Thursday, August 13, 2009

Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs in Dorms

Today I ran across this news article Texas A&M Denies Request for Emotional Support Animal in the Dorms and I was saddened to see the huge misunderstanding of the laws as they related to emotional support animals.
Errors made in the Article:
1. Emotional Support Animals are not covered under the ADA; therefore, the law will not help this student.
2. Emotional Support animals are covered under the Fair Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act
3. Has the student applied for and been approved for accommodations based on disability documentation from the university disabled student support services?
4. Since the dorms are closed living spaces it is common practice (to my knowledge) for universities to request health certificates, proof of vaccination, proof of training, and proof the dog is housebroken since the university is responsible for the safety and health of all the students living on campus.

2 comments:

Melissa Mitchell said...

Dear Betty,
Welcome! Thank you for sharing your time with me and my blog.

Unknown said...

One of the best blog posts I've read! Thanks a ton for sharing this!
united service dog