The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or miniature horse individually trained to to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. 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.

The U.S. Department of Justice has defined service animals as dogs or miniature horses that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog or miniature horse has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Dogs or miniature horses whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In addition to the provisions about service dogs, the Department’s revised ADA regulations have a new, separate provision about miniature horses that have been trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.

View a copy of the revised Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.

These service animals are allowed on Alcatraz Island and on Pier 33 Alcatraz Landing. Pets or companion animals are not allowed in either location.