Service Animal Guidelines

Definition:

Service animal means 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. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition.

The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the handler’s disability.

Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to:

• 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
• Pulling a wheelchair;
• Assisting an individual during a seizure
• Retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone
• Providing physical support and assistance with balance to individuals with mobility impairments

How to Request a Service Dog as a Reasonable Accommodation:

Students in higher education who wish to receive accommodations must register their disability with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD). Please refer to the CSD website at http://www.nyu.edu/csd or e-mail mosescsd@nyu.edu for information about how to register with the office. All registration materials are available on our website or at the Moses Center at 726 Broadway, 2nd Floor.

A request for a service dog as an accommodation must include:

• Verification from a treating physician of the need for a service animal
• A description of the specific tasks or work the animal has been trained to perform
• Documentation that the service animal is in compliance with all required New York State and New York City requirements associated with licensing, vaccinations, and other health regulations.

Should the request be granted, the owner will be supplied with a letter from the Director of the Henry and Lucy Moses Center for Students with Disabilities stating his/her right to be accompanied by the service animal on campus.

Responsibilities of the Owner/Handler:

A service animal shall have 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 a harness, leash, or other tether would interfere with the service animal’s safe, effective performance of work or tasks, in which case the service animal must be otherwise under the handler’s control (e.g., voice control, signals, or other effective means). The owner/handler is responsible for disposing of his or her animal’s feces while on University property. It is the owner/handler’s responsibility to assure that the service animal is at all times in compliance with all the required New York State and New York City requirements associated with the licensing, vaccinations, and other health regulations for his or her service animal.

Exceptions

The University may ask an individual with a disability to remove a service animal from the premises/campus/classroom/residential hall if:

• The service animal is out of control and the animal handler does not or cannot take effective action to control it
• The service animal is not housebroken
• The service animal poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others, or disrupts the educational process.

If an individual with a disability is asked to remove the service animal from campus, the For Moreindividual will meet with NYU representatives to discuss the possibility of reinstating the animal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The Moses Center for Students with Disabilities

726 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10003

Phone (212) 998-4980, Fax (212) 995-4114