Service Animals and the Law

If you represent business owners, schools, public employees or service animal handlers, you won’t want to miss this special presentation. There are approximately 400,000 service dogs known to work in the United States, and this number does not include other service animals (i.e. miniature horses). They may be the eyes or ears for people they serve, the first to alert their handler of an impending medical episode or may provide the psychological support that enables a person to live independently. The animals are highly trained, intelligent and sensitive. However, as their use has increased, so have the legal questions surrounding them. The issues are many, from the legal obligations of businesses, to attacks on service animals, fraudulent service animals, and more.
In addition to the legalities, you’ll also get an inside look into The Seeing Eye. The Seeing Eye's mission is to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of people who are blind, through the use of specially trained Seeing Eye® dogs. In pursuit of this mission, The Seeing Eye breeds and raises puppies to become Seeing Eye dogs, trains Seeing Eye dogs to guide blind people, instructs blind people in the proper use, handling, and care of the dogs and conducts and supports research on canine health and development.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Overview of The Seeing Eye
  What a dog means to someone’s life, introduction to service animals, including examples of the types of tasks that they can be trained to perform
• ADA Title 1
  The Law Against Discrimination in the workplace, including reasonable accommodations, what types of animals qualify, what is to be done in the event of negative reaction/responses from co-workers and whether a service dog be taken to a job interview
• ADA Title 2
  The protection of qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of disability in services, programs, and activities provided by State and local government entities
• ADA Title 3
  Discrimination based on disability in the activities of places of public accommodations (businesses that are generally open to the public and that fall into one of 12 categories listed in the ADA, such as restaurants, movie theaters, etc.)
• FHA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
  Protects people with disabilities from discrimination in housing, schools, jobs and the community
• Air Carrier Access Act
  The Federal law which, under the purview of the Department of Transportation, regulates what animals can travel on airplanes