Author ORCID Identifier

0000-0003-2380-0505

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2018

Keywords

Service animal, Emotional support animal, ADA, Reasonable accommodation

Abstract

Animals as “living accommodations” is a concept I first developed and used in 2006, in my disability and animal law courses, to describe nonhuman animals who either provide service or emotional support to humans with functional impairments. My goal in using this language is to emphasize the important differences between employing living animals and inanimate tools of assistance to promote meaningful access to work, public services, places of public accommodation, and public transportation. The differences may be viewed from the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders, including: individuals with disabilities and other impairments; businesses accommodating such individuals; members of the public; fellow residents, air travelers, classmates, or workers; and, of course, the animals themselves.

The topic is timely, as businesses, housing developments, schools, and other places of public accommodation increasingly are being asked to accommodate animals. Airlines face requests for emotional support ducks, goats, cats, and monkeys. Schools are asked to allow assistance animals, even when children with disabilities are provided other support pursuant to their individualized education programs (IEPs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Business and housing developments that do not allow animals on the premises are receiving requests for exceptions under disability and housing laws. As requests for animals as living accommodations grow, many people remain unclear about their legal obligations. They do not understand the difference between service and emotional support animals and what the law requires in different circumstances for each category. Nor do they understand the legal obligations of places of service (for example, the state department of community health), places of public accommodation (for example, restaurants and hotels), and public transportation systems to include assistance animals. The result is often a combination of confusion by individuals seeking and being asked to provide accommodations, fraud by individuals without impairments pretending to use animals for assistance, and the violation of the rights of individuals with disabilities using service animals. The goal of the symposium is to bring together legal experts to discuss broadly these issues as well as other implications of using animals as living accommodations, including issues spanning animal, disability, health, business, and education law and policy. The topics in this volume cover animal welfare; the legal status of different types of assistance animals; emerging issues in accommodation, including housing and education; and fraud under state and federal law in the U.S. and abroad. The AALS Section on Animal Law is hoping this volume will serve as a reference for lawyers, legislators, business owners, educators, students, and others exploring this important topic.

First Page

1

Publication Title

Animal Law

Comments

© 2017 Ani B. Satz

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