As the Fall semester begins, the Office of Accessibility Services would like to remind everyone of the following information regarding service animals.

Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. Generally, service dogs must be allowed to go most places where the public can go. This is true even if they have a “no pets” policy.

Service animals are not:

  • Required to be certified or go through a professional training program.
  • Required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog.
  • Emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability. Emotional support animals do not have the same rights.

What you may ask a person with a service dog:

  • Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
  • What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

You are not allowed to:

  • Request any documentation that the dog is registered, licensed, or certified as a service animal
  • Require that the dog demonstrate its task, or inquire about the nature of the person’s disability

Because service animals are not required to wear vests, a dog that is wearing a vest is not necessarily a service animal. The dog still needs to be trained to perform a task for a person with a disability to be a service animal.

A business or state/local government does not need to allow a service animal if the dog’s presence would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, programs, or activities provided to the public. A business or state/local government can ask someone to remove their service animal if:

  • The dog is not housebroken.
  • The dog is out of control, and the person cannot get the dog under control.

Go online for more information about service animals.

Individuals who would like to discuss bringing their service animals into non-public spaces are encouraged to contact the Office of Accessibility. Any questions regarding service dogs on campus can be directed to the Office of Accessibility.

Students: ACCESS@csi.cuny.edu

Faculty/Staff: ACCESSEmployee@csi.cuny.edu

Phone: 718.982.2510 Phone: 718.982.2513

By the Office of Disability Services