Animals on Campus

With the exception of service animals, police K9s, and fish; pets and animals shall not be brought onto campus property.  This includes campus buildings, parking lots, and lawns.

The practice of bringing animals to campus shall be considered as a potential disruption for others and shall be understood to place the College in a position of liability.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a “service animal” refers to 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 mental disability.  Only a dog or a miniature horse can qualify as a service animal under Title II and Title III of the ADA.  The type of work or task a service animal performs must be directly related to the handler’s disability to be a service animal.  A service animal must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person with a disability.  Examples include: 

• Assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks
• Alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds
• Providing a non-violent protection or rescue work
• Pulling a wheelchair
• Assisting an individual during a seizure
• Alerting individuals to the presence of allergens
• Retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone
• Providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities
• Helping persons with psychiatric or neurological disabilities by prevented or interrupted impulsive or destructive behaviors.

The owner of a service animal must keep the animal on a leash/lead when the animal is in a public area (i.e. classroom, library, common areas, outdoors on campus, etc.), unless the service animal is required to perform a task that it could not accomplish while on a leash/lead, or the owner is otherwise unable to maintain the animal on a leash/lead due to a disability.  The owner must be in full control of the animal at all times.

The College has the authority to remove a service animal from its grounds or facilities if the service animal becomes unruly or disruptive, unclean, and/or unhealthy to the extent that the animal’s behavior or condition poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or otherwise causes a fundamental alteration in the College’s services, programs, or activities.  If such behavior or condition persists, the owner may be directed not to bring the animal into public campus areas until the problem is rectified.

Any fish kept inside campus buildings shall be kept in a suitable tank that is regularly cleaned and maintained by its owner or responsible division.  Housekeeping is not responsible for cleaning and maintaining fish tanks.