Service Dog Access Issues (US)

In most places, our service dogs are allowed to travel with us wherever we go. Most of the time this is likened to those with medical devices, like wheelchairs, that need them while out in public. However, the general public, as a whole, is not aware of our need to have our dogs with us, and this sometimes leads to problems for all parties involved.

Where is a Service Dog Allowed in Public

Here in the US service dog teams are covered by the ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act for our public access.

"Under the ADA, State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is allowed to go. For example, in a hospital it usually would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn units where the animal's presence may compromise a sterile environment."

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As above, while we can go into most places without problems as a team there are a few that are prohibited and most make sense.

• Operating rooms
• Sterile environments
• Clean rooms where people must don special suits
• Places of worship (must gain permission first)
• Some special circumstances

Places of Worship is in place in my opinion due to our separation of church and state. There are some places of worship that do not have a fond outlook on having animals in their sanctuaries, most of the time this is due to the religion and/or the culture.

Special circumstances: The ADA and other agencies such as the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) do include some special circumstances where a service dog may not be allowed. The two major ones are:

• In the case where a business, or another "covered entity" would need "fundamentally alter" the nature of the goods, services, programs, or activities that it provides to the public.
• When there are legitimate safety requirements or concerns

We have seen the "fundamentally alter" exception used in places like in-patient treatment centers where the dog could create problems for other patients, or it is a secured facility and there is no way for the handler to take their dog out to break. We have an excellent article about this from AnythingPawsable on Psychiatric Hospitalizations and Service Dogs.

Can a place stop you?

If you are entering a public access area any business gatekeeper can stop you to ask 2 questions.

• Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

As long as you answer these and you are not trying to enter an excluded area as talked about above, all should be good.

Please note they cannot ask you for anything else like a certification, service dog license, or anything like that. But according to the ADA, there is nothing wrong if they ask you for something every dog is required to have within that city, county, or state such as a shot record or city/county license you need to be able to produce it. If you don't they can deny your dogs entry.

I have seen some handlers, most of which had speaking trouble that had a business card that had their information on it and what tasks their dog did to hand to gatekeepers.

What if an individual, not a gatekeeper challenges me?

Depends on how you want to handle it. They (typically) have no need to know so you do not have to answer them. If they have a problem with it let them track down an employee and take it up with them.

Personally, I have no problem answering their questions, within reason. I find it can be a great time for educating someone about service dogs and what they can do if I have the time. I will always have my ADA cards and hand them out as much as I can.

What can I do if we are Denied Access?

Do access problems happen? Yes, for me they have been rare, but they do happen. Most of the time it is simply due to the gatekeeper not knowing the laws. Most Law Enforcement Officers I have met don't either. So, if you are denied entry with your dog what are your options?

It all depends on how you want to handle it. Here is how I normally go about it:

Hand them an ADA card (we always have a few stored in the dog's "crash bag". I will normally start recording this interaction. Yes, this is legal.

Still refused?

• Hand them a copy of a handout from the PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOG PARTNERS. You can download it from our GateKeepers Guide.

Still refused?

• Ask to speak with the manager and repeat the above.

Still refused?

• Call law enforcement and look up the service dog laws (you will want the statute numbers) while I wait so you can allow the officers to look it up for themselves. Local cops cannot enforce federal law.
• When cops arrive, explain the situation, give them the statutes you looked up, and explain to them the statutes, if needed. Most beat cops do not know service dog law.
• Allow them to try to mitigate the situation. If they cannot ask for a card and case number so they will do an incident report. This is legal evidence that you can either turn over to the DOJ for resolution, take to a lawyer for legal actions, or even use to get the interest of local news reporters to socially punish the business.

Word of Warning about Court

If you have to go to court with your service dog be prepared to prove the validity of your team to the court. Most of the time the other side will try to say that your dog is not a true service dog and the place you were denied at does not allow pets, hence the court should throw out the charges. Or worse yet, you be charged for impersonating your dog as a service dog. I always suggest handlers keep any type of paperwork they can for their team. Notes from doctors, like we use for FHA requirements, notes from trainers or training logs to show the training, and any type of certificates you have received for your dog like CGC certificates. I have even seen handlers do "show and tell" with their dogs for the different types of alerts they do.