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Service and Assistance Animals

Service Animal

A service animal is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a dog (and in some cases a minature horse) 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. Tasks performed can include, among other things, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication or alerting an individual to an impending seizure. The work or task a service animal performs must be directly related to the person's disability. Service animals may accompany persons with disabilities into places that the public normally goes including classrooms, residential halls, cafeterias, offices, businesses open to the public and public transportation.

Assistance animal

An emotional support animal is an assistance animal that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities. Unlike a service animal, an emotional support animal is not granted access to places of public accommodation. Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), an emotional support animal is viewed as a "reasonable accommodation" in a housing unit.

Trasvina, John, T. (April 25, 2013). Service Animals and Assistance Animals for People with Disabilities in Housing and HUD-Funded Programs. [Memorandum]. Washington, DC: Department of Housing and Urban Development.