1. SERVICE ANIMALS AND THE ADA: True or False?
ADA Trainer Network
Module 4d
SERVICE ANIMALS AND THE ADA: True or False?
Implications for Title II and III Entities
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 1)
This module is useful when you have a short period of time and have been asked to present a session on service animals for a Title II or Title III entity. It can also be used in conjunction with other modules about access to programs and services or as a way to review information presented in other modules. It covers common misunderstandings about service animals and the ADA in a way that immediately engages the audience.
This module may be facilitated by distributing the Service Animals and the ADA Quiz handout and having each participant complete the Quiz, prior to the facilitator reviewing the slides with the group OR it may be conducted fully as a large group activity with a review of the slides and discussion, as participants use the Quiz handout to take notes.
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2. Disclaimer
Information, materials, and/or technical assistance are intended solely as informal guidance, and are neither a determination of your legal rights or responsibilities under the ADA, nor binding on any agency with enforcement responsibility under the ADA. The Northeast ADA Center is authorized by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to provide information, materials, and technical assistance to individuals and entities that are covered by the ADA. The contents of this document were developed under a grant from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant number H133 A However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 2)
Advise participants that the ADA National Network is not involved in the enforcement of the ADA nor does it provide legal advice.

3. This module is based on “Service Animals – True or False
This module is based on “Service Animals – True or False?” from the ADA Quiz Book (4th Edition), a product of the Rocky Mountain ADA Center, a member of the ADA National Network, and a participating partner in the ADA National Network’s ADA Trainer Network.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 3)
Advise participants that this module is based on “Service Animals – True or False?” from the ADA Quiz Book. If anyone would like to purchase a copy they may do so at

4. There continues to be a lot of confusion about service animals and the rights of individuals who use them.
This quiz is designed to clarify some of the common misunderstandings about service animals and the ADA.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 4)
Service animals are utilized by individuals with many different types of disabilities (e.g., visual impairment, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, etc.).
Under the ADA, service animals are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Examples: guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, etc. The work the animal has been trained to provide, must be directly related to the person’s disability.
If asking participants to complete the Quiz, first, distribute the Quiz handout and allow 3-5 minutes for them to work on this. Remember, any items they may not finish, will be addressed as you go through the slides with the group.

5. TRUE OR FALSE?
Only dogs (and in some cases, miniature horses) are recognized as service animals under the ADA.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 5)
TRUE: Under the ADA, only dogs and in some instances, miniature horses that have been specifically trained to assist an individual with a disability-related issue, are considered to be service animals. Other types of animals, even if they have been trained, are not considered service animals under the ADA’s definition.

6. TRUE OR FALSE?
Comfort and emotional support animals are not service animals under the ADA.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 6)
TRUE: Comfort and emotional support animals are NOT service animals as defined by the ADA. This means animals that only provide emotional support, would not meet the ADA’s definition. However, if, for example, the animal is trained to calm a person with PTSD during a panic attack, then it is providing help to alleviate for a psychiatric impairment and is a service animal.

7. TRUE OR FALSE?
Under the ADA, service animals must wear a vest or tags identifying them as service animals.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 7)
FALSE: Under the ADA, animals are not required to wear vests or other items indicating that they are service animals, nor is the owner required to provide a doctor’s note verifying the animal’s function.
Other laws, such as the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Air Carrier Accessibility Act (ACAA) do require verification.

8. TRUE OR FALSE?
To determine if an animal is a legitimate service animal, public accommodations can ask two questions:
Is this a service animal?
What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 8)
TRUE: When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only two questions are allowed: (1) Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?; and (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 card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.
Here is a recent example (July 2014) of a situation where the legitimacy of the service animal may not have been clear:
A woman with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the Boston Marathon Bombing was told that she either needed to place her service dog in the shopping cart at TJ Maxx or she would need to leave the store. The store apologized for not following procedure which would have included asking if the dog is required due to a disability and what task it had been trained to perform. If the dog was, in fact trained to mitigate some aspect of her PTSD, she had a right to have the dog with her and to have it out of the cart, if this would allow it to do what it was trained to do for her. If the animal was purely an emotional support animal, she would not be protected under the ADA. In this case, the dog had been trained to meet her individual, disability-related needs, but the store manager did not confirm this as he should have.
Here is a recent example of a case in which an inordinate amount of information was requested from the family of a student with a service dog (June 2014):
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a settlement in an ongoing investigation into inappropriate restrictions imposed on service animal use by Delran Township School District in New Jersey. The settlement under Title II of the ADA concerns a student with autism and encephalopathy whose service animal the School District refused to effectively accommodate. Additionally, the School District subjected the family to burdensome information and documentation requests. In one instance, the school prohibited the student from bringing his dog onto a school bus for the end of the year field trip, and instead the student's mother drove the service dog to the field trip. The DOJ concluded that the School District's practices did not comply with their ADA obligations to modify their policies to allow for the use of service animals by students with disabilities. The settlement requires that the School District adopt an ADA compliant service animal policy. Additionally, the School District must provide related training on Title II of the ADA to employees as well as provide compensation to the family. To read more, visit:

9. TRUE OR FALSE?
Places of public accommodation must assist individuals with service animals by providing water for the animal and taking the animal outdoors to eliminate.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 9)
FALSE: Care of the animal is solely the owner’s responsibility.

10. TRUE OR FALSE?
If a service animal is threatening, out of control, or not housebroken, a public accommodation can require that the animal be removed from the premises.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 10)
TRUE: The animal is to be under its owner’s control, at all times. Under the ADA, 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. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.
If an animal is not under the owner’s control or is not housebroken, the owner may be asked to remove the animal from the premises.
When there is a legitimate reason to ask that a service animal be removed, staff must offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal’s presence.

11. TRUE OR FALSE?
A service dog can be excluded from a place of public accommodation if other patrons are allergic to dogs or are afraid of dogs.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 11)
FALSE: This guidance is from the Department of Justice, which is responsible for enforcing Titles II and III of the ADA:
Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is allergic to dog dander and a person who uses a service animal must spend time in the same room or facility, for example, in a school classroom or at a homeless shelter, they both should be accommodated by assigning them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility.

12. TRUE OR FALSE?
The ADA provisions for service animals are different than those in the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 12)
TRUE: This ADA definition is different from and does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act or the broader definition of “service animal” under the Air Carrier Access Act.
Some State and local laws also define service animal more broadly than the ADA does. Information about such laws can be obtained from the State attorney general’s office.

13. BONUS QUESTION! TRUE OR FALSE?
Under Title I of the ADA, employers must allow employees with disabilities to bring a service animal into the workplace.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 13)
FALSE: In this module, we have covered the obligations of Title II and III entities regarding service animals under the ADA. However, employment provisions are addressed under Title I of the Act.
There is not a specific definition of service animal under title I, employers may have to consider allowing an employee to bring in an animal that does not meet the title III definition of service animal, such as a therapy or emotional support animal.
Employers do not have to allow an employee to bring an animal into the workplace if it is not needed because of a disability or if it disrupts the workplace.
Unlike Title II and III entities, employers do not automatically need to allow service animals. Rather, this would be considered a reasonable accommodation, determined on a case-by-case basis. The request, if valid, should be granted unless the entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business.
For more information about Title I of the ADA, see modules in Topic Area 3 of the Master Menu of the ADA Trainer Network Modularized Curriculum Menu.

14. Resources https://adata.org/factsheet/service-animals
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 14)
Direct participants to these resources for additional information. If feasible, you may want to provide hard copies of these fact sheets.
This is a fact sheet about service animals prepared by the Department of Justice
This is a fact sheet about service animals prepared by the ADA National Network
Remind participants that they can also contact the Technical Assistance line at

15. Employment and Disability Institute
Northeast ADA Center
Employment and Disability Institute
Cornell University
Dolgen Hall Room 201
Ithaca, New York
Toll-Free : (NY, NJ, PR, USVI)
Telephone
Fax
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Web
The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the Department of Education, NIDRR grant number H133 A However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 15)
National Network: Please insert your center’s contact information on this slide.
Conclude by reminding participants that the training materials were produced by the Northeast ADA Center in collaboration with the ADA National Network. Remind them of the free and confidential technical assistance and other services available from your local ADA Center and from the ADA Centers throughout the country. Provide the toll-free number –