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.