Service Animals at Great Bay

Below please find information related to Great Bay Community College’s service animal policy and regulations.

Service Animals Assisting Individuals With Disabilities

Great Bay Community College generally permits service animals assisting individuals with disabilities in all facilities maintained by the College. Therefore, an individual with a disability shall be permitted to be accompanied by his/her service animal in all areas of the College’s facilities where members of the public are permitted.

This policy applies only to facilities owned by the College or under its control. Please be advised that there may be restrictions imposed on the use of service animals in non-college facilities, such as hospitals, science laboratories or other clinical or internship experience locations. Such restrictions are established by the individual facilities according to their own policies and procedures and the College has no control over such restrictions.

“Service Animal” Defined

The Americans with Disabilities Act’s regulations define “service animal” as any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, or intellectual disability.

Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition.

Permissible Inquiries About a Service Animal

It is permissible for the College to make the following inquiries in order to determine whether an animal qualifies as a service animal:

  • Is the animal required because of a disability?
  • What work or task is the animal trained to perform?

The College shall not inquire about the nature or extent of a person’s disability. Further, the College shall not make these inquiries about a service animal when it is readily apparent that an animal is trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability (e.g., the dog is observed guiding an individual who is blind, pulling a person’s wheelchair, or providing assistance with stability or balance to an individual with an observable mobility disability).

Specific questions related to the use of service animals on College property can be directed to:

Amanda Voce
Accessibility Advisor & Services Coordinator
avoce@ccsnh.edu

Additional Information 

  • Work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to its handler’s disability. Examples of work or tasks performed by service animals include, but are not limited to:

    1. Assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks.
    2. Alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds.
    3. Providing non-violent protection or rescue work for a person having a seizure.
    4. Pulling a wheelchair.
    5. Alerting individuals to the presence of allergens.
    6. Reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications.
    7. Retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone.
    8. Providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities.
    9. Calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack.
    10. Helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors.
    11. Or performing other duties related to a its handler’s disability.
    Services that do not qualify as work or tasks performed by a service animal include:

    • Crime deterrent effects.

    • The provision of emotional support, comfort, or companionship, often referred to as “therapy” or “companion” animals.