Assistance animals in hospital
Answers
Not as a right, and more often than people expect as a matter of policy.
The legal position
A hospital is a public accommodation, or a public entity, and either way the ADA governs. That covers dogs individually trained to do work or perform tasks, and expressly excludes animals whose function is to provide comfort or emotional support. So an emotional support animal has no right of entry.
What hospitals often allow anyway
- Pet visitation programmes, which many hospitals run with their own rules on vaccination, temperament and where the animal may go.
- Compassionate visits, particularly in end-of-life care, which many units will arrange on request.
- Therapy animal visits through an organised programme, which is a different thing again and is arranged by the hospital rather than by you.
How to ask
Through the ward, the patient advocate or the social work team, as early as possible, and framed as a request rather than an entitlement. Expect questions about vaccination and about who will handle the animal, and have an answer ready. A specific, reasonable request made in advance succeeds far more often than one made at reception.
Do not present an emotional support animal as a service animal to gain entry. Infection control rules exist for reasons that apply to other patients, and misrepresentation is an offence in a number of states.
Common questions
- What about a care home I live in?
- Different question. Where the facility is your residence, the Fair Housing Act may apply and the analysis is much more favourable than in a hospital you are visiting.