Therapy Dogs International Discriminates Against People that Rely on Service Dogs

I had to post something about this because I think it is such an important issue.  Discrimination hurts everyone.  Even if you’re not disabled, even if you don’t have a service dog, even if you have no interest in therapy dogs, it still affects you.  No one benefits when someone is a victim of discrimination.

Therapy Dogs International is an organization that certifies therapy dogs, along with their owners.  Therapy dogs are dogs that have been trained to visit patients in hospitals, people in nursing homes, people in emergency shelters, autistic kids, etc.  They distract people from pain and fear, they provide a non-judgmental ear, they provide unconditional love, they give affection to the lonely, they give those in unbelievably difficult circumstances a moment of relaxation.  Therapy dogs need to be well-trained, well-behaved, friendly, not get nervous about strange things like wheelchairs or ventilators, tolerant of people that pet them a bit less than gently, and not get startled by sudden noises.  These are all characteristics of good service dogs, too.

However, Therapy Dogs International (TDI) has a new policy under which they will not certify service dogs as therapy dogs.  If a disabled person that relies on a service dog wants to do volunteer work with a therapy dog, they have to get a second dog to be certified as a therapy dog.  Of course, it takes more work and more money to own and care for two dogs than it does to care for one, and some disabled people have limited resources.

To certify a dog as a therapy dog, TDI requires the dog and its owner to pass a certification exam.  If someone that relies on a service dog has a second dog they want to certify as a therapy dog, TDI requires them to take the test with both dogs at the same time, presenting challenges that non-disabled dog owners don’t have to deal with when they take the test with only one dog.  Seems unfair, doesn’t it?

Ursula Kemp, president of TDI, says service dogs can’t be therapy dogs because dogs can’t pay attention to two people at once.  A service dog, she thinks, could not pay attention to its handler and pay attention to the person it was visiting for therapeutic reasons.  That might be true in some instances, but certainly is not true in all cases.  For instance, if someone with a seizure disorder took their service dog to visit elderly people in a nursing home, and the dog was busy being petted by the residents, it would still be able to notice if its handler began having a seizure.  It could then go over to its owner and provide assistance. 

Or what about someone that relies on a service dog to help them balance when walking?  That person could take their service dog to the library, sit in a chair, and the service dog could sit nearby while children practiced reading to the dog.  If the handler was sitting, they would not need their dog’s assistance at all.

There is also the fact that a number of other well-known therapy dog organizations are happy to certify service dogs as therapy dogs.  Apparently their presidents disagree with Ms. Kemp.

TDI’s policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal law that prohibits this type of discrimination against the disabled, including those that rely on service dogs.  A complaint has been drafted and will be filed after the holiday weekend with the U.S. Department of Justice, the agency that enforces the American with Disabilities Act and investigates violations of the ADA.

If you want to read more about the situation, you can do so on Service Dogs Central, a website that provides a wealth of information about service dogs.

If you want to contact Ursula Kemp of TDI to let her know you disagree with her discriminatory policies (and I wish you would), you can contact her at:

Therapy Dogs International
88 Bartley Road
Flanders, NJ 07836
Phone: (973) 252-9800
Fax: (973) 252-7171
E-mail: tdi@gti.net
Website: www.tdi-dog.org 

Don’t expect her to return your calls or respond to your emails, though.  Apparently she’s stopped doing that.  She’s even started blocking the email addresses of people that have contacted her to share their concerns.