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Is a therapy dog a Pet or covered under ADA?

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EmmaGrace

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? OHIO

I have three children with identified disabilities. We are getting a new dog this weekend, who will be a family pet as well as a therapy dog for them and for other children in the wards of a children's hospital.

We are going on vacation in June and the condo we are renting says "No Pets" on the agreement. Does this mean we cannot bring our dog, even if he is involved in ongoing therapy with our children? We will be gone for two weeks and I hate to interrupt their therapy that long.

If this is something that is covered under ADA (or some other agency), how do we enforce it if there is a problem?
 


racer72

Senior Member
Therepy dogs are not listed as a qualified use for dogs by the ADA. To qualify, the dog would have to provide a service to the owner that could cause an impact to the persons daily lifestyle, such as guide dogs for the blind or hearing impaired. And dogs identified by the ADA are considered working dogs, 24/7. You even claim the dog will be a pet.
 

zippysgoddess

Senior Member
Actually, racer is wrong on this one. These types of animals are covered under the ADA now, it changed several years ago. Though you will need a doctor to sign a statement that your children need the animal as part of their therapy, then the animal is exempt from the NO PETS rule, just like a seeing eye or hearing dog would be. You also have to submit a letter of reasonable accomadation to the landlord, or rental agency of the unit. Once they have your letter, they are legally not allowed to deny the animal the right to stay there with you.

For more information you can check out this site, which lists the details of the law: http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/infosheets/fhinfosheet6.html

The reason I know this, is we had to move a few years ago and my husband has been in the hospital for depression. Our doc didn't want him to go through the loss of our pets on top of the problems he already had so she just wrote on a prescription pad the it was requested he keep them for emotional support and that was the end of it. The landlord was upset but when they talked to their own lawyer, he told them they didn't have a leg to stand on and had to let us keep them.

They also cannot charge a higher security deposit because the animal will be with you, they can however hold you responsible for damages the animal may have made after you leave so be sure to take pics and document everything to protect yourself.

A support animal only has to be privately trained, this does not have to be done by a professional organization or anything, because they figure that you and your family are the best judge of private training of these animals to best suit your needs.

Hope this helps, good luck!
 

stevek3

Member
zippysgoddess said:
Actually, racer is wrong on this one. These types of animals are covered under the ADA now, it changed several years ago. Though you will need a doctor to sign a statement that your children need the animal as part of their therapy, then the animal is exempt from the NO PETS rule, just like a seeing eye or hearing dog would be. You also have to submit a letter of reasonable accomadation to the landlord, or rental agency of the unit. Once they have your letter, they are legally not allowed to deny the animal the right to stay there with you.

For more information you can check out this site, which lists the details of the law: http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/infosheets/fhinfosheet6.html

The reason I know this, is we had to move a few years ago and my husband has been in the hospital for depression. Our doc didn't want him to go through the loss of our pets on top of the problems he already had so she just wrote on a prescription pad the it was requested he keep them for emotional support and that was the end of it. The landlord was upset but when they talked to their own lawyer, he told them they didn't have a leg to stand on and had to let us keep them.

They also cannot charge a higher security deposit because the animal will be with you, they can however hold you responsible for damages the animal may have made after you leave so be sure to take pics and document everything to protect yourself.

A support animal only has to be privately trained, this does not have to be done by a professional organization or anything, because they figure that you and your family are the best judge of private training of these animals to best suit your needs.

Hope this helps, good luck!
Uhh...It was not because "they didn't have a leg to stand on." It was because they were prudent and used common sense. The monetary cost wasn't worth the effort to fight it. Not to mention the hassle from a public relations standpoint. I'm not saying they would have won. I'm not saying they would have lost. But it sure wasn't because "they didn't have a leg to stand on."
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
EmmaGrace said:
What is the name of your state? OHIO

I have three children with identified disabilities. We are getting a new dog this weekend, who will be a family pet as well as a therapy dog for them and for other children in the wards of a children's hospital.

We are going on vacation in June and the condo we are renting says "No Pets" on the agreement. Does this mean we cannot bring our dog, even if he is involved in ongoing therapy with our children? We will be gone for two weeks and I hate to interrupt their therapy that long.

If this is something that is covered under ADA (or some other agency), how do we enforce it if there is a problem?

**A: the service animal use will take priority over the HOA no pets rule if the procedures are followed correctly. You need an attorney on this.
 

zippysgoddess

Senior Member
That is why I was putting the link in there for more information, you can't just move a pet in and say it is a service animal, certain procedures do have to be followed.
 

dboz

Junior Member
therapy dog in nursing home

I read over the fair housing act. Do these same laws apply to someone that is in a nursing home? the nursing home that my father lives in accepsted his dog about 1 month ago and just last week they told him that he was going to have to get rid of it. What can I do about that?
 

las365

Senior Member
This thread is more than two years old. It's good that you were reading previous posts to get information, but you should start your own thread for your question.
 

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