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Can the association cite me for having a service dog in a no dog or cat condo?
I have several medical disabilities and my doctor suggested I get 2 service dogs to assist me. I live in a condo that used to allow animals, but over the years, changed the rules. First, no dogs, then no dogs or cats. I spoke with a person on the board here and I was told to get a letter from my doctor and turn it in to the resident manager and it should be ok, which I immediately did. I have one dog living with me now, to assist me. Today I got a citation from the manager stating that I am not in compliance with the rules and in order to keep it, "Dog must be duly certified by an attorney if it is a well-trained signal, service or seeing-eye dog to qualify keeping it in this property." Is this legal? Can they cite me and make more stipulations for me to keep the dog? I do not see how an attorney can certify if my dog is a service dog. What should I do? I am really worried. I can't afford paying fines. I am not working due to an injury that has left me disabled. I can't afford to hire a lawyer to state that my dog is duly certified. I am taking him to obedience training and he passed the STAR puppy. He is only 7 months old, and I am continuing training. The other dog I have has obedience titles, but he is a big dog and doesn't live with me. The little one needs to be with me at all times. He is a DAD dog that I am self training with the help of an instructor for an obedience class. He shows good signs already. He gets agitated when my sugar is low. Prior to this, I have blacked out several times from low blood sugar.
The little dog with me is not a pet. I was taught by a trained professional, who has trained diabetes alert scent dogs, how to train him to notify me when my sugar levels are low. He has already proven himself by notifying me before my sugar dropped too low. By watching him, I can tell that my sugar is going to drop and I make sure I have something sugary near me.They need to smell your scent, thus you need to be the one to train them. I was told I need to start training as soon as I get the puppy, the sooner the better. If I could get him the day he was born, that would have been better, but I got him after he was born. The other dog isn't for my diabetes. He is my balance dog since I also suffer from extremely bad vertigo and I fall a lot, often bruising myself.
I would like to thank ALMOST all of you for your very informative advice. My dog was going crazy yesterday as my sugar levels went haywire due to the stress I was going through. I found out now that he also signals when my sugar is high. He crawls to me as if he is scared, then licks my mouth and arms. When it is low, he acts agitated. One good thing came out of this, I now know he is doing well in training and that I can count on him. I am so much more knowledgeable thanks to the information I received. I also contacted someone who deals with service dogs from HUD. Now, I must stand tall and fight the association if they keep harassing me over my dog. I know that I can keep him. Thank you once again! Mahalo nui loa. (Thank you very much!) Malama pono. (Take care!)
8 Answers
- ?Lv 59 years agoFavorite Answer
Holy cow, people who don't know anything about service dogs, especially on LEGAL matters, should not be answering questions about them!!!!
NO, your housing association is out of their minds. There is NO such things as a ''certified'' service dog under federal law and it is against federal law to demand certification. I have no idea where they got the idea that an attorney certifies service dogs, but the concept is so ludicrous that if I didn't know that this was causing you real stress I'd be laughing at the absolutely absurdity of what they're telling you.
The comment about state laws and service dogs in training only applies to public access work, NOT housing. Housing if covered by FHA, and FHA covers service dogs in training.
This is an excellent link that outlines the FHA law regarding service dogs. I suggest you print it out and show it to your housing association. http://www.deltasociety.org/page.aspx?pid=489
Here is more on FHA and SD law. The site says Florida, but they're talking about federal law so it applies wherever you are: http://2012.servicedogsfl.org/?p=32
This link has several PDFs explaining the FHA law further: http://animallaw.info/search-results.htm?q=FHA%20s...
Flat out, what your housing association is doing to you is ABSOLUTELY illegal and borderline ludicrous. They are violating federal law.
Just as a side note, I am also self-training a DAD for my daughter, Message me if you'd like to join some groups with a support system and training tips for DADs. :)
Source(s): Service dog owner - 9 years ago
Thank heavens Cheriepie and Micheleparashalom know what they are talking about! Housing falls under FHA/HUD as stated. When I moved, I brought 2 SDiT's with me. All I needed was a dr's note explaining that SD's would be beneficial to my disability.
Your association has rock in their heads and a lawyer who must have missed the class on FHA/HUD. If it took you 8 dogs all trained to do different things for you, they couldn't say a word (that is exaggerating, but you get the point).
You are also perfectly within your rights to self-train. It sounds like your trainer is doing a good job if your puppy is already alerting. Not all dogs are good at being DAD dogs, so being able to have one DAD and one mobility dog is not out of the question. I had a friend that had a Chihuahua DAD and a Great Dane Autism dog for her son in the same household. Both were self-trained.
If they attempt to fine you, find the "legal aid" association in your area and give them a call. THEY will be happy to explain the laws and start with mediation. They are free, but may take a little while with the volume of calls.
Source(s): Training my own SD's Interaction with other self-trained SD owners Interaction with legal aid concerning SD's Interaction with FHA concerning SD issues - 9 years ago
Housing is covered under the FHA (Fair Housing Act) not the ADA. The FHA covers service animals, service animals in training and emotional support animals. A lawyer has never certified service animals, your housing association does not know what they are talking about. Professional service animal trainers might but there is no federally recognized service animal certification in this country nor is certification required by the ADA, ACAA, or FHA. Read the links below for more information.
Source(s): http://www.servicedogcentral.org/content/node/460 http://servicedogcentral.org/content/faq/61 - Lacey UD, RELv 79 years ago
Unless your state gives service dogs in training the same rights as a service dog, you do not have a leg to stand on. A service dog does not have to have any type of certification from an attorney or anyone else. Below are some links that will give you some more information.
Source(s): http://servicedogcentral.org/content/node/59 http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/newsletters/v7n2/7n2h... old balanced trainer and service dog user - How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- Anonymous9 years ago
I would contact an attorney who is familiar with ADA regulations. Since you puppy is only 7 months old and is not yet a certified service dog, that could be a problem. If you need a dog to signal low blood sugar, then you will be allowed to have one dog. It does not take two dogs to alert to low sugar. So not sure you will able to have both dogs.
An attorney familiar with the ADA regulations can help you better. You might try the legal forum on YA. But without certifying your current dog, I don't believe you can have him there. There are no 'rights' for a service dog in training as I understand the law.
Source(s): 49 years breeding, training and competing with dogs of various breeds and have friends with service dogs. - Anonymous9 years ago
OK, from what I'm reading you have a SD trained for diabetic alert/response and you have a SDIT. Forgive me if I am wrong. Housing doesn't fall under the ADA, it falls under FHA/HUD. Hopefully the info in these links helps. But in short, no, they cannot cite you for having a service animal.
Source(s): http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/progr... http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2008-10-27-E... HUD’s public housing regulations prohibit the imposition of a pet deposit on a person with a disability who needs an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation. 24 C.F.R. § 960.705(a) (2005) HUD program regulations state that a pet does not include “animals that are used to assist persons with disabilities”. 24 C.F.R. § 5.306(a) (2005). Doris Day Animal League:Best Friends for life http://www.ddal.org/pubs/bestfriends/ Fair Housing Act http://www.justice.gov/crt/housing/title8.php http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FINALRULE/Pet_Owne... http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/publications... http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/huddojstat... - 9 years ago
I agree with the other posts. As long as the dog is in training and is not readily certified, it doesn't count as being certified. I would also tell you to contact the ADA and get them involve in your condo associations rules and regulations. Unless things are clearly posted it is a 'gray' area and can be taken in several different ways. I am sure they can also put you in contact with an ADA attorney to e able to answer any questions you may have.
- 9 years ago
Yeah they can. You can't have a 7 month old puppy and count that as a service dog because he's involved in classes.
Get an actual adult service dog. Not a pet.
