Most denials end quickly when the handler knows the rights for their team, this is why you will see in so many of my articles of how important for us to know the laws as far as service teams are concerned.
Conversation with the Gatekeeper
You will see me use the term "gatekeeper" throughout this. When I talk about the gatekeeper it means the person that works/manages/owns the area in which you may be denied entry. A typical layperson has no right to stop you nor ask you any questions. One could even argue that doing so is a violation of your 4th amendment rights (seizure of your person).
When a gatekeeper stops you about your dog, they are only allowed to ask you the "golden questions" which we are required to answer.
- Is the animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
- Paperwork: The ADA prohibits asking for documentation to prove an animal is a service dog. Staff also cannot require the dog to demonstrate its task or ask about the nature of the person's disability.
- Vests: Here in the US service dogs are NOT required to be vested. NOTE: If you are referring to your dog as an SDiT (service dog in training) there are some states that DO require them to be vested.
I have found it extremely important that the initial part of the conversation be nice and relaxed as it does not (typically) put the gatekeeper in a defensive posture. Normally this is all a team will ever need. Stay certain of your rights and do not back down. This can change if the conversation becomes more hostile.
- ADA Card: Typically these are business-card-sized sheets where the ADA laws for service dog teams are written out. These can be bought on sites like Amazon and Etsy for very cheap and are very easy to keep in your pocket. One can also make their own or have your own printed off by companies like Vista Print. I have mine printed off as I like to have the state code on mine for easy reference.
- Gatekeepers Guide: I found this handout over at PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOG PARTNERS. This is an in-depth guide for businesses about service dogs. I have it copied here on the site for easy reference: Gatekeeper Guide. Normally I keep a couple of these in our crash bag.
If you get to a point where being nice is not going to work with the gatekeeper things get a lot harder for us. There are many ways to handle this, mainly depending on the handler's demeanor. Some of us do not handle conflict well and is something all of us must work on from time to time. I found that my wife was a perfect help with times like this as she had no problem advocating for me and being able to do so loudly. I learned from her.
It is important for us to be able to fight for our rights. When we do we set a good foundation for other teams that will follow.
Recording
Most of us have cell phones. There is nothing wrong with pulling it out and recording the confrontation. I absolutely encourage it! Do so in front of the gatekeeper and once recording ask the question "Are you denying me and my service dog entry into your facility" or something like that and go from there.
There are some that say you cannot do this, I disagree as long as it is being done in a public area that has "no expectation of privacy". I have a good video about this in the forums: Filming in Public.
Ask for the Supervisor
Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to talk to the boss. Many times, this can de-escalate the situation and bring about a quick ending to the situation. Typically, the management understands customer approval, especially when there are other customers watching a denial conflict. There is always more than just the team and gatekeeper involved in a denial argument, and they are always making decisions if they are going to come back after seeing how the team is treated.
Making Witnesses
If you get to the point, you know is not going to go well make sure you are talking loud enough that those that are watching hear your conversation. Let them become part of the conflict.
Calling Law Enforcement
Nothing wrong with this. Law enforcement is there to help us. They can mitigate the situation, file a police report, or issue a summons to court for both parties. Also, there is nothing wrong with asking one of the gawkers to call the police for you (get them involved).
Warning: Many law enforcement officers DO NOT know their state/local laws regarding service dogs. This is another reason to make sure you know your laws. Most officers never encounter a service dog issue in their career so go easy on them.
The great part of having officers intervene is that they have a better chance of de-escalating, and they produce police reports, which are legal records that can be used if the team wants to take the incident further.
Second Warning: When law enforcement arrives, stories tend to change quickly. This is where video and those witnesses become a great source of information for the officers. Use this to your advantage! Give them only the facts of the situation at hand.
Do Not Voluntarily Leave!
In a nutshell, if you leave you have forfeited your own rights, "proven" the gatekeeper right in his/her "knowledge" about what they are allowed to do, and made it even harder for the next service dog team that comes in.
If one of the officers tells you it is time to go, ask for the report number and leave. Don't make it harder on yourself.
Once the situation has arrived at its end, good or bad, it is time to decide on how to proceed. Personally, I try to give it a day or two so I can view everything in a more calm, logical manner.
Do you want to handle it through legal means? Social? Bring advocates in? Or a combination?
Legal:
Make sure all your eggs are in the basket. Meaning if you head to court you are going to be asked to prove your team's validity. Do you have a note from your doctor or proof of disability? Training logs? Notes from trainers you have used? Ready to do a show and tell showing the tasks the dog has been trained to do? Have that police report?
- Human Rights Complaint
- ADA Complaint
- Many states have a disability rights department.
- Local disability rights lawyer.
Social:
Review sites for the business are a good place to start. You would be surprised how closely some corporations watch the review sites.
Have a video of the altercation? TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and tons of others are great places to put those up at. You may be surprised how quickly people in your local area pick up on it.
Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper. You can either write up on your own or ask if they would be interested in doing an interview for an article. Most media outlets love stories like this. Don't stop at the newspaper, contact local TV news outlets.
Advocates:
Great sources of help. Normally this will take a little research to find advocate groups near you. Many advocate groups will ask you for proof that your team is legitimate, and a police report of the incident also helps immensely.
They tend to act in your stead by contacting the other party explaining the law and accessing the possibility of taking this case to the courtroom.
In closing, denial is something that every service dog may encounter. They are never easy to deal with, thankfully they are still a rare occurrence for most of us. Take some time and think through how you would handle as many different situations as possible that you may be exposed to. Do not be afraid and do your best to keep calm. You and your dog have the same accessibility as everyone you see walking around.
As always, if you see something you agree with or don't feel free to leave a comment, same if you would like something added. This should not be seen as any type of legal advice, simply an article based on my experience and training.
Below is an excerpt from a post I shared a while back on the normal flow I use when I hit a public access problem.
This is my normal course of action when denied entry to most places when I am accompanied by my service animal.
Denied:
- 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.
- Hand them a copy of a handout from the PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DOG PARTNERS. https://forums.servicedogadvocate.com/resources/gatekeeper-guide.18/. Again I have a couple of copies of this.
- Ask to speak with the manager and repeat the above.
- 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 can not enforce federal law.
Allow them to try to mitigate the situation. If they can not ask for a card and case number 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.
If you simply walk away not only do they (the business) feel justified that their policy is/was correct, but you could be making it harder for those SD teams behind you later down the line.
Post actions:
Go to every review site you can think of and leave a true and honest review about your problems. You will be very surprised how much the chains pay attention to the review areas.
