Talking Animals: Service dogs, schools and what it all means

Every school board in Ontario has to come up with a policy to accommodate service animals in classrooms by Jan. 1, 2020.

Anthrozoology professor Beth Daly joined Tony Doucette in the Windsor Morning studio to talk about service animals, their uses and how schools will accommodate their presence.

What are service animals generally used for?

Exactly what they sound like. They provide a service. That service could be anything from bringing somebody who has a physical disability something that they need, opening and closing doors — or it could be even providing a psychological service, if someone has autism or Aspergers ... they might provide comfort for them. 

What real impact can an animal have on a person with a disability?

That depends on the disability and it depends on the person. This is why we're in such a grey area, because many people will tell you they require a service dog even though they have an invisible disability. But we have many service animals. [The animal] may provide a comfort level to the extent that the person is able to function in a regular social environment. It might be that a child who is prone to wandering off, the dog might stop the child from leaving the environment in which he or she is supposed to be staying in. They can provide a number of services.

Are they really necessary in a classroom setting?

You would have to ask the person who has the animal. As a person with a spinal cord injury, my experience has been that people are very good at telling you what you need. This is a real problem we're seeing in schools. I've read several cases where people are making decisions based on administration and not on parents.

This is a real problem we're seeing in schools.- Beth Daly, University of Windsor professor

The two school boards here have both said, "Why would they have a dog when it's something a person can do?" My response is you don't know what relationship the child has with the person. There is a level of humiliation involving having to ask a person for something. A child may have a relationship with the dog and the dog is able to have a much better impact. It's very difficult for an external person to tell somebody what is best for him or her. 

Can any animal qualify? We've seen a wide range.

Any animal can qualify. There are service animals, emotional support animals and therapy animals. What's happening these days is that a service animal in many ways is becoming really close to an emotional support animal. If we're looking at a child who has an emotional or psychological disability so the animal would also be something as exotic as a monkey. In the 19th century, monkeys were really common pets. They are very volatile animals and they're not good in social situations but they are legal, quantifiable service animals.

What is the difference between a service animal and a therapy animal?

A therapy animal is what we would often see in a hospital or a senior's residence. Therapy animals have no specific purpose or training, but they may pass a series of tests — usually a temperament test — and those are the animals we take into environments to visit the sick or elderly, to provide companionship or to just visit. 

A service animal is an animal that has been trained by somebody to fill a certain deficit or to provide a certain service for an individual. 

In most cases we're talking about dogs — and there are certain breeds that are better at [the job].

We know that Labrador retrievers are one of the most common and that's for a number of reasons. They're super trainable, they're super social and they're also one of the safest dogs for people to interact with. If you bring a Labrador retriever into an environment — as opposed to say a German shepherd — you pretty well know what kind of animal you're getting. 

In terms of training, some breeds are almost impossible to train. Beagles and other scent hounds are sweet and loveable dogs and may be very effective as service animals for an individual who has psychological deficits, but they are not highly trainable. I would not want to rely on a beagle to get something for me if I needed it. 

What do the dogs get out of this?

There is a lot of concern brewing now about the lack of welfare standards being observed in the relationship. What's happening is people are more concerned about the human than they are about the animal. I gave the example of a monkey ... there isn't a lot of thought about what's in this for the monkey — and it might be that the monkey is in a terrible position. 

We need to start doing research and looking at how this is affecting the animals because in many cases ... this is not a benefit for the animal. We have to weigh the person's benefit alongside the animal welfare issue.

What are some of the things the school boards will have to consider when coming up with a policy?

They are going to have to think about fears and allergies, balancing that against children who actually need accommodation. 

I keep hearing "What about kids who have fears," or "What about kids who have allergies?" Well, what about kids who require a dog? We're going to have to look at what's best for the entire environment to provide fair and equitable learning for all students in the room. I am very troubled by this automatic response. 

Answers have been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full interview below: