[nagdu] Redefining the Rules Governing Service Animals Covered By the ADA

[Ginger Kutsch]

Redefining the Rules Governing Service Animals Covered By the ADA

May 24, 2011

 

By Guest Blogger Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the U.S.
Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division Service animals play an
integral role in the lives of many individuals with disabilities, providing
assistance in a wide variety of ways so that they can have the freedom to go
about their daily activities. For this reason, Title III of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that places of public accommodation,
such as hotels, restaurants and retail stores, accommodate individuals with
disabilities who use service animals.

 

However, when the Department of Justice (DOJ) originally issued its Title
III regulation in the early 1990s, the Department did not define the
parameters of acceptable animal species. Few anticipated that everything
from pigs and miniature horses to snakes, iguanas and parrots would be used
as service animals in the years to come. Some individuals, who do not have
disabilities, have claimed, whether fraudulently or sincerely (albeit
mistakenly) that their animals are service animals covered by the ADA, in
order to gain access to hotels, restaurants and other places of public
accommodation.

 

The proliferation of individuals who do not have disabilities claiming that
their animals are service animals covered by the ADA, as well as the
original vague definition of a service animal, has led to confusion
throughout the years about the obligations of public places to accommodate
individuals who use service animals. Additionally, individuals with
disabilities who use trained guide or service dogs have expressed concern
that if untrained or unusual animals are termed "service animals," their own
right to use guide or service dogs may become restricted or questioned.

For these reasons, in the new ADA regulations that took effect in March, DOJ
has clarified the rules governing service animals covered by the ADA.

 

DOJ agrees with the views expressed by some that limiting the types of
species recognized as service animals will provide greater predictability
for those who own or manage public accommodations, as well as added
assurance of access for individuals with disabilities who use dogs as
service animals. The Department has, therefore, decided to limit this rule's
coverage of service animals to dogs, which are the most common service
animals used by individuals with disabilities.

 

The Department's final rule defines a "service animal" as "any dog that is
individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an
individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric,
intellectual or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether
wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the
purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal
must be directly related to the handler's disability. Examples of work or
tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind
or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who
are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing
non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an
individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of
allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing
physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals
with mobility disabilities and helping persons with psychiatric and
neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or
destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence
and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship
do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition."

 

In drafting the definition, the Department took into consideration the many
comments received from individuals and organizations recommending species
limitations. Several of these comments asserted that limiting the number of
allowable species would help stop erosion of the public's trust, which has
resulted in reduced access for many individuals with disabilities who use
trained service animals that adhere to high behavioral standards. Others
suggested that species other than dogs would be acceptable if those animals
could meet nationally recognized behavioral standards for trained service
dogs.

 

Public accommodations covered by Title III of the ADA are obligated to
permit service animals. However, the new rule stipulates that a service
animal can be excluded if the animal is out of control and the handler does
not take effective action to control it, or if the animal is not
housebroken. If exclusion of a service animal occurs for one of these
reasons, the handler should be given the opportunity to access the public
accommodation without the animal.

With the clarification provided by the final rule, individuals with
disabilities will continue to be able to use their service animals as they
go about their daily activities. The clarification will also help to ensure
that the fraudulent or mistaken use of other animals not qualified as
service animals under the ADA will be deterred.  More information about the
new rules can be found at http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/ADAregs2010.htm.

 

Thomas E. Perez has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division of the Department of Justice since October 8, 2009. Prior to
his nomination, he served as Secretary of Maryland's Department of Labor,
Licensing and Regulation - an agency that safeguards critical consumer and
worker protections. He has served as a member of the Montgomery County, Md.,
Council and previously spent 12 years in federal public service, mainly as a
career attorney in the Civil Rights Division.

 

Link to Blog:
http://blog.govdelivery.com/usodep/2011/05/redefining-the-rules-governing-se
rvice-animals-covered-by-the-ada.html