The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Wisconsin law define a service animal as a dog or other animal that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Examples include, but are not limited to, guiding individuals who are blind, alerting individuals with a hearing loss to sounds, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, pulling a wheelchair or retrieving dropped items. Service dogs or other animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a service dog or animal has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs or other animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals.
Gateway welcomes service animals in all areas in which the public is allowed to go, though in limited circumstances the college may impose restrictions (such as in food preparation areas or certain clinical practica).
Service animals must always be under the control of the handler, and the handler is solely responsible for all care of the animal. This means that the animal must be leashed, tethered or harnessed unless doing so is not possible due to the handler’s disability. In such cases, the handler must use voice, signal or other effective means to maintain control of the animal. Individuals with service animals are required to make sure their service animal is under control and not disruptive to college operations, such as barking or running around and being housebroken. If a service animal is not controlled and the owner is asked to have the service animal removed from campus as a result, the individual with a disability will be allowed to obtain education, goods and services without having the service animal on campus.