Service Animals
Florida Vacation Homes welcome guests with disabilities and their service animals to enter any areas where members of the public can go – which include our vacation rentals. No documentation is required to make a reservation with a Service Animal.
Service Animals, as defined by §413.08, Fla. Stat. (2022) & including animals in training, require a written request at the time of reservation.
Please note a person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents herself or himself as being qualified to use an emotional support or service animal commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in 775.082-083, Fla Stat. (2022).
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a service animal is a dog that has been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.”
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 mental disability. These animals are sometimes referred to as “seeing eye” dogs, helper animals, service animals, or support animals. Examples of tasks a service animal may perform 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
- Helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional Support Animals require a written request at the time of reservation which includes official documentation of a diagnosed disability, unless readily apparent.
These are animals that are used as part of medical treatment and/or therapy to assist with an individual’s daily functional tasks but are not limited to a specific type of animal and are not required to be trained to assist an individual in a particular task. These animals are sometimes referred to as comfort animals or therapy animals.
