Hampshire College will reasonably accommodate requests for assistance animals, including service animals and emotional support animals to reside with their owner/handler in college provided housing. To learn what constitutes a service animal, emotional support animal or a pet and how to apply for this accommodation please see our animal definitions and policies.
Service Animal means 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, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include, among other things, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button.
Emotional Support Animals, comfort animals, and therapy dogs are not service animals under Title II and Title III of the ADA. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered service animals either. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. It does not matter if a person has a note from a doctor that states that the person has a disability and needs to have the animal for emotional support. A doctor’s letter does not turn an animal into a service animal.
To learn more about what constitutes a pet, emotional support animal, or service animal, and how to gain an exemption to our Pet Policy, please see our animal definitions and policies on the Norms for Community Living and Policies section.
Students in need of accommodation related to a service or emotional support animal and would like to register with the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) should review:
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