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Service and Support Animals

UC Santa Cruz has a "no pet" policy. Exceptions are made for service animals as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act:

"Service animal means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.... Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors."

Requests for support animals (animals that individuals with disabilities utilize for emotional support, well-being, or comfort) are reviewed on a case-by-case basis in housing and employment situations only.

The campus policy on service or support animal may be found at:

UC Santa Cruz Service/Support Animal Policy - https://policy.ucsc.edu/policies/student-affairs/dss-0003.html 

UC Santa Cruz Non-Research Animal Policy - http://policy.ucsc.edu/policies/BAS/BAS-002.html

A one-page document providing guidance about service and support animals, as well as a poster, are available here for downloading.