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Justice Dept. Sues University Over Its Decision to Ban a Student’s Therapy Dog

November 23, 2011, 4:25 pm

The U.S. Justice Department has sued the University of Nebraska at Kearney on behalf of a student who says the university refused to allow her to live in campus housing with a therapy dog, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit, which also names as defendants the university’s Board of Regents and several university employees, follows a complaint filed in September by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the complaint and lawsuit, the student, who is not named, says the dog helped her deal with depression and anxiety. The university, citing the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act, concluded the dog was a pet, not a service animal, such as a guide dog for the blind. The Justice Department’s decision to intervene suggests that, in its view, colleges must observe the broader requirements of the Fair Housing Act in such cases.

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  • v8573254

    I think EVERYONE should have a therapy cat.

  • jffoster

    And U Michigan students and faculty should have therapy wolverines, U of Wisconsin students can have therapy badgers, and Minnesota students therapy gophers.  

    But I hope they draw the line in Texas at therapy Longhorns.  That would be a bum steer. 

  • Guest

    If you’re mean to dogs and sad students you can’t win. The U of N should settle out of court.

  • jamesbuehner

    a therapy cat would be a cool cat

  • history_grrrl

    Every cat is a therapy cat!

  • 3224243

    My two therapy cats helped keep me sane during my job search this year.

  • jomthebomb

    Maybe all schools should require each student to have a therapy animal for finals week at least?

  • jffoster

    Yes. Owls.

  • 3224243
  • katisumas

    I am sorry to see  from the comments a total lack of ignorance about the role of therapy dogs, including for instance being able  to predict a seizure so that the human has some  time to seek a safe place before the seizure hits. 

    Dogs also can be trained to sense an oncoming panic attack which could  be alleviated by your dog knowing to nudge you out of the worst of it.  As a result, therapy dogs have been known to help avert suicide.  I  suspect that this is what this therapy dog’s job was. 

    Sadly, the ignorance of that university about the role of a  therapy dog is a reflection of the widespread ignorance of the nature of mental illness and the stygma that is still associated with it. 
    This even though one our of four Americans will experience a bout of mental illness at some point of their lives….. 

  • jsibelius

    The problem I see in the comments is not so much the role of service animals in general, but rather, a lack of understanding about mental health.  There’s a perception that a person can simply will themselves to just “get over it” with a mental health problem.  Therefore, traditional treatments, therapies, adaptive devices, and other accommodations in medicine are viewed as unnecessary when it’s “just a mental issue.”

  • jffoster

    It may be that, katisumas and jsibelius; we aren’t told in the original post.

    On the other hand, it may not and there may be no real medical diagnosis.  Or one that might not stand the light of a second or third opinion.  I know of a case where a senior professor has a “therapy dog” and is not subject to seizures but apparently uses it to work the system.

  • jsibelius

    So do you know what “therapy” the dog offers, or are you relying on office gossip to determine he’s working the system?

  • http://twitter.com/UWLSS L&S LSS

    Discussions of mobile technology in the classroom often present mobile devices as a potential distraction, or as a set of tools tools to facilitate interaction behind or around the normal flow of the class (e.g., the “back-channel”). As you show with your second and third examples (“Exploring the Space of Campus” and “Narrative and Mobile Devices”) mobile devices don’t have to be a distraction – instead, they can be thoughtfully integrated into the “front-channel” as well.

    We’re trying this approach with our recent mobile initiative – http://lss.wisc.edu/mobile – where we’re thinking of mobile technologies as tools that can assist with innovative task design, specifically in the areas of pair and group work.

    The goal is to explore how mobile technologies directly facilitate common classroom tasks, and allow instructors to explore new areas and opportunities in their task design.

    Thanks for the article!

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