Advocation
This page highlights different situations and resources that anyone can access to make a difference for service animal teams throughout the country! Having the knowledge to advocate for a service animal team is an incredible skill to have, and if you are a service animal handler knowing this term and what it means is a massive part of the service dog lifestyle. Advocating means actively supporting a person, group, or cause and standing up for common beliefs. The power of advocacy starts with you and the impact you can make on this world!
How to advocate for yourself and your animal if you are a handler:
You are being able to advocate for yourself as a service animal handler begins with knowing your information. This starts with consulting your medical professional about having a service animal in your treatment plan and having that sorted in your documents in case of a housing or employment situation. You are learning how to train and handle your service animal as you establish a routine—reading up on the legal rights you have as a service animal handler, whether from the Americans with Disabilities Act or the section in the Fair Housing Act covering assistance animals. Or overall, just being knowledgeable about the resources you have to go about your life with your service animal. Being able to advocate for yourself and your animal is a skill that will be learned over time; it is not something that happens overnight. Finding the best outlet with the lowest amount of stress and the highest amount of confidence for you to address the general public, establishments, and more is crucial for this lifestyle. From experience, it is not always easy, but it is worth knowing your resources and building connections with others who will help guide your path.
How to advocate for your friends/family who have service animals:
One of the best things you can do as a friend or family member of a service animal handler is to show them that you support their journey. That can mean sitting and listening to an access issue they might have encountered at a grocery store. Or you are assisting them in contacting the right people to resolve the issue. You can also look into the Americans with Disabilities Act and how these laws give service animal teams their rights and freedoms. By showing your interest and being a helping hand in a time of need, you are making the world a more accessible place for service animal teams.
Whom to contact in case of a discrimination issue and whom to go to for support:
The best place to report an accessibility issue is the Department of Justice or the Americans with Disabilities for reference Act. A company’s corporate office can also be addressed, but if you want to speak to people who are versed in these situations, the DOJ and ADA are there to report these cases. For more information on how to file a report, here is a link provided on this topic:
https://www.justice.gov/actioncenter/submit-complaint
https://beta.ada.gov/file-a-complaint/
Whom to contact with employment discrimination:
In a place of employment, there might be a case where a service animal handler needs to go above their employer to advocate for themselves; the link provided is a great place to start:
https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector/filing-formal-complaint
Whom to contact in the case of housing discrimination:
There might be a time when a service animal team encounters discrimination on the level of housing; the link provided is where to start that avocation process:
https://www.hud.gov/fairhousing/fileacomplaint%20
Whom to contact in the case of airline discrimination:
If there was a situation of discrimination towards a service animal team through an airline situation, here is whom to contact: