By Kate Bennett

Many students have seen or heard of animals that live on campus. But, what are the rules about keeping animals on campus? At SMCC, students are not allowed to have animals in their dorms except for fish. Exceptions are made for service animals and emotional-support animals.

Dean of Students Tiffanie Bentley explained that legally, service animals can be only two types of animal: a dog or a miniature horse. Currently, SMCC does not have any miniature horses on campus, though that would be interesting. She explained that a service animal is trained specifically for a person with a disability, and it is trained to have specific skills to help that person. For example, a service animal may guide someone who is blind, or may be able to warn someone if they are about to have a seizure. Service animals can go wherever the student goes on campus (within reason; a service animal may not be allowed in the Culinary Arts kitchen for health reasons). Service animals are allowed on campus once a student registers with Disability Services.

Emotional-support animals are also found on campus. They are sometimes also referred to as assistance animals or support animals. Dean Bentley explained that an emotional support animal can be any kind of animal, including dogs, cats, ferrets, geckos, and more. There are restrictions which include no poisonous animals, for obvious reasons. Emotional-support animals are different than service animals because they are not trained to have specific skills to help a person. To have an emotional-support animal, a student has to have a disability, and the animal has to be prescribed by a doctor or therapist. Only one animal is allowed per room at SMCC to prevent disruption and to minimize damages. Emotional-support animals are only allowed inside the dorms (unless it is an animal like a dog, which may need to be taken outside to use the bathroom).

Sandra Lynham, director of counseling and disability services, gave me an example of how an emotional-support animal can help someone: If a student has depression and needs motivation to get outside, they may have a dog because they have to take the dog outside to bring it to the bathroom. The dog would then be a motivator for the person to get outside.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, “Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” Service animals are typically allowed wherever the public is allowed. There may be some restrictions, such as on bringing an animal into a commercial kitchen.

The U.S. Department of Justice also states that if staff can not tell what a service animal is providing they can ask only two questions. These questions are, “(1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability” and “(2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform.” When inquiring about a service animal, staff have to stick to those two questions. “Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.”

Recently, there have been websites selling “service animal certificates” or “certifications.” This is a scam. Dean Bentley explained to me that if you have a service animal, you do not need to pay anyone for a certificate for that animal. To have a service animal on campus, you need to meet with Sandra Lynham in Disability Services (located on the third floor of Howe Hall, South Portland Campus). To be able to have an emotional-support animal on campus, you need to be prescribed one from your doctor or therapist and meet with Sandra Lynham in Disability Services.