INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
Personal Preparedness Planning
Home > Personal Preparedness Planning > Disability Specific Preparedness > Users of Service Animals

Users of Service Animals

Service animals are guide dogs, signal dogs, or other animals individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.

Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform independently. "Seeing eye dogs" are one type of service animal used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities too.

Because persons with disabilities who use service animals require on the assistance of their animal to perform major life functions, service animals are a critical component of an emergency preparedness plan for users of service animals. Their emergency preparedness plan should address the health, welfare and safety of their service animal, as well as ways to have the service animal assist the individual in emergencies.

The following web sites have more information about emergency preparedness for individuals with disabilities who use service animals:

Please note: The Web site listed below is not federal government website, and may not necessarily operate under the same laws, regulations, and policies as federal websites.