Service and Emotional Support Animals

The College's policy for animals on campus applies to assistance animals that may be used by individuals with disabilities at the College.  "Assistance animal" is an umbrella term that refers to both service animals and emotional support animals, as further defined below.  An assistance animal is an animal that either (1) works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability; or (2) provides emotional or other type of support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability.

Service Animals

A "Service Animal" is defined as any animal, usually a dog, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.  Other animals do not qualify as service animals. (In some limited circumstances which generally are not applicable to Curry's campus, a miniature horse may be permitted as a service animal.) Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, guiding an individual who is blind or has low vision with navigation, alerting an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, and alerting and protecting an individual during a seizure. The work or task a service animal has been trained to provide must be directly related to the functional limitations of the person's disability.  Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals.

Examples of types of service animals include: 

• Guide dog: A dog that is trained to serve as a travel tool for individuals who are blind or have low vision.
• Hearing dog: A dog that has been trained to alert deaf persons or those with significant hearing loss, to sounds such as knocks on doors, fire alarms, phone ringing, etc.
• Assistance dog: A dog that has been trained to assist a person with a mobility or health impairment.  Types of duties the dog may perform include carrying, fetching, opening doors, ringing doorbells, activating elevator buttons, steadying a person while walking, assisting a person to get up after a fall, etc.
• Sig (signal) dog: A dog trained to assist a person with autism.  The dog makes a person aware of movements, which may appear distracting to others and are common to those with autism.  A person with autism may also have deficits in sensory input and may need service animals to provide similar assistance as is provided to a person who is blind or deaf.
• Seizure response dog: A dog trained to assist persons with seizure disorders.  The method by which the dog serves varies depending on the individual's needs.  Some dogs are able to predict seizures and provide advanced warning.
• Other types of service animals: The above is not an exhaustive listing.  The College will allow service animals as permitted by applicable law.

Students who wish to utilize a Service Animal on campus should reach out to Accessibility Services at accessibilityservices@curry.edu to start the registration process.

Service Animals and Athletics

Service animals employed by a student athlete are afforded the same allowances and are subject to the same regulations as other public spaces. When actively engaged in providing a service, the animal is permitted in all areas as their owner, provided the safety and wellbeing for both the animal and the owner are assured.

In this way, any athlete employing a service animal is permitted to bring their animal into any space that they themselves are permitted so long as the animal is actively providing the service. Since presence on an athletic field could lead to injury for the animal and others, animals are generally not allowed on an active field during a game. When not performing a service, a service animal would be subject to any policy regarding animals in that space. If an athletic venue otherwise does not permit animals, the student would be responsible for securing/housing their animal elsewhere, in a space where animals are generally permitted and the service animal’s safety and wellbeing is assured, the moment the animal stops providing its service. Any space where a service animal is housed when not performing their duty must allow for non-service animals to reside there (e.g., a ‘pet friendly’ hotel). The owner of the animal is solely responsible for the animal’s wellbeing (providing nourishment/housing/care, etc.).

In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing for all parties, any student who wishes to bring a service animal to away games must schedule a meeting with their coach at least 30 days prior to be beginning of the season and create a separate Service Animal Support Plan for each game to which they are planning to bring their service animal. All Service Animal Support Plans must be completed and signed by the student and submitted to the Director of Athletics as well as the Director of Accessibility Services for approval. The student is responsible for covering any additional fees that may be incurred in enacting the Service Animal Support Plan. Due to the complexities of providing care and housing at each away venue, Athletics may deny a student’s request to bring a service animal if a Service Animal Support Plan has not been completed prior to the scheduling of the away game (booking hotels, etc.).

If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Accessibility Services at accessibilityservices@curry.edu or (617) 333-2385.

Emotional Support Animals

"Emotional Support Animals" (or "ESAs") is a category of animals that may work, provide assistance, or perform physical tasks, for an individual with a disability and/or provide necessary emotional support to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability that alleviates one or more identified symptoms of an individual's disability, but which are not considered Service Animals under this Policy or relevant federal or state laws and regulations.  Some Emotional Support Animals are professionally trained, but in other cases ESAs provide the necessary support to individuals with disabilities without any formal training or certification.  Dogs and cats are commonly used as Emotional Support Animals, but any animal may serve a person with a disability as an ESA.

All Emotional Support Animal Documentation must come from an external, licensed provider who oversees the treatment of your diagnosed disability and has an established relationship with you. It must describe in detail how one or more of your life’s major functions are substantially limited in the residential environment, and how no other means of intervention are available, meaning the ESA is essential to your ability to have equal access to your housing environment.

Please provide current medical records of your ESA (applications without medical documentation will not be approved).

Once your request is complete:

• Accessibility Services will review your request and documentation to determine if the ESA request meets eligibility criteria for a medically necessary, reasonable housing accommodation for the purpose of equal access.
• The animal is NOT permitted to reside in campus housing until Accessibility Services communicates their final approval. If a student brings their animal before they are approved, it will result in the removal of the animal and the student will go through the community standards & accountability process.
• The student must comply with all Residence Life requirements, deposit/application procedures and deadlines, and behavior code policies regarding noise, cleanliness and conduct. Students are responsible for their animal’s care and behavior at all times, and under all circumstances, per the ESA Housing Agreement.

ESA Determination Process

The ESA determination is guided by compliance with the requirements above, as well as the following criteria:

• The student must demonstrate through their request and documentation that they cannot access their living and learning
  environments but for the requested exception of having the ESA reside with them.
• The student must demonstrate through their request and documentation that NO other means or methods, such as medication, counseling, other housing accommodations, interventions, or treatments adequately manage or improve the symptoms of their disability in the context of housing. If other means and methods, ARE available and effective, then no exception will be granted.
• The medical or psychological documentation must be from a licensed provider who is specifically overseeing the treatment of the diagnosed disability and are NOT employed by the Curry University. The provider must be actively overseeing the ESA as a prescribed treatment method, and evidence of this must be present in the documentation they provide. Primary care physicians or medication prescribers are inadmissible providers.

Student Responsibility for Emotional Support Animals in Residence Halls

The following policies are pertinent to approved ESAs at Curry.

• The approved ESA is allowed to reside with the student in their residence hall and is allowed to be taken outdoors anywhere on campus grounds where students are allowed to go.
• The ESA is NOT permitted in any academic or administrative buildings, athletic facilities, or laboratory settings.
• Curry College is not responsible for the care or supervision of the ESA.

The following policies will be strictly enforced, and violations are subject to the Curry College Student Conduct process. The ESA's owner is responsible for the cost, care, and supervision of ESA, including:

• Compliance with any laws pertaining to animal licensing, vaccination, and owner identification.
• Keeping the animal under control and taking effective action when it is out of control; feeding, walking, and disposing of waste; waste disposal via university plumbing or indoor trash containers is prohibited. Waste must be recovered, bagged, and placed in an outside trash container.
• Curry will not require any surcharges or fees for an ESA in the residence halls, because it is a disability related accommodation. However, the animal’s owner will be charged for damage caused by an ESA to the same extent that Curry would normally charge any person for the damage they cause to College property.
• Students who live with approved ESAs must comply with all College rules regarding noise, safety, disruption, and cleanliness.
• The owner of the animal will agree to hold harmless Curry College for any damage or any injury to others caused by their ESA.
• If necessary, the removal of an ESA, with all necessary cleaning, repairs and/or pest control will be done at the expense of
  the responsible resident.
• At least annually, or upon request, the student must register the animal with Accessibility Services, and must provide veterinary evidence of health, and vaccination status according to Massachusetts statute.
• An ESA must be housebroken (i.e., trained so that it controls its waste elimination, absent illness or accident)
• The emotional support animal must be kept under control by a harness, leash, or other tether at all times.