Animals on Campus

• Service Animal (SA): any dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform a task for an individual with a disability, including physical, sensory (deaf or blind), psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. The work or tasks performed by the Service Animal must be directly related to the individual’s disability. Service Animals do not need to be approved by campus, but the Disability Program Resource Center (DPRC) (for student handlers) or Employee Accommodations (EA) (for employee handlers) should be notified to allow DPRC/EAto share CSU and campus policies and guidelines with the handler.
• Emotional Support Animal (ESA): a category of animal not trained to perform specific tasks directly related to an individual’s disability; instead, the animal’s owner derives a sense of well-being, safety, calm, or comfort from the animal’s presence. ESAs may provide necessary emotional support to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability but are not considered a Service Animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ESAsare allowed on campusas accommodation for a person with a disability. They must be approved by the proper campus authority to live in campus housing or enter campus work or academic/instructional/recreational areas.
• Pet: a domestic animal, kept and cared for by an individual, providing no specific purpose other than companionship.
• Wild Animal: any animal that isn't tame and lives on its own without any help from people. A wild animal finds its own food, shelter, water and all its other needs in a specific natural habitat. Habitat can be a field, woods, pond, wetland, prairie, park, or in the core of the campus. Wild animals do not include feral or stray domestic animals.

A Service Animal (SA) is defined as a dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disabilities. An SA may also be referred to as a guide dog ora signal dog. SAs are trained to recognize and respond to a handler'sneed for specificservice. SAs are allowed on campus grounds, including university housing, food-service facilities, places of entertainment, on-campus residences, academic classrooms and campus libraries. The SA must have current vaccinations and be housebroken and under control. The use of SAs is protected by the ADA.

100.2.1 Service Animals for Students

Handlers with SAs are not required to notify Disability Programs Resource Center (DPRC) of their use of a service animal prior to coming to campus, except for requests to bring an SA to a research or teaching lab as outlined in Section 100.2.3. However, notifying DPRC is highly recommended because it allows the DPRC to share the CSU and campus policies and guidelines with them.

100.2.2 Service Animals for Employees

Approved SAs are allowed for employees in campus buildings while the employee is performing their duties on behalf of the university and on campus transportation vehicles (including any campus shuttle, bus, or other fleet vehicle). SAs may not be left unattended in any building, vehicle, or outdoor space on campus.

An employee may request an SA as a reasonable accommodation in the workplace. Employees requesting approval to bring a SA into their campus workspace must notify their supervisor/manager and may be asked to submit documentation of their need for a SA and the animal’s fitness to the Employee Accommodations for approval through the accommodations process. This process provides Employee Accommodations an opportunity to advise the employee of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to accommodations, including making sure they have and understand the CSU service animal policy. Employee Accommodations may deny approval of a SA, or may withdraw approval, where the animal user fails to ensure their SA conforms to the requirements outlined in Section 100.2 of this policy.

An employee submitting a request for a service animal accommodation to the Employee Accommodations office may bring their unapproved SA to interact with Employee Accommodations staff.

If the need for a SA is not obvious, only the following two questions may be asked of the SA owner/handler:

1. Is the dog/miniature horse a service animal required because of a disability?
2. What work or task has the dog/miniature horse been trained to perform?

These questions may not be asked if the need for the SA is obvious.

100.2.3 Service Animals in Research and Teaching Laboratories

Research and teaching laboratories can present safety hazards and risks to people and animals depending on the specific laboratory environment. Such hazards can include biological, chemical, radioactive, and equipment. Hence, individualized, special consideration and evaluation of those hazards and risks are necessary.

SFSU may impose legitimate safety requirements on the use or presence of a SA that are necessary for safe operation of its facilities. There are some facilities that are not safe for use or presence of a SA and from which SFSU may exclude a SA based on actual risks. Alternatively, SFSU may require specialized personal protective equipment for the SA or other special requirements to ensure the safety of the SA and others in the space. Laboratories are areas where a SA may pose a substantial and direct threat to health and safety. As a result, requests in these areas will require an individualized assessment that is determined on a case-by case basis.

Any individual seeking to bring a SA into a laboratory on campus must contact Disability Programs Resource Center (DPRC)(for student requests) or Employee Accommodations (EA) (for employee requests) to request an accommodation. DPRC or EA will evaluate the request and engage in the interactive process regarding what accommodations are appropriate reaching a decision, DPRC or EA may consult with Environment Health & Safety (EHS) to ensure DPRC or EA understands and accounts for any related safety issues. To the extent DPRC or EAdetermines that use of a SA is appropriate, it will communicate with the lab manager regarding the accommodation to ensure proper safety procedures are put in place.

SFSU complies with all federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to SAs.

A pet is not considered a service or an emotional support animal.

Pets must be either secured by a leash up to six (6) feet maximum in length, the other end of which is retained by a person; secured in a carrier; or securely confined in a vehicle. Pets are not permitted in any campus building, even if on a leash, with limited exceptions outlined in this policy. Pets may not be left unattended on campus, including in parked vehicles.

Pets, except for fish in an aquarium under ten (10) gallons, may not be housed in a student housing on campus. This limitation does not apply to EFH and non-affiliated campus residents, i.e., "legacy" residents, which are governed by the terms and conditions of the terms and of the housing license, lease agreement, or as otherwise specified.

Participants in San Francisco State University’s EFH and non-affiliated campus residents, i.e., “legacy” tenants, may request permission to house a pet (or pets) in campus housing. Requestor must agree to and complete the EFH Pet Addendum and comply with all requirements of the addendum including, but not limited to, providing supporting documentation including proof of current vaccination(s), spay/neuter documentation (if applicable), license, veterinarian’s contact information, proof of registration with City and County of San Francisco, photo of the pet, and proof of renter's insurance covering claims of damage caused by the pet. EFH Administration will review the information provided and approve or deny the request. If approved, a monthly, non-refundable Pet Fee is assessed to the resident.

100.4.1 Impoundment of Pets

Pets found on campus in violation of these policies are subject to impoundment by City & County of San Francisco Animal Care & Control.

Animals participating in on-campus animal programs, for example, the Health, Promotion & Wellness Therapy Dog program, must follow the policies and procedures for those specific programs.

The trapping, caging, displaying, and/or use of wild animals on campus for any other purpose than educational instruction or by authorized individuals is prohibited. Requests to trap, cage, display and/or use of wild animals on campus for educational instructions purposes must be submitted to SFSU’s Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) for review and approval.

Wild animals that are not a risk and do not represent a hazard, cause property damage,or create a public nuisance, and that do not involve human intervention, shall be allowed to inhabit the campus grounds.

Prohibited human intervention includes, but is not limited to, interaction with,feeding, building of shelters, and injection of medication, unless requested by a veterinarian associated with educational instruction.

Wild animals that are a potential risk, represent a hazard, cause property damage, create a nuisance, or otherwise pose a potential conflict for humans shall be regulated, controlled, or humanely relocated, when possible, in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

100.7.1 Campus Responsibilities

The campus is responsible for providing and facilitating a process to request approval of ESAs, a grievance process where there are alleged violations of ESAs or Service Animal user rights under this policy, and a reporting mechanism for alleged violations of this policy or California state law on protection of Service Animals Human Resources, Environment Health & Safety, University Housing, Disability Programs Resource Center and University Police shall collaborate as needed to identify and address any threat or disruption to the campus environment related to this policy.

100.7.2 Animal Owner Responsibilities

Dogs over 4 months old and residing in San Francisco for more than 30 days are required by county regulation to be licensed through Animal Care & Control. Dog owners are responsible for dog licensing.

Animal owners/handlers are responsible for complying with this policy and all other applicable policies, laws and procedures relating to their animals. Animal owners/handlers are responsible for disposing of feces deposited by their animals; keeping their animals under control; and ensuring the safety of their animals.

University affiliates may be disciplined under appropriate policies, including but not limited to the State of California Education Code Section 89535, Faculty Code of Ethics, the Student Code of Conduct, the California State University Standards of Ethical Conduct, CSU Personnel Policies for Faculty and Staff Members, or any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

Any person, regardless of university affiliation, is subject to applicable state laws and regulations regarding the care, handling, treatment, and possession of animals, including but not limited to California Penal Codes, California Health & Safety Codes, and the California Code of Regulations.

Any person who, without legal justification, intentionally interferes with the use of a Service Animal by harassing or obstructing the Service Animal, is in violation of California law, which is punishable by fines or imprisonment. They may also be barred from campus property and subject to the consequences outlined in section 100.8 of this policy.

Any person whose animal in their care attacks or interferes with a Service Animal may be barred from campus property and subject to the consequences outlined in section 100.8 of this policy. Any animal that attacks or interferes with a Service Animal may also be barred from campus property.