Common sense, mixed with compassion, goes a long way when complying with ADA rules regarding service animals in public assembly facilities.
Asked what to do when a historic theater with a limited seating footprint is faced with accommodating an oversized service animal, Wallis Brozman, Communications and Advocacy Specialist, Canine Companions, suggested making room, like providing two seats so the dog can lie on the floor at its handler’s feet, if circumstances permit. “That accommodation is not required,” she noted. “It’s just a general kindness to do that.”
Speaking at an IAVM’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Committee (DILC) E3 webinar, along with Melissa Allman, Advocacy and Government Relations Specialist, The Seeing Eye, Brozman has personal awareness of that situation, since her service dog is an “enormous” 75-pound Lab-Golden Retriever, which may require additional space.
There are common myths about what is required and not required when an attendee with a service animal shows up at an IAVM venue or any public space. “Service animals are specifically trained and tasked to mitigate their handler’s disability,” Brozman said. “Our service dogs must be trained to the disability.”
The definition of disability has been greatly expanded under federal ADA laws and might include training to detect changes in blood sugar and to give a seizure response. A person with a disability could be a veteran with PTSD or a child with autism. Basically, the laws apply to physical or mental impairments that substantially limit major life activities. “We serve over 65 known types of disabilities,” Brozman said.
It’s important to realize service dogs for veterans with PTSD, for example, are not therapy dogs. They are trained to a task, perhaps to physically interrupt flashbacks.
“It’s fairly obvious I’m blind, and seeing is a major life activity,” Allman added. When the disability is not visible, allowing service animals to accompany the disabled into a venue becomes more challenging. Since 2010, the law has been clear on what can legally be asked to verify the legitimacy of the service animal.
You can ask two questions:
° Is this a service animal needed because of a disability?
° What task is it trained to perform?
“Venues need to remember it’s not one-sided,” Allman said. People with disabilities, in general, have a right to be accompanied by a service animal wherever the public is allowed to go, but that animal must be trained to a physical task.
Do not ask to see some identification as proof this is a service animal, Allman added. No such documentation is required, and you’re not allowed to ask. “There are plenty of websites that will ‘certify’ your service dog,” Brozman said. That is a common misconception.
Service animals do not have to wear vests, either. “Anyone can put a vest on a dog, but that does not make it a service dog,” Allman said.
It is required that the person with a disability always maintains control of their service animal. It must be leashed or tethered at all times, unless doing so would interfere with the task — for example, if the dog needs to retrieve an object.
There could be situations where the presence of a service dog interferes with the business, such as at a zoo if dogs are natural predators of the animal on exhibit. Then they could be excluded. If the service dog is disruptive to others or to the event, the host can ask the disabled to remove the dog and come back without their dog.
Behavior is the barometer. Venues do have rights, but one needs to discern whether it’s misbehavior on the dog’s part or the task they’re trained to. A dog could be trained to bark once as a call for help.
“Any dog that is showing aggressive behavior can be excluded from a venue,” Brozman said. “Aggression is never permitted. Don’t go on looks; it’s the behavior of the dog which determines whether it should be there and could be there.”
However, it is illegal to exclude a service animal due to allergies or fear of dogs on the part of other patrons. “If someone’s allergy rises to the level of a disability, both individuals need to be reasonably accommodated,” Allman said.
The disabled do not have to disclose ahead of time that they will be bringing a service animal to a performance nor is it legal to ask a patron with a disability dining at a restaurant to sit outside because dogs on premises are unsanitary. It is also illegal to charge additional fees because a person is accompanied by a service animal, which is sometimes incorrectly requested by hotels.
Essentially, a service dog is Durable Medical Equipment (DME), like a wheelchair, and no one would consider charging an additional fee “because I brought in wet tires,” she said, likening that to a muddy pawprint. “I am responsible if my dog chews on the corner of a couch — anything beyond normal wear and tear.”
Service dogs are not emotional support animals. Those animals, such as an alligator named Wally, have often made headlines, but the only place they are legally allowed is in housing where pets are normally banned. Emotional support animals and therapy dogs do not have carte blanche to attend events in public places, Brozman said. The handler of such animals is not disabled and those animals are not task-trained to mitigate a disability.
Brozman and Allman were adamant that service dog fraud is not victimless. Brozman’s previous service dog was attacked by alleged service dogs, fraud dogs, in public places to the point he developed severe hyper vigilance and had to be retired at age four. In the U.S., a survey showed 93 percent of service dog users encountered out-of-control dogs falsely claimed as service animals in public places. There is intentional fraud and unintentional fraud in the industry; either way it’s expensive emotionally and fiscally. Her program spends $50,000 training one dog for service.
During the webinar, which was moderated by DILC committee member Katherine Foster, assistant operations manager, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, N.J., more than 42 questions were logged. Foster promised to get back to those people when time expired and added her own pitch to venue managers to consider providing training opportunities for service puppies. “Invite them to come in and practice maneuvering through crowds,” she urged, noting they do that at her venue, and it’s educational to the staff as well as to the service dog, resulting in an accessible and welcoming environment.
A record 419 people registered for this E3 webinar, according to Amy Fitzpatrick, MPA, IAVM director of marketing. A recording of the webinar and collateral materials are available here – https://youtu.be/216mnvBO2ys.
Fitzpatrick also promoted supporting the DILC’s Dollars for Diversity campaign, “an initiative which directly fuels programs and scholarships that empower underrepresented voices, expand access to education, and strengthen our collective ability to create inclusive venues.” To donate to the campaign, click here – https://member.iavm.org/cv5/cgi-bin/memberdll.dll/info?wrp=donationnew.htm&subscriptionname=DON_DIVERSITY
