This is a issue with layers of laws and questions...

There are many definitions/standards applied to "service" or "companion" animals. Laws limit what you can ask the owner about the service the animal provides. Heath privacy laws that say you can't ask what their disability is.

It is a issue that is frequently resolved with lawsuits... that are hard to win and expensive even if you do...

At our museum we have a service dogs on the train policy... We also have a general dogs on the platform and in our outdoor museum, but not on the train (governor approved) Increasingly we let well behaved dogs ride, but ask to have them ride in the open car or ADA car...

Randy

I was waiting for a commuter train this morning and there was a woman sitting on a bench with a dog at her feet. When she began to talk on her phone the dog looked up at her intently as if looking to see if she had a message for the him; when he realized it wasn't, he returned to standby mode. Clearly a service dog. Albeit a nondescript dog with no special clothing to identify him as a service dog.

A train came in with a bunch of preschool kids and parents in the rear car and was met by a uniformed "Ambassador" who saw that the rest of the train did its station business then the rear car emptied as a group (to see Santa?). The kids and their parents walked by the dog and neither the kids nor the dog paid much attention to the other.

In short the presence of the plainclothes service dog was treated as a normal event, by the kids, by their parents and by the railroad employee.

Phil Mulligan

The ADA is very clear on what is and isn’t a service animal. And you can legally ask if the animal is needed for a disability and what is the animal trained to do. You can NOT ask about the disability itself.

Generally, service animals are easy to pick out by their behavior. But as much as I really hate to say it and in my opinion, to avoid potential liabilities for misbehaving animals and to avoid frivolous lawsuits, all animals that are not ADA defined service animals should be excluded. In my experience, most owners don’t really train their dogs. Yeah, they might sit or do a trick on command but can you really trust an unknown pet/owner to behave appropriately? I certainly don’t for numerous reasons - based on personal experience.

Read the ADA guidelines linked earlier in this thread. There are other’s pet policies online that you can use as a template. And here’s a great article on how to deal with service dogs: https://www.aam-us.org/2019/08/26/welcoming-service-dogs-to-your-museum/