[nagdu] Re Resolution concerning Dog Guides

[Michael Hingson]

Hi,

Discretion is always a good thing.  In fact, the ADA says guide dogs and
service animals can go ANYWHERE their handlers go.  This by definition
includes zoos.

However, you need to determine whether or not you are going to take your
guide dog if visiting a zoo.  For example, if I am going to an animal part
where animals roam free I might think about whether not to take my guide.
Any good zoo would have a place where I can leave my guide if I choose not
to use her in the animal inhabitance areas themselves.

Bottom line, be smart, but the zoos cannot deny you.


Mike Hingson


The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
     “Speaking with Vision”
                 Michael Hingson, President
                         (415) 827-4084
                   info at michaelhingson.com
                   www.michaelhingson.com


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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Elizabeth Rene
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:36 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Re Resolution concerning Dog Guides

Does the ADA specifically require that service animals be admitted to zoos?

I have always been taught at guide dog school that it is potentially 
traumatic to a guide dog to be taken inside a zoo, and potentially 
distressing to the captive animals  there, too, because of pheromone cues 
not recognizable by humans, there being too many natural predators in one 
place.

I don't know where the zoological or veterinary or humane association 
communities  stand on this issue, but I'm surprised that guide dog access to

zoos found its way into the statutory language of the ADA.

Is denial of access to zoos specifically prohibited, or is denial of zoo 
access to service animals simply not exempted from the bar against 
discrimination re public accommodations?

Guide dog schools teach their graduates to use good judgment for the 
protection of their dogs.  But who's to say what other service animal 
training programs do, or whether every service dog handler gives priority to

his or her dog's well-being?

I support the scope and intent of the resolution, but I wouldn't want to see

criminalized a reasonable restriction on service dog access  grounded on a 
legitimate interest in the animal's safety.

Elizabeth



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