Dogs have played an important role in the lives of humans for thousands of years, not only as companions, but as working animals that help in a variety of ways. In ancient times, dogs were believed to help with hunting and providing protection to homes and livestock. Today, dogs are a normal part of everyday life and most are considered furry members of the family.
Service dogs, however, are not only loyal companions, but are highly trained working dogs that make a tremendous difference in the lives of people with special needs. An estimated 500,000 service dogs1 According to the American Kennel Association.2
What is a Service Dog?
Service dogs are defined by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) as “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.”3 To qualify as a service dog under the ADA, the dog must be trained specifically to assist or respond to the person’s disability which can include a “physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.”2 The examples provided by the ADA include guiding people who are blind, providing alerts to people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting a person who is having a seizure as well as calming a person having an anxiety attack due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
What Legal Rights Do Service Dogs and Their Owners Have?
These trained dogs are considered working animals, not pets, and therefore, service dogs are allowed in government buildings in accordance with the ADA. This includes all businesses that serve the public such as restaurants or stores and public places such as libraries and museums. Service dogs are also allowed on public transportation. Although, airlines may have specific rules regarding where the dog sits, but for the most part, the rules should be consistent with the ADA.
In addition to access to public places, the ADA provides legal protection to service dogs and owners including housing (a landlord cannot prohibit a tenant from having a service dog) and enforces strict rules when it is not obvious that a service dog is a service dog. Specifically, if someone is inquiring about a service dog (for example, to determine whether the dog is permitted in a building), only two specific questions can be asked: (1) is the dog a service dog required for a disability? and (2) what task is the dog trained to perform? Any additional questions may violate a person’s right to medical privacy and violate the ADA. Specifically, questions regarding a person’s disability or asking for documentation for the service dog is not permitted and therefore against the law.4
Working Dogs, Therapy Dogs and Emotional Support Animals: What’s The Difference?
Dogs that are trained to assist a person’s specific disability meet the definition of a service dog under that ADA and have the most legal protections. State and local laws may provide additional legal protection to non-service dogs, but laws will vary from state to state. For the most part, working dogs are not considered to be service dogs, however, working dogs generally do not need legal protection because they are trained to assist humans at a specific site or location. Examples of working dogs include hunting or herding dogs. Other working dogs are trained to assist with detection (medical, explosives, contraband), search and rescue, and various other tasks with police and the military. Under the ADA, therapy or emotional support dogs are not the same as service dogs because they are not trained to perform a specific task. Therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort and affection to patients in hospitals, hospice, and mental health institutions through their presence. While subtle, the difference between therapy or emotional support animals and service dogs comes with a drastic difference in terms of legal protections.
Do Therapy Dogs Have Legal Rights?
A dog that is trained to detect the onset of an owner’s anxiety attack and protect the person during the anxiety attack is considered a service dog and is protected under the ADA. However, a dog that provides comfort simply by being present is not, even if the dog is helping the owner with the anxiety attack.4 This means the ADA does not provide legal rights to therapy dogs because they are not trained to perform a specific task and can be denied access (and housing) to places that prohibit dogs.
How To Get a Service Dog
There is no centralized organization that provides service dogs to people with disabilities. Instead, there are various public and private organizations that train and assign dogs. Often, these groups focus on a particular disability which allows them to efficiently and effectively train dogs for service. Training dogs is costly, and many organizations rely on private donations. Moreover, training service dogs can take several months.
For example, service dogs to assist people that are blind require about four months of general training before individualized training with the intended owner. Training a dog to alert a person with diabetes of high or low blood sugar can cost between $8,000 and $20,000. However, some organizations will assist with the cost, or even provide a service dog for free to people who qualify.5 Generally, state and federal government agencies do provide financial assistance to people who need a service dog, and many service dog organizations provide service animals for free or reduced cost.
Service dogs play an important role in the life of a person with a disability and can provide the assistance to allow someone to live independently. Sadly, a service dog will only be able to work a limited number of years before the dog may be unable to perform the necessary tasks due to old age. Make sure to have a pet health insurance plan from Pets Best to help you afford the best care for your service dog and ensure your dog is able to assist and perform trained tasks for as long as possible.
*Terms and conditions apply. See policy for details
1https://share.america.gov/service-dogs-save-lives/
2https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/service-working-therapy-emotional-support-dogs/
3https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm
4https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html
5https://beyondtype1.org/diabetic-alert-dogs-dads/