma which exacerbates cross-sectional health, wellness, and safety disparities. It is in the best interest of both the domestic violence shelter and the survivor seeking safe shelter to have compliant policies and specific protocol to guide shelter personnel. 

In theory, there is really no need to create separate service animal policies since federal law, the superlative of all policies, clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of service animal handlers and the businesses we patronize. Creating sound, compliant policies communicates a commitment to corporate cultural competencies of respect, dignity, and nondiscrimination reflected by the foresight to create, implement, and train the staff on these policies. 

Advocates for Service Animal Partners has created a training manual to assist domestic violence shelters in the creation of sound, compliant policies concerning service animals. This discussion is not meant to be an exhaustive treatment of every eventuality one might face in a domestic violence shelter. No such resource can do so. What is offered is broad guidance and illustrative examples. The settings are meant to be general principles to be applied to most circumstances in a domestic violence shelter. our goal is to provide enough information to understand the principles so staff can apply these guidelines to any situation that arises.
Each situation must be addressed on a case-by-case basis and decisions should be compliant not only with the law and your code of ethics but with the best interest of the individual you are there to serve. Should a situation occur needing more expert guidance, Advocates for Service Animal Partners offers a dedicated hotline to answer questions from our supporting partners to apply state and federal laws to a particular circumstance. 

This document is not written from a theoretical, imaginary, fictional perspective; rather, it is based upon actual interactions with survivors who use service animals and faced challenges from the domestic violence shelters from which they sought safety and support. As you read this information, consider how your shelter staff would respond to some of the specific challenges brought forth in these pages. 

This technical assistance manual is scheduled for release as part of Advocates for Service Animal Partners's observance of Service Animal Awareness Month during September. You can request your copy of this invaluable guidance by going to our <https://serviceanimals.info/BecomeaPartner.html> "Become a Partner". Please indicate in the comments section you are ordering your copy of "service Animals in Domestic Violence Shelters".

                If you need more information or specific guidance, please feel free to reach out to us. 

 

Advocates for Service Animal Partners Inc. (ASAP)

386-ASAP411 (386-272-7411)

 <mailto:Advocacy411 at gmail.com> Advocacy411 at gmail.com

 <https://ServiceAnimals.info> https://ServiceAnimals.info

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