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Service & Assistance Animals

service animals graphic

Service Animals:

  • Required because of a disability
  • Trained to perform a task
  • Allowed in academic buildings
  • Not required to be registered
assistance animals graphic

Assistance Animals:

  • Requested for emotional support
  • Not trained to perform a task
  • Not allowed in academic buildings (Residence halls only)
  • Must be registered with University Student Housing and DSS

What’s the difference between a service animal and an assistance animal?

Service Animals

A service animal is defined in Title II: Section 35.104 under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Service animals are allowed in public places because of the owner's need for the animal at all times.

Examples of such work or tasks include but are not limited to:

  • guiding people who are blind or have low vision with navigation
  • alerting people who are deaf to the presence of people or sounds
  • pulling a wheelchair or providing stability for a mobility impairment
  • alerting an individual of a seizure, change in blood sugar, or an allergen

Assistance Animals

The revised 2010 ADA regulations specify that "the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks," so these animals are not considered service animals. An assistance animal is an animal prescribed by a medical provider to ameliorate identified symptoms of an individual's disability. The function of an assistance animal may be entirely passive with the sole role being present. The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) and Housing and Urban Development's Section 504 regulations (24 CFR Parts 8 and 9) govern the assistance animals.

Assistance animals are also called:

  • Emotional Support Animals(ESAs)
  • Comfort Animals
  • Companion Animals

Policies and Procedures