10/14/2020
WHAT IS A SERVICE ANIMAL?
I figure I should start out with some basic information and facts about assistance animals. Service dogs are an amazing way to mitigate one’s disability, and fun fact: they are classified as medical equipment, much like a cane or a wheelchair. With that being said, it is illegal for a store to refuse access to a person using a service animal. Provided that the handler answers the 2 questions that businesses can ask them per the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act.)
Those two questions are:
1. Is this a service dog trained to mitigate your disability?
2. What tasks has it been trained to perform.
Tasks are behaviors that a dog is trained to do to help their disabled handler. This includes (but is not limited to) opening doors, helping their handler up, counterbalance, guide work, and medical alert and response, and many more. Per the ADA, comfort is not a task and does not qualify a dog as a service animal. Emotional Support Animals (ESA’s) are not considered service dogs and do not have the same rights as a service dog team when it comes to access in the public.
Service animals go through several months, to years of in-depth training, while learning how to do their job. They must learn how to be calm in public. They must learn how they are expected to act and remember how to do their job while they are out with many distractions. They learn how to respond to emergency service workers and must learn to compromise and adjust to several situations that most dogs would never encounter. It is especially important to be sure that your service animal is comfortable and safe in all environments.
Piggybacking off that, let us talk about the down sides to having a service dog… Well, for starters, to be a service dog handler, you must have a disability. A disability is described as someone who has an ailment or injury that interferes with one or more of their major life functions. Service animals are trained to help their handler by doing, or helping them do, things throughout their day that they can not do for themselves. In order for a behavior to be considered a task, the animal must be trained to do something for you that you cannot do for yourself, without assistance.
Having a service animal makes you a target for attention no matter what you do or where you go. People will look and question or judge you. You’ll probably hear whispers and squeals about your animal. People will ask to pet and take pictures. It gets old fast, but eventually you do go numb to the annoying cries and unwanted attention.
So we’ve talked about service dogs, and emotional support dogs, but… there are therapy dogs as well, and they are amazing animals. Like an ESA, Therapy Dogs also do not have regular public access rights. A therapy dog is normally invited in, to come visit people in hospitals, retirement homes, or schools. They do not help a disabled handler and are not necessary medical equipment for their handler, which excludes them from full blown public access… they simply are not NEEDED for the handler to function.
Remember, it is the disabled handler who has the right to be accompanied by an assistance animal, the animal itself does not have the right to do anything. You cannot have a non-disabled person handling a service dog for no reason. The assistance animal should always be with their person.
Service Dog, Therapy Dog, Emotional Support Dog… Dog… dog… dog …
The ADA only recognizes 2 animals as service animals in the United states. The first, and main one, is dogs. Dogs are traditionally used by disabled people to help them navigate their life, however in the shadows we have another animal that has amazing abilities and training capabilities. Miniature Horses!
Now, with mini horses you do have a lot more hurdles to jump. Less people are knowledgeable on service horses, there is truly little information out there on them. However, they are becoming more popular as the years go by, because of the many advantages of having one in leu of a dog. Firstly, mini horses have almost triple the life span of dogs. Mini horses can live into their 30’s when cared for correctly, allowing for much more time in between the training another service animal as a successor.
Mini horses can also do a lot more physical work than a dog can, obviously. Even as a 175lbs animal, they are incredibly strong and can pull a wheelchair or provide counterbalance and bracing support much more effectively and with less effort than a dog can.
I personally handle a service dog, and a service horse. My service mini does quite a few tasks to help me navigate my day. He helps me with counterbalance, he also alerts me to my spells (seizures and cardiac), and makes walking longer distances possible.
It is a common misconception that service horses are only used by the blind. This is simply not true, and in the US they have all the same rights as a service dog, provided they meet the description and have the training that is required of a service animal. He is also, of course, potty trained, which is a requirement for all service animals, no matter what species the animal is.
Another misconception that is very popular amongst the uneducated majority is that service animals must be “certified and registered” to be legitimate. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Service animals in the united states are not required to have or show any sort of registration or certification, and according to the ADA there is no recognized service animal registry or certification in this country. Any registry you see online is a scam meant to take your money. Knowing the local and federal laws regarding your service animal is so important. In order to be a service dog handler, you will have to sometimes stand up for yourself, and educate others on service animals.
In conclusion, you can have a mini horse or a dog as a service animal. Monkeys, pigs, and cats need not apply. Service animals must go through tons of training, they have to be potty trained, they are there to assist their disabled handler. They bring a ton of attention that you must learn to deal with, and they are highly trained professionals that deserve our respect!
