Service Animal

A service animal (as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act) is 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. Tasks performed must be directly related to the individual’s disability. Examples include pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button. Service animals are permitted anywhere at UA Little Rock that the student goes, subject to standard safety exceptions.

Examples of Trained Service Dogs:

  • Guide/Seeing Eye® Dog: Trained to serve as a travel tool for individuals with severe visual impairments or blindness.
  • Hearing/Signal Dog: Trained to alert an individual with significant hearing loss or deafness to specific sounds (e.g., a knock on the door).
  • Psychiatric Service Dog: Trained to perform tasks that assist individuals with psychiatric disabilities to detect the onset of episodes and lessen their effects (e.g., providing safety checks, interrupting self-harm, or grounding a disoriented individual).
  • Sensory/Social Signal Dog (SSigDOG): Trained to assist an individual with autism by alerting them to distracting repetitive movements.
  • Seizure Response Dog: Trained to assist or guard an individual during or after a seizure, or warn them to move to safety.

Under Title II and III of the ADA, service animals are limited to dogs; however, reasonable modifications will be evaluated to permit miniature horses if they have been individually trained to perform work or tasks for individuals with disabilities.

Emotional Support Animal (ESA)

Under updated Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enforcement guidance for Fair Housing Act (FHA) compliance in campus residence halls, requests for animal-related reasonable accommodations are evaluated using the ADA’s training standard. To qualify as a reasonable accommodation in university housing, an animal must be individually trained to perform work or perform tasks directly related to the complainant’s disability.

  • Task-Training Requirement: Animals that lack specific individual training to perform disability-related tasks do not qualify as reasonable accommodations. The provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship alone does not constitute work or tasks.
  • Campus & Housing Access: Untrained ESAs are not permitted on the general UA Little Rock campus or in university residence halls.
  • Documentation & Qualification: Requests for ESAs will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but generally call for documentation such as a doctor’s note, medical letter, or third-party certificate stating an individual has a disability and needs an animal for emotional support. There must also be evidence that the proposed ESA has been individually trained to perform specific disability-related tasks.
  • Housing Requests: Students seeking an animal-related reasonable accommodation in university residence halls must submit a request through the Housing site, demonstrating that the animal is individually trained to perform work or tasks directly linked to their disability.

Student’s Responsibilities for Service Animals

  • The service animal must be vaccinated as required by state law and/or local ordinance
  • The service animal must be restrained on a leash at all times, unless for specific circumstances, at which time it must be responsive to voice commands
  • The service animal should be under the full control of the student, and always in close proximity to the student
  • To the extent possible, the service animal should be unobtrusive to other students and the learning environment; uncontrolled barking, jumping on other people, or running away from the student are examples of unacceptable behavior for a service animal
  • The student must manage the animal’s need to urinate and defecate by taking the animal to an appropriate area; feces must be cleaned immediately and disposed of properly (not the responsibility of UA Little Rock)

ESA Rules, Scope, & Behavioral Expectations

  • Permitted Areas: Approved ESAs are permitted exclusively within the student’s assigned private residence hall room/dwelling unit and designated outdoor animal relief areas. ESAs are prohibited in classrooms, dining halls, academic buildings, and public/common campus spaces.
  • Control: The ESA must remain under the direct control of the owner at all times (e.g., caged or leashed when being transported).
  • Care & Health: The animal must be housebroken, clean, well-cared for, and compliant with all state and local licensing and vaccination laws.
  • Revocation & Removal: Approval may be revoked, and the animal removed from campus, if the ESA exhibits disruptive behavior (e.g., excessive barking, wandering), poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, causes substantial property damage, or if the student fails to maintain proper care of the animal.

Student Responsibilities for Approved Animals

Student handlers of approved service animals or trained housing accommodation animals must adhere to the following responsibilities:

  • Vaccinations: Must be vaccinated in accordance with state laws and local ordinances.
  • Control & Restraint: Must remain under the full control of the student at all times, kept in close proximity, and restrained on a leash/harness unless a disability prevents leash use (in which case the animal must respond immediately to voice commands).
  • Behavior: Must be unobtrusive to the learning and living environment. Uncontrolled barking, jumping on others, or running away are grounds for removal.
  • Waste Management: Students are strictly responsible for managing the animal’s waste, including immediate cleanup and proper disposal.
  • Non-Compliance: Failure to meet these responsibilities may result in the animal being removed from campus facilities or housing. The student must consult with the Disability Resource Center before returning.