Houston

Most countries only recognize service animals from approved programs. In those countries approved programs register their own dogs.

In the U.S. private trainers and owners are permitted to train service dogs in addition to programs. Registration is not required as a condition of public access. However, a business does have the right to ask what the dog is trained to do and to exclude any dog that disrupts business through inappropriate behavior or poses a direct threat to others. Legally, a service animal is one that is individually trained to perform tasks that mitigate the disability of legally disabled owner. It is the severity of the impairment, not the diagnosis, which determines whether a person is legally disabled. For example, while many have vision impairments that require them to wear glasses, those impairments do not make them blind and do not make them disabled. Blindness is a disability, 20/40 vision is not.

The Registration Scam It wasn't long after the ADA went into effect that companies started popping up offering to register or certify your animal. Now please understand that we are not talking about trainers that teach dogs to perform tasks for the disabled. What we are talking about are companies that use official sounding names that in exchange for your money will certify or register your service dog. In exchange they often provide you with a registration number, certificate, patch and maybe a cheap laminated tag. Some shameless companies charge as much as $250 for "registration." These organizations have attempted to create a need for their services by trying to convince people that paying a fee for registering their animal as a service animal some how makes it official. An animal is a service animal ONLY if it meets the legal definition of a service animal, regardless of whether the owner has registration or certification papers.

Some groups place ads for their products through context sensitive ads, like GoogleAdSense. The owner of the site has no control over what ads are placed on their site. They simply agree to host the ads and Google's Ad software searches for customer pages with matching words in order to find a target audience.

There are no standards or procedures for certifying a service animal under federal law. Certification is not required as a condition of using an animal as a service animal. However, the person using the animal meets the legal (not medical) definition of "disability" and their dog is individually trained to perform tasks that mitigate the owner's disability. They also require sufficient training to behave appropriately in public (no barking, making unwanted contact with other members of the public, or disrupting business by misbehaving). Service animals who pose a direct threat to others by growling, lunging, or otherwise menacing people can be barred from public access. Animals with attack training can also be barred from any facility that bans weapons, concealed or otherwise.

Individual states, counties or cities may provide licenses in accordance with their own laws or ordinances. Service animals are not exempt from any licensing requirements of local authorities. If dogs residing inside the city limits are required to wear a city license tag, then this also applies to service dogs.

Some, but not all, localities do provide special licenses for service animals as a substitute for city licenses required of pet dogs. It is an individual choice whether the owner of a service animal gets the special license because by federal law it cannot be required. Simply apply with a program that trains service animals. All necessary paperwork is supplied with the animals they place.

You can find service dog programs in your area by consulting the lists of programs and trainers on Service Dog Central, under "how do I find a service dog?" or by consulting Assistance Dogs International. -------

1. Take U.S. 290 WEST, from Houston, to SH-6 NORTH to COLLEGE STATION and BRYAN; take the EXIT off of U.S. 290 to continue on SH-6 NORTH.
2. Take SH-6 NORTH to U.S. 190 WEST.
3. Continue on U.S. 190 WEST to Temple.