Animals on campus
Faculty may have students come to class with animals. Some animals are permissible on campus without any identification while other require approval as an accommodation.
Service animals are any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other disability.
Individuals can bring their service animal into all areas of public facilitates or private businesses where members of the public, program participants, clients, customers, patrons, or invitees are allowed.
A service animal can be excluded from a facility if its presence interferes with the legitimate safety requirements of the facility.
If you have an animal in your classroom, to determine if the animal is a service animal, you may ask the following two questions:
- Is the animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has this animal been trained to perform?
You may NOT ask:
- About the nature or extent of the individual’s disability.
- For any proof that the animal is a service animal, including requiring the individual to have the animal in a vest.
These questions may not be asked if the need for a service animal is obvious.
Important guidelines:
- A public entity or private business is not responsible for the care and supervision of a service animal.
- A public entity or private business cannot ask nor require an individual with a disability to pay a surcharge or deposit, even if people accompanied by pets are required to pay such fees.
- If a public entity or private business normally charges individuals for the damage they cause, an individual with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.
- Reference Site: https://adata.org/factsheet/service-animals
Animals other than service animals are typically not allowed in university classrooms. If a student is approved for an animal in a classroom, faculty will be notified through the faculty notification letter from Student Accessibility.
If there is an animal in your classroom and you ask the student the two questions listed above and determine the animal is not a service animal and you have not received notice from Student Accessibility regarding the student being approved to have the animal in the classroom, you may ask for the animal to be removed from your classroom before the student is allowed to return.
If you have any questions about animals in your classroom please contact our office at 480-965-1234 or by email at Student.Accessibility@asu.edu.