Service animals and how they can be accommodated

Subject & Goal

A service animal is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered service animals.

Generally, service animals are allowed to be with their owner or other accompanying person, even in places that don’t allow pets.

Service animals are not:

• Required to be certified or go through a professional training program
• Required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog
• Emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability
  
  If you are working at a business or state/local government facility and it is unclear to you whether someone’s dog is a service dog, you may ask for certain information using two questions.

You may ask:

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

You are not allowed to:

• Request any documentation that the dog is registered, licensed, or certified as a service animal

• Require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability