Service animal facts for kids
Service animals are special animals trained to help people with disabilities. They can also be called assistance animals, support animals, or helper animals. The name might change depending on the country and what the animal does.
Contents
What Are Service Animals?
There are three main kinds of assistance animals:
- Guide animals: These animals, like guide dogs, help lead people who are blind.
- Hearing animals: These animals, like hearing dogs, help people who are deaf. They let their owners know when they hear important sounds.
- Service animals: These animals do tasks for people with disabilities who are not blind or deaf.
In the United States, rules changed in 2011. Now, mostly only dogs are allowed as service animals in public places. However, in some cases, miniature horses can also be allowed, just like service dogs. The U.S. government does not usually allow other types of animals as service animals in public places where pets are not allowed. This is different for flights, where other species might be permitted.
Amazing Service Dogs
Dogs can learn to do many helpful things for people with physical disabilities. For example, some dogs can be trained to:
- Sense when their owner might have a seizure and help them.
- Notice when their owner's blood sugar is low and alert them.
- Get help from someone, set off an alarm, or call 911 with a special phone during an emergency.
- Help owners in wheelchairs. They can press buttons, open a refrigerator, carry bags, or open doors.
- Help people who have trouble walking stay steady and walk safely.
Dogs can also help owners with mental health disabilities. For example, some dogs can be trained to:
- Bring medicine to someone having a panic attack.
- Bring a phone or call 911 if their owner is very upset.
- Wake up a person with PTSD who is having a night terror.
- Notice when their owner is getting angry or worried. They might try to distract them, like by nudging or licking their face.
These are just a few examples. Service dogs can learn many more tasks to help people with all kinds of disabilities.
Helpful Miniature Horses
Miniature horses are horses that are usually less than three feet tall. They can be trained to:
- Guide a blind owner, just like a guide dog.
- Pull a wheelchair.
- Help support an owner with Parkinson's disease, which can make walking hard. The owner can lean on the horse to walk more easily.
Someone might choose a miniature horse if they are allergic to dogs. Or, their religion might say dogs are unclean. Miniature horses can also live and work for about 30 years. This is much longer than a service dog.
Capuchin Monkeys as Helpers
Capuchin monkeys can be trained to use their hands for many tasks, such as:
- Picking things up.
- Opening doorknobs.
- Turning on light switches.
- Turning the pages of a book.
- Microwaving food and opening drink bottles.
- Washing their owner's face.
Helper monkeys can be very useful for people who have trouble using their hands and arms. This includes people with quadriplegia, serious spinal cord injuries, or multiple sclerosis.
Helper monkeys are usually raised by humans when they are babies. Then they get years of training from special organizations. It can take about 7 years to train them. They can usually work as helper monkeys for 25–30 years. This is two to three times longer than a service dog.
Not everyone agrees that monkeys should be service animals. In the United States, helper monkeys are not usually counted as service animals under most laws.
Animals That Are Not Service Animals
An animal cannot be a service animal if it has not been trained to do a specific job or task to help a person with a disability.
Some people with mental health challenges, like anxiety, use animals for comfort. These are called "comfort animals" or "Emotional Support Animals."
Some people have unusual comfort animals, like snakes, tarantulas, guinea pigs, turtles, or rats. Even if these animals make their owners feel better, they cannot be service animals. This is because they cannot be trained to do specific tasks to help with a disability.
Even if a comfort animal is a dog or a miniature horse, it is not the same as a service animal. Comfort animals make their owners feel better just by being there. A service animal is trained to notice a problem and do a specific job to help their owner. For example, a psychiatric service dog would know its owner is upset and then get medicine, get help, or distract the person.
Laws in the United States
In the United States, service animals have some legal protection. Different laws set rules for service animals in different places. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers service animals in public places. Other laws cover service animals in housing. These laws do not always agree on what counts as a service animal.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 to protect the rights of people with disabilities. At first, it only mentioned guide dogs. It has since been updated. Now, it says a service animal is any "dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities."
This means that under the ADA, only dogs are usually considered service animals. However, there is a special part in the ADA about miniature horses. It says that places covered by the ADA (like businesses) should allow miniature horses "where reasonable." To decide if allowing a miniature horse is "reasonable," places can ask four questions:
- Is the miniature horse housebroken?
- Is the miniature horse under its owner's control?
- Does the place have enough room for the miniature horse?
- If the miniature horse is allowed, can the place still follow its safety rules?
If the answer to all four questions is "yes," the place must let the miniature horse in and treat it like a service animal.
Other than service dogs and miniature horses, no other type of assistance animal is protected under the ADA.
Rights for Service Animals
Under the ADA, it is illegal to stop a service animal or its owner from entering:
- Any business.
- Any government office.
- Any "public accommodation" – this means any place the public can go. Examples include movie theaters, museums, malls, schools, parks, and ambulances.
In these places, it is also illegal to treat a person with a service animal differently. They cannot be charged extra money, refused service, or kept away from other people. A service animal can only be asked to leave if it is out of control (for example, if it is aggressive). The animal must always be on a leash or controlled by its owner's voice or signals.
No one can ask for proof that the animal is a service animal. Owners do not need special papers or to prove their animal can do a task. If an owner and service animal enter a place, workers can only ask two questions to make sure it is a service animal and not a pet:
- Is this a service animal you need because of a disability? (No one can ask about the disability itself.)
- What work or task is the dog trained to do?
It is legal to train your own service animal in the United States.
Service animals do not have these same protections in most religious organizations. Most religious groups do not have to follow the ADA rules.
Other Important Laws
Other laws have different rules for service animals. For example, the Department of Transportation's Air Carrier Access Act allows "dogs and other service animals" to fly with passengers on commercial airlines.
The Fair Housing Act also requires housing providers to allow service animals. This includes comfort and emotional support animals. This law does not say that only certain animals are allowed.
Laws in Other Countries
Mexico & South America
In most places in South America and Mexico, the owner or manager of a place decides whether to let a service animal in. There are no laws that protect service animals or their owners. In areas with many tourists, service dogs are usually welcomed without problems.
However, in Brazil, a new law about service dogs was created in 2006. This law says that all service dogs in Brazil must be allowed to go anywhere the public can go. The Brasília Metro (the Brazilian public transportation system) even has a program that trains guide dogs to ride it.
Europe
Different European countries have different laws about service animals. Some countries have laws for the whole country. Sometimes, different parts of a country have their own rules.
Australia
In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 protects all assistance dog handlers.
However, owners may not always be allowed to have their service animals with them everywhere. Each state and territory has its own laws, mostly about guide dogs. Queensland has a law called the Guide Hearing and Assistance Dog Act 2009, which protects all certified assistance dogs.
Canada
In Canada, any service animal is allowed anywhere the public is allowed. The owner must be in control of the animal. In Alberta, there is a fine of up to $3000 for someone who refuses to let a service dog into a public place.
South Korea
In South Korea, the law says service dogs must be allowed into any public areas. People who break this law can be fined up to 2 million won (about $1691 in United States dollars).
Related pages
Images for kids
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A service monkey washing itself.
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A miniature horse working as a guide animal at the Cincinnati airport.
See also
In Spanish: Animal de servicio para niños
