Service, Therapy or Emotional?

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council adopted an ordinance change on Sept. 4 which extended the period when dogs may be taken on beaches and the Promenade.
The old period had been from November to the end of March. April has been added both for beaches and Promenade areas.
As this ordinance made its way through the process of being drafted, introduced and adopted, it met no public opposition at council meetings. Some expressed a desire to see a more liberal stance taken with dogs on the Washington Street Mall without luck.
One alteration to the municipal ordinance did speak to the mall area. The uniform ban on dogs on the Mall remained in the ordinance with an exception made for “properly documented and licensed service animals.”
Those words sparked discussion at the council meeting, not in opposition to the ordinance’s changes, but expressing a concern about enforcement.
Animals Have Access Rights
The federal American with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides for access rights for “service animals.”
A service animal is one that has been trained and documented to assist in specific tasks for individuals with disabilities. The ADA gives such animals access rights to public facilities like municipal beaches, the boardwalk and the city-owned Mall.
Anti-discrimination provisions also can apply with respect to access rights to private businesses.
The enforcement problem stems from the fact that individuals with service animals are not required to carry documentation of their disability or the animal’s training and certification.
Police Chief Anthony Marino told council that guidance he had received from the state Attorney General would permit his officers to ask only once if the animal was a service animal. If told yes, the officer must accept the animal’s access rights even without documentation.
The matter gets more complicated when one considers a number of other labels in force for animals, especially dogs.
A dog, for example, may be labeled a “therapy dog.”
A therapy dog is trained to provide affection to those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and the like. The animal does not have access rights under ADA.
Another class of animal is an “emotional support dog.”
Emotional support animals provide comfort and a calming presence for individuals with an emotional or psychological disability. Those animals have limited legal rights such as potentially being accepted in “no pet” housing. They, like therapy dogs, do not have the public access rights of a service animal.
What Does It Mean?
The concern expressed at the language regarding “properly documented and licensed service animals,” did not derail adoption of the ordinance.
City Solicitor Frank Corrado advised leaving it in despite the manifest difficulties with enforcement.
The answer will rest with adequate training of police officers, especially temporary “summer officers.”
All also agreed that better signage was needed concerning the ban of non- service dogs on the Mall.
On the same night when the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee reported on recommendations to make the city bike and foot traffic friendly, speakers rose during public comment to express appreciation for the extension of time for dogs on the beaches and Promenade, expressing a desire to make the city more “dog friendly.”
With dogs providing service, therapy, and just emotional support to an increasing number of individuals, and with legal guidance vague at best, the public may see more dog owners claiming an exception for their special animal.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.