Exclusion
Your dog can’t come in here.
You and your dog must leave immediately.
These are the words service dog owners frequently hear when seeking to enter hotels, restaurants, stores, and the like. And some dogs are excluded without words. This happens when drivers of buses and taxis refuse to stop after seeing a service dog with a passenger waiting for a ride.
So how frequently are service dogs excluded? The numbers are extraordinary. Access has been refused to three-quarters of American and British guide dog owners and half of Australian handlers and their dogs in the past two years.
Want to subscribe to receive blog updates sign up today!
Exasperating civil rights violation
How can this be when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 33 State laws, and civil rights laws in other countries make it unlawful to withhold the welcome mat? Service dogs must be allowed to accompany their handlers into any facility, or portion thereof, open to the public. It’s the law!
Exception
Removal of a service dog is permitted if the dog is out of the handler’s control, behaving badly, poses a public health and safety risk, or is not housebroken.
Excuses don’t hold water
Businesses are either ignoring the law or ignorant of what the law requires. But neither excuse condones comments like the following:
I’m allergic to dogs.
I don’t want my car to get dirty.
I thought the dog was a pet since he wasn’t wearing a vest.
You don’t look disabled.
Besides, ignorance of the law is no excuse. For an employee to say, “I didn’t know,” at best, shows poor training or, at worst, a reckless disregard for the well-being of those whose safety and security is dependent on their service dog.
Examine
Staff challenging the legitimacy of a service dog can legally only ask the handler two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (2) what task has the dog been trained to perform? Staff cannot demand that the dog be registered, certified, or identified with a harness, ID card, or vest. Training documentation and a demonstration of tasks the dog performs cannot be required. Questions about the handler’s disability are off limits.
Exercise your right to enter
When service dogs are denied entry, handlers can take one or more of the following steps:
1. Explain how the dog’s entry is legally mandated. Consider sharing a one page summary of the ADA, State, or other pertinent law.
2. Ask to speak to a manager or owner if lower tier staff still refuse entry.
3. Consider calling the police if the law provides for criminal penalties and ask for a police report.
4. If feasible, use your cell phone to record the refusal.
5. Document the refusal by making contemporaneous notes of the words spoken and actions taken against you and your dog.
6. File a complaint with the appropriate State or federal enforcement agency, see https://beta.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/
7. Get a lawyer to bring a private civil action against the offending business or entity.
You might also like:
- Angela Muir Van Etten. Respect Service Dogs. August 22, 2022. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/respect-service-dogs/
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “Fair Housing Disability Anniversary,” September 13, 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/fair-housing-disability-anniversary/
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “Which Animals Fly for Free?” January 11, 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/which-animals-fly-for-free/
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section. “ADA Requirements: Service Animals.” February 24, 2020. https://beta.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-2010-requirements/
- Kea Grace. Psychiatric Hospitalizations and Service Dogs. May 9, 2017. https://anythingpawsable.com/inpatient-psychiatric-service-dog-admission/