Refusal of Service Animals - Legal?

flossymcfly

Hi all, 

We looked at booking a weekend away as a family in a privately let property in the north of Scotland. I noticed that it specified no pets allowed, so emailed the owner to establish the situation on service animals - grandfather is blind and has a guide dog. The owner got back to me to say that they do not accept animals of any kind, including service animals.

We will look elsewhere, that's not a problem, but it did get me wondering if this is legal or not? Maybe legal is a strong word, basically, are they allowed to say they won't accept service animals in their property?

Just to be clear, I don't intend on complaining or anything like that, it just got me wondering

oldernonethewiser

You might find this interesting

flossymcfly

Thanks, lots to consider there. As frustrating as it is, in this situation I would rather just book somewhere else rather than push the owners on the legality of their decision, no point staying somewhere where you're clearly not wanted!

Despite saying I didn't want to complain, reading that article has got me quite annoyed, time for a cup of tea and to calm down I think 

marcia_

I wouldn't want to stay there either but would definitely be complaining 

MalMonroe

I would also be complaining. And reporting them. And also mentioning this on social media so that others can choose not to stay there too.

sheramber

contact RNIB

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2023-01-30/bridgwater-guide-dog-owner-refused-entry-to-restaurant

Maybe send the cottage owner a link to the article.

flossymcfly

Thanks everyone. I sent them an email to make them aware of the legislation and the fact that individuals don't actually have to make them aware if they are travelling with a service animal. They just came back to thank me for letting them know, whether they take any notice or not is on their heads.

The search continues for a place to stay

TELLIT01

If the owners of the property don't even have to be informed of a service dog being in there it could create problems for them if they advertise the property as 'pet free'.  Anybody booking with pet allergies could then be at risk.  I'm not saying the property owner should be allowed to ban service dogs, but they really do need to know so that they can consider a deep clean.

twopenny

Yes I was thinking that if they say they are pet free and another person is booking happily although they are alergic there's a problem there too.
They could probably do better to state that they are pet free to ensure alergies are catered for.
Paying for a deep clean because of one customer v another is hard. Not sure what the legislation is with regards 'rights' of one person over anothers. It's something that is tried in the courts with no real clear outcome.
I think you did the best you can in this situation.

katejo

twopenny said:

Yes I was thinking that if they say they are pet free and another person is booking happily although they are alergic there's a problem there too.
They could probably do better to state that they are pet free to ensure alergies are catered for.
Paying for a deep clean because of one customer v another is hard. Not sure what the legislation is with regards 'rights' of one person over anothers. It's something that is tried in the courts with no real clear outcome.
I think you did the best you can in this situation.

Taxis aren't allowed to refuse passengers with service dogs (though I know it does happen).

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

If the owners of the property don't even have to be informed of a service dog being in there it could create problems for them if they advertise the property as 'pet free'.  Anybody booking with pet allergies could then be at risk.  I'm not saying the property owner should be allowed to ban service dogs, but they really do need to know so that they can consider a deep clean.

A service animal isnt a pet and so technically it is "pet free" just not "animal free"

katejo said:

twopenny said:

Yes I was thinking that if they say they are pet free and another person is booking happily although they are alergic there's a problem there too.
They could probably do better to state that they are pet free to ensure alergies are catered for.
Paying for a deep clean because of one customer v another is hard. Not sure what the legislation is with regards 'rights' of one person over anothers. It's something that is tried in the courts with no real clear outcome.
I think you did the best you can in this situation.

Taxis aren't allowed to refuse passengers with service dogs (though I know it does happen).

I'd be interested in how far this has been tested... the law requires reasonable adjustments to be made and doesn't say with absolute certainty that a service animal must be allowed to go anywhere. It is clear you cannot make vague excuses like the next passenger may have allergies etc as an excuse but there'd have to be grounds if the driver was hyper allergic. Who'd want to go in the taxi where the driver is doing to go unconscious on route with anaphylactic shock?

Where the line is on what "reasonable" is becomes hard to define but all guidance to date is that the hurdle is higher than with other issues (we couldn't adapt one of our buildings for disabled customers because the frontage inc stairs were listed so couldn't build a ramp.