Service Animals on Campus

UACCB intends to provide the broadest possible access to service animals in all of its public areas. UACCB is also committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities requiring the use of a service animal can fully participate in classes, services, and activities on the UACCB campus.

The Department of Justice defines service animals as “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” The work or tasks must be directly related to the individual's disability such as guiding a person with impaired vision, alerting a person who is Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, pulling a wheelchair, alerting or protecting a person having a seizure, or reminding a person with a mental illness to take a prescribed medication. (Miniature horses may be considered a service animal as defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.)

Dogs that are not trained to perform tasks that mitigate the effects of a disability, including dogs that are used purely for emotion support, comfort, therapeutic benefit, or companionship, are not service animals under the ADA.

Inquiries Regarding Service Animals

When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: 1) Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? 2) What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff cannot ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification or training documentation, or ask that the dog demonstrate a task.

Responsibilities of the Handler

Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal's work or the individual's disability prevents using these devices. If this is the case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.

The handler of the service animal is also responsible for:

• Ensuring the animal is clean and in good health including being up-to-date on all immunizations and vaccinations required of service animals by laws and/or current city ordinances.
• Properly disposing of the animal's waste, or if unable to properly dispose of the animal's waste without assistance, coordinating with college staff for the proper disposal of waste
• Any harm or damage that the animal causes to persons or property

Exclusions of Service Animals

A person with a disability may be asked to remove a service animal from the premises if the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control the dog or the dog is not housebroken; if the animal's behavior, such as barking, is disruptive to the other participants within the facility; or if the animal poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others.