Centenary College strives to create supportive and comfortable living communities inclusive of the needs of all students. Centenary is committed to allowing Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) that are approved as necessary to provide individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy college housing, which complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and the Rehabilitation Act of 1972 (Section 504), and the Fair Housing Act (FHA).
Definitions
Approved animal: a service or emotional support animal that works, provides assistance or emotional support that alleviates one of more symptoms of a person’s disability.
Service Animal: a service animal as per Title III of the ADA is defined as: “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. Although dogs are the only species specifically delineated by law as service animals, ADA guidelines were revised in 2010 to include miniature horses with the definition of “service animals” where the use of a miniature horse instead of a dog is reasonable. Other animal species, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for this definition. A service animal performs functions and tasks that an individual with a disability cannot perform for themselves. Service animals are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. These tasks include but are not limited to guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals who are hearing impaired to intruders or sound, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.
Emotional Support Animal (ESA): An animal that provides therapeutic emotional support for an individual with a diagnosed mental health disability. An ESA should demonstrate a good temperament and reliable, predictable behavior. Unlike a service animal, an emotional support animal does not assist a person with a disability with daily activities, nor does it always accompany a person with a disability. An emotional support animal, however, is typically incorporated in a treatment plan to assist in alleviating the symptoms of that individual’s disability. This treatment occurs within the person’s residence. Emotional Support animals are not service animals and will not necessarily qualify as a reasonable accommodation under ADA. Like the ADA, Louisiana law does not include protections for emotional support animals, and owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals on their premises. If they meet the qualifications as a reasonable accommodation, then such animals can only be permitted in housing and not in public indoor areas on campus. Per Federal Guidance, ESAs are not pets.
Disability: Defined under the FHA, 504, or the ADA, as a physical or mental condition or impairment that is medically recognizable, and diagnosable, and that substantially limits one or more of a person’s major life activities. These limitations may include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, and learning. A person is substantially limited in major life activities if the individual is unable to perform the activity or is significantly restricted as to the manner in which he or she can perform that activity when compared to the average person. Acceptable documentation of disability can be from either a medical or mental health provider. It should verify the disability and need for an assistance animal.
Approved Animal: An “approved animal” is a service or emotional support animal that has been granted as a reasonable accommodation at Centenary College.
Student (owner): The “student (owner)” is the student who has requested the accommodation and has received approval to bring the “approved animal” on campus.
Trainer: Trainers are responsible for teaching dogs to perform behaviors that assist disabled individuals with daily tasks.
Zoonotic Disease: a disease caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi and spread between animals and people.
Americans with Disability Act (ADA): The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
Rehabilitation Act: Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs that receive federal financial support and set the stage for enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Fair Housing Act: Prohibits discrimination based on disability in all types of housing transactions. The Act defines persons with a disability to mean those individuals with mental or physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities. The term mental or physical impairment may include conditions such as blindness, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection, mental retardation, alcoholism, drug addiction, chronic fatigue, learning disability, head injury, and mental illness. The term major life activity may include seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, caring for oneself, learning, speaking, or working. The Fair Housing Act also protects persons who have a record of such an impairment or are regarded as having such an impairment.
For a student to qualify to have a Service or Emotional Support Animal on Centenary College’s campus, the student must have a disability as defined by the ADA. For ESAs, medical documentation is required to support the need for an animal. For Service Animals, federal regulations do not require the individual with a disability to provide documented proof of training of the dog/horse, nor do they have to provide documentation of their disability. Click the links below to learn more about the assistance animal accommodation process.