Service Animal Guidelines

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Purpose

The following information is provided to help define the role and place of animals at Reading Area Community College, especially in promoting the safety, dignity, and independence of persons with disabilities.

Scope

As established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its 2010 amendments, service animals shall not be excluded from university/college facilities or activities. The ADA defines service animals 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. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
Dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. This definition does not affect or limit the broader definition of “assistance animal” under the Fair Housing Act.

Please see this document for more information about the policy, procedures, and responsibilities related to service dogs on campus.