Service dog rules and regulations

July 1, 2011

12:00 AM

Carolina Canines co-founder Rick Hairston favors a national certification standard for service dogs.

Service dog rules and regulations

July 2011

Twenty-one years ago this month, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law to reduce the number of barriers that people with disabilities encounter on a daily basis. Among its provisions, the law created a legal right for trained service animals to accompany the disabled into places of public accommodation where animals would not normally be welcome.

The recently amended law recognizes dogs, and only dogs, as assistance animals. They’re exempt from weight restrictions and breed bans sometimes imposed by condos, homeowners associations or municipalities, but the dog must perform tasks that mitigate the handler’s disability. Just providing emotional support or comfort isn’t enough.

In spite of recent clarification to ADA regulations, there’s still considerable public confusion related to service animals, says Jen Rogers of PAALS. That’s a big concern for reputable trainers.

“The public doesn’t have a way to know if any dog is really a service dog,” Rogers says. “There is no national certification for service dogs. Programs certify their own dogs. Assistance Dogs International (ADI) is the only way we’re standardizing this in any responsible way.”

ADI’s minimum standards for assistance dogs state that the animal must be able to perform at least three tasks to mitigate the handler’s disability and remain within 24 inches of him or her at all times. The dogs shouldn’t block aisles, bark for no reason or show any aggression whatsoever. Service dogs are never trained for protection.

Surprisingly, there’s no test that service dogs are required to pass, says Carolina Canines cofounder Rick Hairston, who also subscribes to ADI protocol and favors industry-wide standards. “A vehicle has to meet certain safety standards. With service dogs, you don’t.”

State and federal laws prohibit any individual from pretending to be disabled and falsely claiming that an animal is a service dog, says Hairston. “It’s a criminal offense punishable by fine and imprisonment."