Mar 11, 2022  VP MS Camp

*Service/Emotional Support, animals at camp?

Mar 11, 2022, Friday evening as registration was closing the registrar called us to talk about a new situation. A camper had brought up an animal insisting that it was a service animal. Josiah and I went up to the Chapel to talk with the program person. We told them that we would accept a service animal if there was proper identification and we need to have copies of those documents on file. We let them know that we would likely not accept an emotional support animal, it would have to be picked up by parents or the animal and the camper would have to go home.  Both program people that we talked to assured us that it is a service animal that they will obtain the legal documents and have them emailed to our office at camp. We did not speak to the camper because we did not want to cause any anxiety for them with this issue. I researched all the articles I could pull up from camping websites.  The most helpful was from ACA (American Camping Association).  I will attach a summary of that article at the end if this entry.  This is something that we need to talk about as a board.  I know that there may be insurance concerns.  The ADA, (Americans with Disabilities Act) requires us to accommodate people with registered “Service Animals”.  On the other hand, in the case of people presenting with an Emotional Support Animal, things are unclear.   Dorothy was very helpful in helping us understand that situation better.  She said that the camper in question has been here before.  They have multiple anxiety and psychological challenges.  “In past years they had a hard time coping with these things while up at camp” Dorthy said; “but this year they were in a much better state of mind, happy and at peace with the presence of their dog.”  Dorothy recommended that we allow a service animal if we could get a note from the campers Dr. or Psychologist.  There are other concerns that we need to talk about.  What if other campers are allergic to the service animal?  What if the presence of a dog causes anxiety for another camper?   

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSA1D1_5IKJajL4vKMBDcJbrmibl4fd_gfo7246HHPeFLAPOCM1Kqp1Z-D3sae95w/pub

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