Where Are Service Dogs Not Allowed?

Over 500,000 disabled US citizens enlist the help of a service dog to make life easier for them.

 The animals assist with all kinds of tasks including pushing wheelchairs, alerting the hearing impaired, guiding the blind, alerting epileptic patients of an impending seizure, and more. The dogs are simply invaluable to these individuals.

The Americans with Disabilities Act contains rules that allow service dogs into no-dog areas including restaurants, theatres, food stores, and hospitals.

However, the law doesn’t necessarily give service dogs access to every public space.

That’s right—even if you own a trained one, you may not necessarily go everywhere with them.

Don’t worry- this list is pretty small. The fact of the matter is that you can bring your service animal to the most important public areas.

 In this guide, we tell you some of the places where service dogs aren’t allowed.

1. Restaurant kitchens

Typically, restaurants don’t allow pets into their establishments.

The Food and Drug Administration claims that pets can introduce allergens there.

Staff may also touch dogs and then handle food without thoroughly cleaning their hands.

The only exceptions to the rule include service animals at work. These can go where the handlers go. However, they cannot take a trip to where the food is prepared.

This makes perfect sense as dog dander can contaminate food.

Fortunately, most people are barred from visiting restaurant kitchens anyway. Thus, this is not a problem for many.

2. Operating Rooms

Like restaurants, service dogs are also allowed in hospitals.

Sometimes, patients need the dogs for one task or another. Understandably, the canines cannot go to the operating room.

The OR is a secure environment. There are limitations on who goes in there for this reason.

Having a dog will fill the space with all kinds of contaminations – dander, infectious breath, parasites, you name it.

Plus, there’s really no need for a service animal in an OR.

After all, the patient is under anesthesia the entire time and is surrounded by nurses and doctors in case they need help.

3. Churches

Churches are also exempt from allowing service dogs under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

That means a church has a right to deny your service dog access. If it does, you cannot complain or file a lawsuit.

With that said, many churches gladly allow congregants with disabilities entry into their worship centers.

 If you are planning to go to church with your service animal, it is a good idea to consult with the ministry organization first.

The odds are that you will be accepted with your doggie but be prepared for the opposite result as well. 

4. Mosques

Like churches, mosques are also not required to allow service dogs.

 According to Islam, dogs are considered unclean. Precisely, their saliva is impure.

If you or an object came in contact with it, you’d have to wash several times.

This is the reason most Muslims don’t own dogs as pets. As a result, service dogs are not allowed in mosques – their service dog status notwithstanding.

Mosques do allow service dog handlers into their mosques. They often provide a separate area for holding the animals as prayers are underway.

Meanwhile, disabled persons will have someone to help them around until they are returned to their dogs.

So, again, you might want to find out the rules of a specific mosque regarding service dogs.

5. Private Properties

Last but not least, private properties are not required by law to admit service dogs.

We are not talking about rental properties here. Dogs, in general, are allowed in residential units.

However, if you own a home, the law will not ask you to allow service dogs.

If you don’t feel like doing so, no one has a right to report you.

If the handler and the dog forcefully make their way to your property, that will be treated as trespassing.

You can report them to the police and proceed to sue them for damages.

Parting Thoughts

Service dogs are exceptional animals. They do so much for their handlers.

 Because of this, they are allowed in all public places except the ones listed in this guide.

As promised, the list is not long. Additionally, most of these areas still allow service animals.

This is great news for disabled people with service animals.