Indoor Animal Policy

Tree Of Life Open Bible Church Animal Policy

I.             Overview

This policy outlines Tree of Life’s stance on animals brought onto Church property and wishing to gain access into the Church building. For more information about legal regulations and guidelines, please visit: https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-2010-requirements

II.             Service Animals

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines service animals as, “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.”  In addition to the provisions about service dogs, ADA regulations have a separate provision about miniature horses that have been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.

Tree of Life welcomes any person who may require this type of animal and will allow them and their service animal reasonable access into all generally accessible areas of the building as long as they conform to the following conditions:

-      The handler is always in control of their service animal.  Under the ADA, service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless the individual’s disability prevents using these devices or these devices interfere with the service animal’s safe, effective performance of tasks. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective controls.

-       The service animal must pose no direct threat to the health or safety of others. Allergies or fear of the animal will not be valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is allergic must spend time in the same room as a service animal, Tree of Life will attempt to make reasonable accommodations for both parties

-       Service animal MUST be housebroken.  Tree of Life does not have to provide care, food, or a special location for the service animal to relieve itself.  All required needs must be met by the service animal’s owner.

III.          Emotional Support Animals

Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.  Under this policy, Tree of Life will NOT allow emotional support animals or any other animal that does not fall under the ADA’s definition of a service animal in Section II to be brought into any area of the Church building without prior permission (see section VIII for the exemption process).

IV.         Enforcement

Any person wishing to bring an animal into Tree of Life’s building should be immediately directed to a Director or Board Member.  The Director or Board member will then verify that animal does meet the ADA’s definition of a service animal and will ask the following questions:

-       Is the animal required because of a disability?

-       What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?

The Director or Board Member CANNOT ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the animal, or ask that the animal demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.  If the Director or Board Member is satisfied that the animal does meet the requirements for a service animal, they will allow entry into the building and alert staff members that the individual and the animal have been cleared.

If any animal is deemed to not comply with the definition of a service animal or if at any time the conditions in Section II are not being followed, any Director or Board Member has the authority to inform the individual that they must remove the animal from the premises.  If the individual or animal continues to pose an issue, the Director or Board Member will warn the individual, but has the authority to contact the police if the need arises.  If an animal must be removed from the building, it’s owner is free to return later without the animal.

V.           Outside of the Building

All animals regardless of if they are a service animal or not are allowed outside the building of Tree of Life as long as they conform to the following conditions while on Tree of Life property:

-      The animal must be harnessed, leashed, tethered, held, or contained at all times.

-      The animal must pose no direct threat to the health or safety of others.

-      Any mess made by the animal is cleaned by the owner

If any of the above conditions are not met, a church Director or Board Member has the authority to tell the owner to remove the animal as described in Section IV.

VI.         Kitchen Areas and Kitchen Staff

Live animals will not be allowed within food preparation areas of the facility.  Any service animal as defined in Section II accompanying individuals in need shall be permitted outside of the kitchen areas, but will not be allowed to enter into the kitchen itself.  Any Tree of Life employee or volunteer staff while working in the kitchen areas shall not care for or handle any live animals.  

VII.       Police K9s

Police officers will be permitted to be accompanied by patrol dogs only when they in the facility on official police business. This includes but is not limited to: any search or investigation inside the building and preschool visitations scheduled through the police department.  Patrol dogs will be permitted to areas of the building where required by the police officer, except they will not be allowed to enter any food preparation or kitchen areas.

VIII.     Classroom Animals

At times there may be animals in Sprouts classrooms as part of the schooling experience.  These may include class pets or experiments.  These will be allowed entry into the building and be allowed to be kept there without requiring explicit permission as long as they meet the following requirements:

-      The animal must be contained at all times (i.e. in a bowl or aquarium)

-       The families of the children attending the classroom will be notified

-      The animal is being taken care of by the class and/or staff. 

Any animal not meeting these requirements would require permission as outlined in Section IX.

IX.         Other Exemptions

If any individual wishes to gain access to Tree of Life’s building with an animal not meeting the ADA’s definition of a service animal and for any reason not specified previously in this document, they must obtain written permission of the governing board no later than 24 hours ahead of the date they wish to attend.  If approached by a Director or Board Member as outlined in Section IV, they will need to present this written approval in order to be allowed access to the building.

If a church staff member wishes to allow or include animals in a hosted event, prior approval must be granted by the governing board ahead of the event.  If granted this permission, the staff member will be responsible for creating and posting clear signs stating that animals are allowed and/or will be present.