The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires covered
entities to make "reasonable modifications" in their
policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to accommodate
people with disabilities. Many individuals with disabilities use a
service animal to conduct their daily life activities. Thus,
businesses that have a "no pets" policy generally must
modify the policy to allow "service animals" into their
facilities.
Under the ADA, a "service animal" is a dog or a
miniature horse that has been individually trained to do work or
perform tasks directly related to the person's disability; for
example, a dog that is trained to alert a person with diabetes when
his blood sugar reaches high or low levels, a dog that is trained
to remind a person with depression to take her medication, or a dog
that is trained to detect the onset of a seizure and then help a
person who has epilepsy remain safe during the seizure. The ADA
does not restrict the type of dog breeds that
