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Township safety presentation: differences between service animals and emotional support animals explained
Summary
A BurlcoJif safety presentation by Joe Henry of Hardenbergh Insurance Group explained ADA protections for service dogs, New Jersey protections under the Law Against Discrimination, handler responsibilities and that emotional support animals do not have public-access rights under the ADA.
At the Feb. 17 meeting Joe Henry of Hardenbergh Insurance Group presented the annual BurlcoJif safety briefing on service animals and emotional support animals.
Henry explained that under the Americans with Disabilities Act a service animal is a dog trained to perform specific tasks directly related to a person’s disability; miniature horses are addressed separately in ADA guidance. He outlined typical tasks — guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting to seizures and calming people during panic or PTSD episodes — and noted handlers must keep animals under control and housebroken and are responsible for any damage the animal causes.
The presentation summarized legal protections: service-animal handlers are protected under the ADA and under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination; service animals are not considered pets and generally must be allowed in public places and workplaces. Henry also noted exceptions where an animal’s presence could be restricted, such as in sterile hospital environments, certain zoo enclosures or areas where an animal would pose a direct threat or fundamentally alter the nature of the service.
Henry distinguished emotional support animals (ESAs) from service animals: ESAs provide comfort by their presence and do not have public-access rights under the ADA. Protections for ESAs are instead provided under the federal Fair Housing Act, and there is no statewide ESA registration in New Jersey; ESA letters are documents signed by licensed mental-health professionals and carry no automatic public-access authorization.
The Committee packet included slides summarizing ADA guidance, handler responsibilities and state references; the presentation cited online ADA resources and New Jersey civil-rights guidance for more information.
