Service Animal Policy
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service animals and those in training with their handlers, are welcome and permitted in Portsmouth Free Public Library. As defined by the ADA, a service animal is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. No other animals, including pets, emotional support animals, and therapy animals need be permitted.
Service animals are defined 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.
In order to help maintain a pleasant, productive, and safe environment for all Library users and staff, the following behavioral guidelines for service animals are to be observed:
- A service animal must be registered and licensed by the city in which the owner or keeper of the animal resides, as is required under State of Rhode Island Statute §4-13-4 and Portsmouth, RI, Ordnance No. 83-7.
- A service animal must be under the control of its handler. Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless the individual’s disability prevents using these devices or these devices interfere with the service animal’s safe, effective performance of tasks. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.
When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.
- NOTE: If a service animal’s behavior or actions pose an unreasonable or direct threat to the health and safety of others or does not conform to these guidelines, it may be prohibited from entry to Portsmouth Free Public Library. In accordance with ADA guidelines, non-compliance of guidelines can be grounds to remove a service animal from the Library. If the animal is excluded from the Library, the handler, who has the disability, is welcome to stay and will be reasonably accommodated by Portsmouth Free Public Library staff.