Service Animals at UCCR Facilities

We Welcome Service Animals and Follow ADA Guidelines.

See detailed information below.

  • Emotional Support Dogs

    If your animal is a therapy or emotional support animal, please get in touch with the Site Director at the facility you plan to attend in advance.

    We are not required to accept therapy and emotional support animals but do our best to make accommodations when possible; the determination is made on a case-by-case basis.

  • Service Dogs

    Please let the UCCR Site Director know in advance that a service dog will be accompanying the guest.

    Upon arrival, the handler and their animal should introduce themselves to the UCCR Site Director.

    The handler will receive instructions to benefit the handler, the animal, and the other guests.

  • Questions for Handlers

    According to ADA guidelines, the Site Director may ask two questions.

    Is the animal a service animal required because of a disability?

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

    Read below for more detailed information, or print out this handy PDF.

Must Read Information

  • The service animal must always be under the handler's control. It must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered and should not be allowed to bark repeatedly.

  • If a service animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, staff may request that the animal be removed from the premises.

  • The animal must be housebroken. If not, the handler may be asked to remove it from the premises.

  • Service animals may enter the dining hall on a leash but must remain on the floor, not furniture. They must also stay on a leash on the floor while accompanying the handler through a buffet line or salad bar.

  • The dog may not be carried while the handler is at the buffet or salad bar unless the disability requires proximity to the handler’s face (diabetes, for example).

  • The UCCR staff is not expected to feed or clean up after a service animal. The handler is expected to feed and water their service animal but not in the dining facility.

  • The handler is expected to provide appropriate baggies to pick up their animal’s excrement and dispose of it in proper refuse containers. The handler should take the animal to relieve itself and where outdoor animal drinking bowls may be located.

Service animals are welcome at UCCR camps, conferences, and retreat centers across the USA as long as they are properly behaved and don't threaten others.