Legislation in United Kingdom
Summary
Assistance dogs are widely welcome by service providers such as restaurants, shops, hotels
and other public buildings as well as on public transport including in taxis.
Disabled people are protected in UK law by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
The DDA requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to policies
and one such adjustment could be to waive "no dogs" policies in respect of assistance dogs,
or amend a "no pets" policy so that assistance dogs are not refused access.
Because assistance dog owners rely on their dogs to get around safely, refusing to allow
an assistance dog on to the premises means refusing to provide a service to the owner
for a reason relating to their disability.
There is also European wide regulation protecting disabled people and people with reduced mobility
when travelling by air. This regulation requires airlines to accept 'recognised assistance dogs'
in the cabin of aircraft subject to animal movement regulations, free of charge.
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