[nagdu] As use of service animals grows, neighbors and landlords must adjust

Tue Jan 13 16:53:09 UTC 2015

As use of service animals grows, neighbors and landlords must adjust

By Erin Arvedlund, Inquirer Staff Writer

   Posted: Sunday, January 11, 2015, 

Source URL:
http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/20150111_As_use_of_serv
ice_animals_grows__neighbors_and_landlords_must_adjust.html

As the elderly live longer, baby boomers stay in their homes as they age,
and veterans with disabilities congregate in cities, expect to see an
increase in assistance animals - even if your apartment or condo building
doesn't allow pets.

Such animals are not pets, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, but companions who work, assist or perform tasks for
people with disabilities.

Assistance animals, also known as service animals, guide individuals who are
blind or have low vision, alert the deaf or hard-of-hearing to sound, pull
wheelchairs, fetch medication, and alert humans to impending seizures or
problem blood-sugar levels by smelling their owners' breath.

Dogs are the most common of them.

The U.S. Department of Justice and HUD are actively suing landlords and
properties that do not accommodate residents with service animals.

Legally, federal law sides with the person claiming need of a service
animal. Problems arise, however, when humans abuse the law, say professional
animal trainers and experts in the field.

Lori Breece, manager of UDS Service Dogs Training Program in Lancaster
(www.udservices.org), said that among her clients in their 60s and 70s, one
has a trained dog for blindness and another has one to aid with mobility on
stairs.

"More and more, we see children with autism - it's becoming prominent right
now for service dogs - as well as veterans with post-traumatic stress
disorder," said Breece.

Darlene Sullivan, founder of Canine Partners for Life in Cochranville,
Chester County, said she is increasingly placing her trained dogs with
urban-dwelling veterans who are fearful of dark spaces or crowds.

Dogs can turn on lights, check apparently empty rooms, or lead their human
companions away from crowds.

"Our organization has become much more visible for vets with PTSD. They use
service dogs to re-acclimate into society," Sullivan said. "For vets who
don't like dealing with overstimulated conditions, a dog will lead them away
from that environment."

Sullivan said urban settings offer services for people with disabilities -
hence the presence of service dogs there.

"If you can't drive, you need to be near a bus. If you have a condition, you
need to be near a hospital. Urban areas call to the disabled," she said.

Canine Partners for Life trainers regularly ride SEPTA from Cochranville
into Center City and visit Reading Terminal Market or the Philadelphia Zoo
to acclimate the dogs to urban settings.

As for landlords, Breece said she often has to educate them about the
Americans With Disabilities Act.

"I just spoke with one woman who is in litigation with her apartment
building, she has a service dog and lives in York County," Breece said. "The
building says it doesn't allow dogs, but that doesn't hold water. It's not a
pet."

What about humans who abuse the system?

"That's a challenge: how to tell the difference between an accredited
animal" and a pet, she acknowledged. Her trained dogs wear vests with her
organization's name displayed prominently; their certification is inserted
within the vests.

Expert animal trainers are accredited or seeking accreditation with
Assistance Dogs International (ADI), she said.

All animals "should have a vest," she said. "But there's no federal law in
place saying a service animal must have identification. That creates
issues."

In 2012, the Philadelphian settled a suit filed by the U.S. Attorney's
Office on behalf of Michele Stewart after the condominium building refused
to allow Lucy, Stewart's service dog.

Stewart did not respond to requests for comment, but according to the
consent decree, the condo association paid damages and building management
was required to undergo training and education.

In August, HUD went so far as to charge Kent State University in Ohio with
housing discrimination for refusing to allow a student with disabilities to
keep an emotional-support animal in her campus apartment.

What accounts for the increase in legal activity?

"The disability civil rights movement has been active now for 35 years. The
ADA is celebrating its 30th birthday," Sullivan said. "All of these bring
awareness of disabilities. The mainstream is getting it: The disabled want a
life, and having a service dog is part of that process."

Filing a Complaint

People who believe they have been denied requests for reasonable
accommodation may file complaints by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing
and Equal Opportunity at 1-800-669-9777.

Housing-discrimination complaints also may be filed by going to HUD's
website (www.hud.gov/fairhousing).

Breakdown Of Filings

In 2014, 225 fair-housing complaints filed in the region were related to
disabilities. Of those, 31 were related to assistance-animal cases.
Estimated filings on assistance-animal cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
nationwide:

            In Pa.    In N.J.       In U.S.

2009           7       4          543

2010           19          8          723

2011           12       3          723

2012           26       7          803

2013           20       12            952

2014           27        4           1,062

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development