Introduction
In today’s diverse educational environments, it’s increasingly common to see animals supporting students and staff on campus. While each institution may have slightly different policies, most postsecondary institutions in Ontario permit various types of working animals, including guide dogs, police dogs, service animals, service animals in training, support animals, and therapy animals. These animals are not pets; they are essential partners in accessibility, and their presence on campus is tied to documented disability-related needs.
Please Note: For the sake of the following article, when we use the terms “animal” or “service animal” we mean all campus approved animals.
The Role of Animals in Accessibility
Animals support their handlers in reducing or removing barriers within educational environments that may limit full participation. The reasons someone may work with an animal are diverse and reflect a range of lived experiences for those with both visible and invisible disabilities. These may include, but are not limited to, diabetes, epilepsy, autism, and hearing, visual, physical, or mental health-related needs. Animals can provide support in a multitude of ways, including, but not limited to the following:
- Guide a person safely through the environment and around obstacles
- Alert their handler about low blood sugar levels
- Provide warnings and protection to their handler during a seizure
- Offer a sense of calm to a person in a stimulating environment
- Create a sense of safety in triggering situations
- Retrieve out-of-reach objects
- Alert their handler to important sounds.
These trained responses are critical to ensuring the safety, independence, and inclusion of individuals with disabilities.
Appropriate Conduct Around Service & Working Animals
If you have a student in your classroom or a colleague in your office with an animal, you:
- Should focus attention on the owner/handler, not the animal, speaking to and making eye contact with the person, not the animal.
- Should NOT pet, call on, feed, or play with the animal without permission. Also, do not disturb the animal if it appears to be sleeping.
If the animal approaches you without its handler, you should interact with it as it may be trained to seek assistance for its handler. Therefore, you can ask the animal to bring you to its handler or ask it where there is trouble and then follow it to the person.
Institutional Processes and Classroom Considerations
At most post-secondary institutions in Ontario, the student requiring an animal must provide documentation to the office responsible for academic accommodations. Once that documentation is approved, the student will receive an academic letter, and you will be notified through the standard process.
Once you are notified that a student in your course will be accompanied by a service animal, you can consider following up with an email to them acknowledging receipt of the accommodation letter and inviting the student to have a conversation with you about how you can best support them and their animal in your learning space.
Questions you may consider asking are:
- Would you like me to notify the class in any way about the animal and guidelines for how to act around the animal?
- Is there anything I can do to help arrange proper seating for you and the animal? Service animals do well with routine, so the student may prefer to sit in the same spot every class and have enough room for the animal in that spot.
- Are there any barriers to your inclusion in the class that you are worried about that I may be able to assist with?
- In the case of an emergency evacuation, is there anything that I can do to be of assistance to the student and animal?
Navigating Access, Safety, and Conduct Considerations
We encourage a welcoming approach to all animals on campus, however there may be a situation that causes you concern. While each institution may have different processes for concerns about the animal being in your classroom or lab space, there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind. For example, if you are teaching in a food preparation space or an animal lab, service animals are not allowed to be in that area. Reaching out the office that issued the letter of accommodation allows you to let them know about these circumstances and to have a conversation about alternative plans, such as keeping the animal in a space nearby. Similarly, if you feel that it may be unsafe for an animal to be in a lab space, there may be opportunities to brainstorm alternative options such as the possibility for the owner/handler to acquire PPE for the animal.
Generally, a fear or an allergy to an animal is not a sufficient condition to exclude the animal from a space, however, there may be times when the allergy or phobia is severe enough that it prevents participation in the learning or work environment. If you have a student approach you with a concern, directing them to the academic accommodation office is likely the best suggestion. There they work with staff to analyze the situation and seek ways to reconcile needed accommodations. If you have a concern related to your own allergies or fears, please contact your Human Resources representative to discuss the possibility of accommodations.
In the case of a disruption in the learning space due to the animal, it is important to remember that the animal is the responsibility of the student and that they assume accountability for its behaviour. Disruptions or damage caused to property by the animal are to be treated the same as if the student were engaged in that behaviour, and therefore you should use the same resolution techniques you would use if the student were directly engaged in that behaviour.
If possible, your first step should be to discuss your concerns with the student in a confidential manner. In an instance where the disruptive behaviour is impeding the immediate learning, you may ask that the owner/handler remove the animal from the class for the remainder of that lesson, even if it means that the student must also leave the learning space. If the behaviour continues to be disruptive, you should follow the processes set out by your institution regarding student misconduct.
Summary
Service and support animals are critical tools for accessibility and inclusion. As educators and colleagues, recognizing their role and approaching situations with empathy and preparedness can go a long way in creating welcoming and equitable learning environments for all.