Service Animals

In October 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a policy memorandum regarding the use of service animals by persons with disabilities in national parks. The revised policy aligns the NPS policy with the standards established by the Department of Justice and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dogs classified as service animals are individually trained to perform a specific task that assists a person with a disability. Service dogs are legally permitted anywhere that visitors can go. They must be allowed wherever visitors are allowed.

Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.

Emotional support, therapy, and companion animals are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), they have not been trained to provide a task directly related to a disability. Emotional support animals are considered to be a pet.

Service dogs-in-training are not service animals under ADA, but are considered pets. Pets must abide by the Individual Park Pet Regulations.

For the safety and well-being of your service animal, please keep in mind:

• Rules: Service animals visiting the Washington Monument must be kept under control at all times. In the Washington Monument, it can get crowded waiting for security, in the elevator, and on the observation and exhibit levels. Please be aware of these tight spaces.
• Water: Please ask a ranger if your service animal needs water and they can provide water from the sink inside.
• Weather and Site Conditions: The granite surface surrounding the monument can be slick in wet conditions. Furthermore, wind conditions can get particularly harsh on the exposed hill the monument sits on. Please be aware of these potential obstacles.
• Animal Waste: All animal waste should be immediately collected and disposed of in a trash can.
• Wildlife: Stinging insects may be attracted to trash cans outside the monument. Please be aware of possible interactions with your service animal.

 

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