Service dogs allowed under federal law

A recent incident at the Irving Farm coffeehouse highlighted the need for our community to reacquaint itself with laws regarding service dogs, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines and the county’s lack of leadership on the issue.As told by reporter Gabriel Napoleon on this week’s front page, a patron at Irving Farm was asked to leave with her service dog because she was neither blind nor a law enforcement officer, as is required by the county Department of Health, which follows state rules. Irving Farm workers were simply abiding by the codes enforced by the county.However, it was brought to manager Kathy Shapiro’s attention that ADA guidelines allow service dogs in public places regardless of whether the patron is blind or a law enforcement officer. This is in direct contradiction to the state’s directive.It turned out that the patron was right. She was indeed allowed to have her service dog in Irving Farm, a fact the Irving Farm manager confirmed after the young woman had gone. That left Shapiro left wondering why the county hadn’t informed the coffeehouse of the updated 2011 federal law. Calls to Assistant Health Commissioner Sabrina Marzouka later confirmed the county was well aware of the ADA rule, though it was unclear why the county hadn’t updated Irving Farm. Marzouka did note that efforts would now be made to inform all county restaurants of the ADA rule.But why, then, didn’t the county fulfill its obligation to inform local businesses in the first place? Certainly the responsibility rests on county shoulders to have done so. It is not up to every individual business to seek out changes in the health code, though by not doing so they could be open to subsequent lawsuits. As stated by New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, “the law protects the right of those with disabilities to fully participate in public life, with their animals with them. Public facilities may not bar service animals … even if they enforce ‘no pet’ policies. Service animals are not pets.”It seems a basic right that all who serve the public should know, but when businesses are told to follow the state sanitary code enforced by Dutchess County, it does get confusing — especially considering that federal mandates supersede local and state laws. Schneiderman explained how it works in a pamphlet from his office:“Some local laws provide more limited definitions in this area, such as ‘seeing eye’ or ‘guide’ dogs, and in doing so may exclude other types of service animals. However, a business which refuses to admit any of the other types of service animals on the basis of these local laws [including local health department regulations] may be violating the federal ADA.” There are all kinds of disabilities — ranging from physical to psychological. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, service dogs are trained to perform tasks for those with disabilities. Its code states, “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.” Clearly the need for assistance is there. Our society needs to stop thinking only about mainstream needs and must consider what those with disabilities are challenged with on a daily basis. It’s enough that such challenges exist — there’s no need to further impede progress with outdated laws and unwitting ignorance. The county certainly seems to have dropped the ball on this one.