Food Establishments & Service Animals

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:

• Hearing dogs, which alert their handlers to important sounds, such as alarms, doorbells, and other signals
• Guide dogs, which help those who are blind or visually impaired navigate safely
• Psychiatric service animals, which help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by, for example, interrupting self-harming behaviors, reminding handlers to take medication, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks
• Seizure alert animals, which let their handlers know of impending seizures, and may also guard their handlers during seizure activity, and
• Allergen alert animals, which let their handlers know of foods or other substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship do not constitute work or tasks.

Arizona (A.R.S. §11-1024) defines a service animal similarly: A service animal is a dog or miniature horse that is trained (or is in the process of being trained) to perform work or tasks for someone with a physical or sensory disability or an intellectual, psychiatric, or other mental disability. Arizona law lists the tasks such an animal might perform, which include pulling a wheelchair, providing stability, alerting someone to noise or allergens, assisting someone during a seizure, assisting with navigation, fetching medication, or interrupting destructive or impulsive behavior.

Neither the ADA nor Arizona’s service animal law includes what some people call therapy dogs or “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Arizona law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.

Under the ADA and Arizona law, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. The ADA and Arizona statute states that when it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Two questions may be asked: (1) Is the dog/horse a service animal required because of a disability? And, (2) What work or task has the dog/horse been trained to perform? Owners of service animals cannot be asked about their disability, be required to present medical documentation, required to have a special identification Under the ADA and Arizona law, a service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if:

• It poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can evict the dog)
• It is not housebroken
• It is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to control it
• It poses an undue burden on the establishment, or
• It fundamentally alters the nature of the establishment or the goods or services it provides.

A service animal must be under the control of the animal’s handler, meaning that the service animal has a harness, leash or other tether, unless either the handler is unable because of a disability to use a harness, leash or other tether or the use of the harness, leash or other tether would interfere with the service animal's safe and effective performance of work or tasks, in which case the service animal must be otherwise under the handler's control by voice control, signals or other effective means. This provision is important. When an animal is sitting in a grocery cart, it does not meet the definition of service animal. It is not performing work or tasks while riding in a cart, and it is not under the control of the animal’s handler as defined by ADA and Arizona law. It would be up to the establishment to remove an animal that is riding in a cart or becomes unruly.

In April 2018, Governor Ducey signed HB 2588 (now codified as A.R.S. §11-1024(K)), making it illegal to misrepresent a pet as a service animal. “A person may not fraudulently misrepresent an animal as a service animal or service animal in training to a person or entity that operates a public place. A court or duly appointed hearing officer may impose on the person misrepresenting the animal in violation of this subsection a civil penalty of not more than two hundred fifty dollars for each violation.” Although enforcement is known to be a challenge, it is up to the establishment to evict the animal or file a complaint. It must be handled at the establishment on a case by case basis.