Service Animals


Service animals are individually trained to work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. Service animals may do such things as guide a person who is blind; pick up or fetch things for a person with a physical impairment; act as "medic alert" animals for people with seizure disorders, heart problems, or hearing impairments; or perform a variety of functions for people with psychiatric disabilities. Service animals are not pets; they are working animals.

Service Animal Facts

  • Service animals do not have to have any kind of certification or identification, and by law they are not required to wear any type of vest or any other gear that identifies them as a service animal.
  • Any business that serves the public must allow service animals, regardless of any "no pets" policy that they may have.
  • The only questions a public entity may ask a service animal handler is:

1) Do you have a disability (a yes/no question)?
2) What tasks does the animal perform?
No one may ask "What is your disability?"

  • Under the Fair Housing Act, service animals, as well as comfort animals, must be allowed in multi-family rental buildings (i,e, an apartment), regardless of any "not pets" policy. Additionally, no pet deposit may be charged, even if one is normally charged for animals living in the establishment.
  • Service animals can only be asked to leave a place of public accommodation if they pose a direct threat (i.e. they bite someone, are dirty/have fleas, are disruptive for a reason unrelated to their task as a service animal).
  • Service animal handlers are responsible for cleaning up after their service animals.

 

Please see the following sources for more information on service animals:

DBTAC Northwest Service Animal FAQs (pdf)
Delta Society: Service Animal Basics
Service Dog Central
Psychiatric Service Dog Society
DOJ: ADA Business Brief: Service Animals
DOJ: Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business
JAN: Service Animals as Workplace Accommodations
Easter Seals: Service Animals and Ground Transportation (pdf)