Post by Dog goes to College on Jan 27, 2013 17:54:54 GMT -7
Much of the focus on service dog law is on the legal rights of the disabled individual, and for good reason, as misunderstandings of these laws can take away a person's independence. However, businesses have rights too, and they are important tools to eliminate issues that plunge service dog users and businesses alike such as fake service dog handlers giving legitimate service dogs a bad name.
The Department of Justice has put out a lot of material for interpreting (or simply re-stating) the sections of the ADA relevant to service dogs and they make clear that businesses have some rights, including:
To ask any person entering their business with a dog if the dog is required due to a disability (but not what the disability is).
To throw out any person who says the dog is not required due to a disability (unless state law protects service dogs in training, in which case they must also be allowed)
To ask what tasks the dog performs to assist with a disability (or what tasks the dog is learning to perform)
To throw out anyone who does not have an acceptable answer to that question (emotional support is not a task)
To expect the service dog to be under the control of the handler at all times
To throw out any dog, service dog or not, for aggressive behavior
To throw out any dog for going to the bathroom indoors
To throw out any dog for barking (unless the bark is a trained task as a medical alert)
To throw out any dog for eating merchandise
To throw out any dog for creating a fundamental alteration (such as swimming in a public swimming pool, entering a operating room, or harassing zoo animals)
The Department of Justice has put out a lot of material for interpreting (or simply re-stating) the sections of the ADA relevant to service dogs and they make clear that businesses have some rights, including:
To ask any person entering their business with a dog if the dog is required due to a disability (but not what the disability is).
To throw out any person who says the dog is not required due to a disability (unless state law protects service dogs in training, in which case they must also be allowed)
To ask what tasks the dog performs to assist with a disability (or what tasks the dog is learning to perform)
To throw out anyone who does not have an acceptable answer to that question (emotional support is not a task)
To expect the service dog to be under the control of the handler at all times
To throw out any dog, service dog or not, for aggressive behavior
To throw out any dog for going to the bathroom indoors
To throw out any dog for barking (unless the bark is a trained task as a medical alert)
To throw out any dog for eating merchandise
To throw out any dog for creating a fundamental alteration (such as swimming in a public swimming pool, entering a operating room, or harassing zoo animals)