A guest arrives at check in with her luggage, her niece and an 80 pound Golden Retriever. She immediately informs you that this is her service dog. What do you do?
The U.S. Government as well as Washington State have adopted some very specific laws covering service animals. Innkeepers are not exempt from these laws, regardless of existing pet policies or personal preference. These laws cover not just accessibility of the service animal, but also restrict conversation about the person’s disability. Below is an abbreviated list of information regarding accessibility of service animals.
1. “Service animal” means an animal that is trained for the purpose of assisting or accommodating a disabled person’s sensory, mental, or physical disability.
2. There are no legal requirements for service animals to be specially identified. Some, but not all, service animals, wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or “certified” and/or have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. A public entity cannot require any proof of a person’s disability, or identification or certification of the service animal’s status.
3. The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where members of the public are normally allowed to go, unless its presence or behavior creates a fundamental alteration or direct threat to safety. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from others.
4. Legally, a service animal is not a pet. You are required to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by an individual with a disability. A “no pets” policy may be continued, but you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.
5. As for any other program modifications provided to people with disabilities, you may not charge an additional fee related to the use of service animals. An agency may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal cause damage so long as it is the regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for the same types of damages.
6. The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of his or her owner. You are not required to provide care or food for the animal. You may exclude a service animal from your facility when that animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. However, you may not make assumptions (speculate) about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually. Although an agency may exclude any service animal that is a direct threat to safety, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises. There may be a few circumstances when an agency is not required to accommodate a service animal –for example, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. For example, when a dog initiates unsolicited contact with people other than its owner (jumping on people, sniffing them, trying to be petted, etc.), the animal can be excluded. Any exclusion must be for reasons that are demonstrable, not speculative.
For more detailed information, consult the following websites:
http://www.ada.gov/svcanimb.htm
http://www.servicedogs.org/whatwedo/laws.html
http://www.hum.wa.gov/FAQ/FAQServiceAnimal.html
