5.6 Animals on Campus Policy
Purpose
It is the policy of Central Lakes College to establish regulations for authorized animals on campus that provide a safe environment for all students, employees, visitors and guests. Central Lakes College recognizes and supports the assistance a trained service animal can provide a student, employee, visitor, or guest with a disability. As of March 15, 2011, only dogs are recognized as service animals under titles II and III of the ADA.
Policy
Central Lakes College shall provide a safe environment for all students, employees, visitors and guests by establishing and enforcing regulations for animals on campus. With the exception of those animals specifically exempted and defined by this document, animals are not allowed in college buildings or state vehicles. This policy and any related procedures apply to all buildings and all members of the campus community, as well as all individuals using campus buildings, including off-campus and leased properties
Exemption Definitions
Subpart A. Service Animals: 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 and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship does not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 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.
Subpart B. Animals for Educational Purposes: Animals and animal cadavers utilized for teaching and learning or for special events and instructional demonstrations. Written pre-approval is required from Campus Security.
Subpart C: On-duty Police dogs: Police dogs are allowed on campus.
Subpart D: Therapy Animals: Therapy animals are permitted on campus for special events, (such as stress reduction during final exams) as coordinated by the Central Lakes College Counseling Department. All therapy animals must have current certification as a designated therapy animal and provide current vaccination records and proof of liability insurance to the Director of Security. The therapy animal must be under the direct control of its handler at all times.
Subpart E: Special Events On occasion, animals may be allowed on campus for special events (e.g. Resource Fair), upon written request by event organizer. Current vaccination records and proof of liability insurance must be provided to the Director of Security. Animals must be under the direct control of animal handlers at all times.
Responsibility
The College is NOT responsible for the care or supervision of a service animal. Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, or other effective controls. All service animals must be housebroken. If security or college personnel discover an animal not under control, they may call the city police.
Enforcement
Responsibility for enforcement of this policy is primarily the Security Department; however, all CLC employees are responsible for the enforcement of this policy.
If someone is found in violation of this policy, the first offense will be a written warning, the second offense will be a $25 fine, and any additional offenses will be a $100 fine.
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.
Date of Implementation/Presidential Approval: 6/1/2015
Date of last review: 9/14/2021