Service Dogs and Pets in Public Accommodations

From Service Dog Training

Recently I came across a news article about Cody, a dog who comes to work with his owner at a gas station and is being ejected by the state health department. While this news article has nothing to do with service dogs, it got me thinking about an interesting issue: how do pets and service dogs interact in public accommodations?

The most common access barriers service dog users encounter are in places of business where pets are prohibited either due to health codes (as in Cody’s case) or because of the business’ policy. However, public places that allow pets or that have a shop/office pet usually don’t try to restrict service dog access as they are already animal friendly establishments. These places can present a different sort of challenge to service dog users. Most of the time, businesses where the owner or employees bring pets to work have friendly, mild mannered pets but unfortunately there are always a few pets that, while friendly to people, resent the intrusion of another animal on their territory. When service dog users encounter these situations, the problem can range from annoying to dangerous.

First let me make it clear that I do not entirely object to businesses allowing employees to bring pets to work. However, business owners and employees need to be conscious of the fact that at any time a service dog user may walk in the door and is entitled to conduct their business without having their dog harassed by the resident pet. It is an unfortunate, but not infrequent occurrence for service dogs to be harassed or attacked by dogs or cats roaming in businesses, and these attacks can cause severe trauma to a service dog, necessitating extensive retraining or even early retirement. There are certain steps businesses should take to reduce the risk of negative encounters between their pets and service animals. Here are a few suggestions:

• Do let service dog users know if there is a pet roaming the store so they can take whatever precautions they might need to ensure their dog doesn’t get distracted.
• Do try to keep the pet restrained in some fashion, either in a certain area of the store, on a leash, or otherwise able to be controlled quickly if necessary.
• Don’t assume that cats won’t bother a service dog. I know plenty of service dogs that have been attacked by cats, mine included.
• Don’t hesitate to control your pet if it is causing trouble or if the service dog user requests it.
• Do keep an eye on your pet.
• Do offer to restrain the pet if it bothers the service dog user.
• Do establish policies for employees who bring pets, and make sure employees know these policies.
• Don’t bring dog aggressive pets to your store.
• Don’t assume that because someone is a service dog user that they want to interact with your pet.
• Do understand that when your pet interacts with a service animal it may not be cute or funny. It may be interfering with the service animal’s ability to perform his task and could jeopardize both the animal’s training and the handler’s safety. Only allow your pet to interact with the service animal if the handler specifically permits it.

--Tiffany Huggard-Lee 09:55, 12 December 2009 (CST)