Service Animals on Campus
Animals on Campus Procedure (#3-710B)
A. General:
Service animals performing their trained duties are welcome in
all buildings on Aims’ campuses and may attend any class,
meeting, or other event. Reasonable behavior is expected from the
service animal and if it exhibits unacceptable behavior, the owner/handler
is expected to employ the proper training techniques to correct
the situation. The owner/handler of a disruptive or aggressive
service animal may be asked to remove it from the campus. Consideration
of others must be taken into account when providing maintenance
and hygiene of service animals.
B. Restrictions:
Pets and other domestic animals, other than service animals, are
not allowed on Aims’ campuses except when authorized by a
faculty member for educational or instructional purposes. Animals
on campus for educational or instructional purposes must be on
a leash or caged and be under the direct and positive control of
the owner/handler.
C. Violations:
Individuals who violate this procedure will be asked to remove
the animal from the campus. Repeat offenders may be reported to
law enforcement authorities. Faculty, students and employees violating
this procedure may also be subject to discipline
Service Animals: Rights and Responsibilities
The ADA defines a service animal as “any guide dog, signal
dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance
to an individual with a disability.” Colorado
state law guarantees a blind, deaf, or physically disabled person
the legal right to be accompanied by a specially trained dog in
all public accommodations and on all common carriers. At Aims,
the service animal will be considered an adjunct to the student
and will be afforded those rights as stated above per the guidelines
of the ADA and the state of Colorado as long as the student’s
disability documentation warrants this accommodation.
If there
is a safety requirement or risk a service animal may be restricted.
It is the student’s responsibility
to ensure their personal safety and the safety of the animal. Also,
it is the responsibility of the user of a service animal to ensure
that the animal behaves and responds appropriately at all times
in public. A service animal may be excluded from the campus when
the animal’s behavior poses a direct
threat to the health and safety of others.
A service animal is individually trained to do work or perform
tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. The following
is a list of several types of service dogs (animals).
- The guide dog is trained to serve as a travel tool by a person
who is blind or has a severe visual impairment.
- The hearing dog is trained to alert a person with a significant
hearing loss or who is deaf when a sound, a knock on the door,
occurs.
- The service dog is trained to assist a person who has a mobility
or health impairment. Types of duties the dog may perform include
carrying, fetching, opening doors, ringing doorbells, activating
elevator buttons, steadying a person while walking, helping a
person up after the person falls, etc. A service dog is sometimes
referred to as an assistance dog.
The Sig dog is trained to assist a person with autism. The dog
alerts its partner so he/she can stop repetitive movements like
hand flapping.
- The seizure response dog is trained to assist a person with
a seizure disorder; how the dog serves the person depends on
the person’s needs.
The companion animal is prescribed as treatment for some disabilities
for their calming influence, affection, stability, or a feeling
of security. It is not trained and not afforded the legal protection
of a service animal. Extreme extenuating circumstances in the student’s
documentation would be necessary to permit a companion animal on
campus. The therapy animal does not assist an individual with a
disability in the activities of daily living; therefore, laws do
not protect it.
Partner/Handler and Animal Responsibilities
- The partner—individual with a disability or the handler—individual
without a disability must meet the city licensing requirements
- The animal must wear the tags designated by the city or out
of state tags.
- The animal must have a health statement including vaccinations
from a licensed veterinarian dated within the past year
- The partner/handler must have verification that the animal
meets minimum training requirements as prescribed by Assistance
Dogs International or any other service animal training organization.
- The animal should wear some type of commonly recognized identification
symbol.
- The partner/handler must be in full control of the animal at
all times
- The animal must be on a leash at all times; never is it allowed
to wander around off leash
- The animal must be as unobtrusive as possible
- The partner/handler must be aware of the animal’s need
to relieve himself and act accordingly
- The partner/handler must remove the waste and properly dispose
of feces by flushing or burial.
Animal Responsibilities in Public
The animal must not:
- sniff people, store shelves, restaurant tables, or the personal
belongings of others
- initiate contact with someone without permission from the partner/handler
- display any behaviors, noises, or aggressiveness that are disruptive
to others such as barking, whining, growling, or rubbing against
people while waiting in lines.
- perform personal grooming in a public setting such as excessive
scratching or licking its genital areas
- block an aisle or passageway
- be more than 12 inches from the leg of the partner/handler
or side of the wheel chair
- be attracted to food that may be sitting around
Administrators, Faculty, Students, and Staff Responsibilities
in Public
- Do not pet, feed, or deliberately startle a service animal
- Do not separate a service animal from its partner/handler
- Do not hesitate to ask a student if he/she needs assistance
in finding directions, an accessible entrance, an entrance to
an elevator, etc.
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