Service Animals
Service animals can offer a newfound sense of freedom and independence to people with disabilities.
Jan 10, 2007
What Is A Service Animal?
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government (US Department of Justice).
Seeing eye dogs, the dogs that accompany most people who have a visual impairment, are the type of service animal with which the public is most familiar. Since the implementation of the ADA in 1990, service animals that assist people with a variety of disabilities have become more common and more often seen in classrooms, in offices and in public.
Dogs are the most common type of service animal. In some instances, though, cats, horses and ponies and even capuchin monkeys have been trained as service animals.
What Does A Service Animal Do?
Service animals can be trained to perform many different tasks that people with a mobility, visual or auditory impairment cannot fulfill themselves. Service dogs can alert the hearing-impaired to unusual sounds around them and the visually impaired to any obstacles in their path. Dogs can also be trained to open cupboards and doors, pick up objects that have fallen on the floor and pull wheelchairs – even take laundry out of the dryer. Service monkeys can be taught to open bottles, wash their owner’s face and microwave food, among other tasks.
Benefits of Owning A Service Animal
Everyone knows the benefits of pet ownership. Dogs and cats can help reduce blood pressure by helping relieve stress, improve your mood, encourage you to get out and exercise, offer social support and help stave off loneliness.
For people with disabilities, pet ownership offers an added benefit. Owning a service animal can give the person with a disability a newfound sense of freedom and independence.
Click for a list of service dog training schools and information.
Do you own a service animal? Visit the forum and share your stories.
