Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to inform building users of when animals are permitted at Duncan Place room hires, groups, classes and events, and when animals are not permitted
Overview
- Assistance dogs are permitted in Duncan Place without prior arrangement. Please see below.
- Service dogs are permitted in Duncan Place when accompanied by their professional handler from their associated organisation. Please see below.
- Emotional Support Dogs are not permitted in Duncan Place; please see below.
- Therapy animals are not permitted; please see below.
Policy
Assistance dogs are trained to aid disabled people to allow them to carry out their day-to-day activities. They are classed as auxiliary aids, much like a wheelchair. Assistance dogs are fully protected under the Equality Act 2010. They do not need to be trained by an organisation, or be state funded, to have these protections.
Examples of Assistance Dogs are Guide dogs, Hearing dogs, medical alert and response dogs, Allergy detection dogs, Mobility assistance dogs, Autism assistance dogs and Psychiatric assistance dogs.
Some dogs may be trained to cover multiple types of assistance dogs, so these dogs are called multipurpose assistance dogs. All types of assistance dogs are valid and as important as each other.
Service Dogs are not assistance dogs. They are dogs that are aligned with an organisation and trained in tasks to protect the public/provide a service for the public’s safety. This includes police, body detection, fire, and drug detection. This does not include privately owned 'protection dogs'. Service dogs have their own set of laws protecting them and are only allowed in public areas when accompanied by the associated organisation.
Emotional Support Animals, including dogs, are not legally recognised in the UK. If a dog is trained to aid a disabled person, they are classed as an assistance dog and they are an auxiliary aid.
Therapy animals, including dogs, are not assistance animals and so, we are not legally required to admit them. We recognise that some of our building users;
- Benefit from the presence of their therapy animals.
- Experience anxiety due to the presence of animals.
- Suffer from allergies due to the presence of animals.
It is impossible to develop a policy that accommodates everyone.
Our policy is to not admit therapy animals.
A request to bring a therapy animal into the building would require us to check in with all other visitors in advance for any allergies and/ or anxiety, and our small team do not have the capacity for this. Also, many of the events and meetings that take place in our rooms are delivered by other organisations, meaning that we do not have the contact details of participants. Checking with everyone is therefore impossible. Apologies if this is disappointing for you, and we thank you for your understanding.