Dear Tabby: Tabby, the cat has been helping out at SARA so long that she has become an animal expert on the different laws that impact the disabled and their service animals.
Just Ask Tabby.
Dear
Tabby, Can every kind of service animal accompany their disabled partner
in public? Our state laws only include guide dogs for the blind.
Darling,
Yes dear, yes! Of course they can. The Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) includes all of us wonderul creatures. Federal law (ADA) does not
discriminate on the race of the animal or on the job they perform for their
disabled human. Your state law is more restrictive than the ADA, therefore
the ADA is the top cat. State law plays second fiddle to federal civil
rights law. Some state laws make me purr, when they offer more rights within
their states than the ADA does on a national basis. But those extra rights
are only granted within that state.
Dear
Tabby, Who decides if I am a qualified service animal in training, my owner,
a training school, or the law?
Darling,
I understand your confusion! Leave it to humans to complicate things for
us. The answer is, the law, both state and federal. The law defines what
a disabled person is, what a service animal is and sometimes what a service
animal in training is. Federal law covers ALL the USA. It is the minimum
of the rights provided in every state, but is the top cat. State law then
steps in where the federal law is silent. Lets take service animals in
training (SAIT) and the ADA as an example. If the ADA is silent about SAIT,
and it is, then state law takes effect in that state. Thus, the state definitions
would apply within the state.
Dear
Tabby, I just turned six months old but I'm already helping my owner by
alerting her to sounds she cannot hear. Someone told my owner that I'm
too young to be considered a service animal, because I'm just a puppy.
Is this true?
Darling,
Heavens to Betsy, no! What dimwit told her that nonsense? The ADA does
not discriminate on age of a service animal dear. We are all equal.
Dear
Tabby, My partner was told I needed to be trained at a qualified
school by a licensed trainer to be a service dog. Any truth to that?
Darling,
Not where the ADA is concerned. However, there may be some truth to it
where additional rights are granted under your state law. For example,
any person can train an animal to be a service animal under the ADA, even
the owner, and that animal is entitled to the same access as an animal
trained by an expert at a school. But, the state may say it is a felony
to kill a service dog (rightly so!), and if the state law defines service
dog as a dog trained at a qualified school by a licensed trainer. Then
the service dog that is trained by its owner, would not legally be a service
dog in the eyes of the state where that law is in force. Thus, the disabled
service dog owner would still have ALL the rights provided by federal law
concerning a service dog he trained himself, but not any additional rights
granted under the state law.
Dear
Tabby, My precious owner suffers from a severe mental disorder and has
been told by her Dr. that she is 100% disabled. I am the purr-fect kitten
and bring my owner much love and attention. I let her know that she is
about to have an episode. I can tell it is happening before she does.
I have had no training. Am I her ADA service animal? I would love to go
everywhere with her and keep her safe.
Darling,
You sound like a purrfect companion for your mistress. Often we become
trained without even realizing it has taken place. For example, each day
your mistress uses an electric can opener to open a tuna can. You of course
begin to associate the lovely smell of tuna with that irritating buzz of
the can opener. You begin to run to the can opener, knowing you will be
allowed to lick the can clean. Before long, you run to the can opener every
time you hear it. You have become trained to associate a sound and react
in a certain way. The same exact thing happens when we associate something
our disabled owner does, we react a certain way signaling our owner, and
our owner rewards us. We become trained, although we may not have been
formally labeled as "Trained" by an expert. If you have become trained
for example, to somehow let your mistress know she needs to sit down before
she falls down, to take her meds, to call for help, etc. then you are trained
to signal your disabled mistress. Signaling is one form of work that an
animal can do that qualifies it as a service animal.
Dear
Tabby, Are we service animals required by the ADA to wear leashes, vests
or other kinds of special things. I'm a nudest at heart and I hate wearing
anything.
Darling,
I can understand you dilemma. I once hated wearing things too. Certain
attire can help to identify you as a service animal and that can help to
avoid some confrontations in public. However, it is not required under
the ADA. In fact, it would be a detrimental policy if the ADA were ever
revised in the future to require restraining devices. Some service animals
need complete freedom to work properly. Some examples are those service
animals that work for people with autism and Alzheimer's.