Service Animals and Animals on Campus

Policy 6.40 · Adopted 2009 · Last revised 2025 · Responsible office: Human Resources, in consultation with the Division of Animal and Agricultural Sciences · Next review 2028

The College keeps, houses, and instructs with a substantial number of animals. This policy distinguishes among the categories, because the rules differ sharply and confusing them creates risk to people and to animals.

Categories

1. Service animals. A dog — or, in the separate provision of the regulation, a miniature horse — individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Service animals are permitted anywhere the public or the handler is permitted, subject only to the exclusions below. Staff may ask two questions: whether the animal is required because of a disability, and what work or task it has been trained to perform. Staff may not ask about the disability, may not require documentation, may not require the animal to wear identification, and may not ask the animal to demonstrate the task.

2. Assistance animals in College housing. Not applicable. The College operates no housing.

3. Emotional support and comfort animals. Not service animals. Not permitted in instructional or College buildings. A student seeking related accommodation should contact Disability Services.

4. Program animals. Animals owned, leased, or held by the College for instruction: the Barn Complex B herd, the Reptile House collection, invertebrate stock, and gastropod stock. Handled only under the protocols of the responsible division.

5. Enrolled animals. Animals enrolled as candidates in Mounted Patrol Equine Conditioning by a sponsoring agency or owner of record. An enrolled animal is not a program animal and is not a service animal. The sponsoring agency remains the responsible party. Enrolled animals are not permitted outside Barn Complex B, Pasture 4, and the conditioning course except under an instructor.

6. Animals brought to campus by visitors or for events. Permitted only by prior arrangement — 4-H events, Drover Day, the Equestrian Program’s exhibitions, and the consulting veterinarian’s clinic. Pets are not permitted on campus or in College lots at any time, including in vehicles.

Areas where a service animal may be excluded

Exclusion is by area and is based on the fundamental nature of the activity or on health and safety, not on the animal’s presence as such. Where an area is restricted, the College provides the instruction or service another way and does not exclude the handler.

The handler decides whether to leave the animal in a designated waiting area or to receive the alternative arrangement. The College does not take custody of a service animal, does not care for it, and is not responsible for it.

Removal

A service animal may be removed only if it is out of control and the handler does not effectively control it, or if it is not housebroken. Removal of the animal does not remove the handler, who is offered the opportunity to continue without the animal present. A removal is documented and reported to the Section 504/ADA Coordinator within one business day.

Allergies and fear

Allergies to and fear of animals are not grounds to exclude a service animal or to deny a handler access. Where both a handler and another person with a documented allergy must occupy the same instructional space, the College accommodates both, generally by spatial separation or section change. The College notes that students enrolled here have chosen programs involving substantial animal contact and that this circumstance arises less often than it might elsewhere.