Service animal
Service animals are animals that have been trained to assist people, including medical assistance, law enforcement, and search-and-rescue (SAR). Service animals may also be referred to as "assistance animals", "assist animals", "support animals" or "helper animals."
Definitions
The international assistance animal community has categorized three types of assistance animals:[1]
- Guide animal—to guide the blind
- Hearing animal—to signal the hearing impaired
- Service animal—to do work for persons with disabilities other than blindness or deafness.
In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal "individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability."[2][3]
Animals for individual assistance
Most service animals are dogs; however, members of other species may be trained to perform tasks to help their disabled partners live independent lives. Other animals include:
- Capuchin monkeys, which can be trained to perform manual tasks such as grasping items, operating knobs and switches, and turning the pages of a book.[4]
- Miniature horses, which can be trained to guide the blind,[5] to pull wheelchairs, or support for persons with Parkinson's disease.
In recent years, some dogs have been trained to detect allergens, such as peanuts.[6]
Law enforcement
Dogs can be used for drug detection, pursuit of individuals, or police dog tasks. They can also be used as guard dogs and attack dogs.
Horses are used in law enforcement for mounted police activities.
Search-and-Rescue (SAR)
Dogs are used in search-and-rescue operations to detect living people buried in building rubble.
Horses are used by SAR teams over rough terrain, or when the search area is too great to be searched strictly on foot.
See also
References
- ^ International Association of Assistance Dog Partners Retrieved on October 17, 2007.
- ^ Commonly Asked Questions about Service Animals in Places of Business, US Department of Justice. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
- ^ A Brief Information Resource on Assistance Animals for the Disabled, National Agricultural Library, Animal Welfare Information Center. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
- ^ Helping Hands Retrieved on October 17, 2007.
- ^ Guide Horse Retrieved on October 17, 2007.
- ^ Newsome, Brian (2009-02-16). "Peanut-sniffing dog is allergic girl's best friend". The Gazette (Colorado Springs). Retrieved 2009-02-18.
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External links
- "Creature Comforts", by Rebecca Skloot, New York Times, December 31, 2008. Discusses the many types of service animals.