The city of Durango reposted a video this week showing a Walmart customer struggling to remove a large, barking dog – believed not to be a registered service animal – from a produce shelf while another customer looked on.
According to Walmart’s official policy, only service animals are allowed in stores. However, employees may not ask for proof of service animal status – such as documentation – under a settlement agreement between the U.S. government and Walmart Stores, Inc., referencing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Under ADA policy, employees can ask only one question: “Is this a service animal required because of a disability?”
If the customer answers yes, the employee must allow the animal into the store without further questions.
Bridget Omenighini, development director at Canine Partners of the Rockies – a nonprofit that trains service dogs – said that while ADA policy prohibits stores from requesting proof of service animal status, it also allows employees to ask a disruptive or dangerous animal and handler to leave.
“I don’t know that that’s common knowledge with a lot of employees,” Omenighini said. “They don’t want to ask somebody with a legitimate service animal to leave, and they don’t want to allow non-legitimate service animals in the businesses. There’s a lot of gray area, and it’s tough to be an employee in these situations.”
There are clear differences between pets and service animals, Omenighini said.
Service animal training typically begins when an animal is very young, with about two years of basic obedience training to ensure it is non-disruptive and non-reactive in public before learning handler-specific tasks, Omenighini said.
Bringing pets – even well-trained ones – into certain areas can be distracting for service animals and prevent them from doing their jobs.
“When a service animal is distracted, it can be very dangerous for their person,” Omenighini said. “That dog is trained to help their person and to provide a task and a service, and it could be very damaging to the person and to the dog that’s working if people are bringing pets into the store.
“We all love our pets,” Omenighini said, “but it is really important to know the difference between a pet, an emotional support animal and a service animal – and service animals are the only ones with public access rights.”
It remains unclear whether the individuals in the video – the person pulling the dog from the shelf or the person nearby – owned the dog or were simply trying to help.
Walmart declined to comment for this story.
epond@durangoherald.com
