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Question Title: Assistance dog
| Question: 437 |
| A prospective tenant, after viewing a property, told me that they have an "Assistance Dog". Normally I do not allow cats or dogs but I thought to say "No" in these circumstances was unfair and possibly discriminatory. After talking with the landlord, I asked them for some proof and they seemed to make excuses and said they would look elsewhere. On this occasion, I felt they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes but this led us to wonder how a bona fide owner of a guide, hearing or assistance dog might be reasonably be expected to prove the working dog's credentials.
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| Answer: |
Disabled people who use assistance dogs quite often experience discrimination and it will usually be against the law to discriminate in this way. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) says that anyone who provides services, goods or facilities to the public cannot refuse to provide their service to a disabled person for a reason relating to that person's disability. Nor can service providers use a person's disability as a reason to provide them with a lower standard of service than it offers to other people, or a service on worse terms. Doing so could give rise to a disability discrimination claim.
Assistance dogs are also excluded as a result of 'no dogs' policies. The DDA requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to policies and one such adjustment could be to waive "no dogs" policies in respect of assistance dogs, or amend a "no pets" policy so that assistance dogs are not refused access. Because assistance dog owners rely on their dogs to get around safely, refusing to allow an assistance dog on to the premises means refusing to provide a service to the owner for a reason relating to their disability.
There is no fool proof way of proving that a particular animal is an assistance dog but registration with one of the relevant charities might help. These are:
Support Dogs, The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association, Hearing Dogs For Deaf People, Dogs For The Disabled and Canine Partners.
Assistance Dogs (UK) is the umbrella organisation for the registered charities training dogs for disabled people. Assistance Dogs can be contacted at:-
0870 609 3476
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