Gingerbread Cottage Sponsors

KBEC | Guild Mortgage | Pearman Oil & Gas | First Financial | Melissa McClain-Lewis

Fresh Market Coffee | Gateway Mortgage | Interspec Home Inspections

Community National Bank & Trust of Texas | Jerry & Shirley Chapman

Raquel & Mark Gundert | The Blackburns | Mosquito Shield of Waxahachie

Gingerbread Bungalow Sponsors

Underwood Homeplace | Kevin & Darlene Chester | Linebarger Law Firm

Jennifer Wartsbaugh, Edward Jones | John & Arlene Hamilton

The Cowpasture Insurance Agency | Jyro Signs | Pizazz Balloon Decor

Disclosure

Texas law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantee the right of a person who is blind or has other disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder, to be accompanied by a trained service animal in all public places such government buildings and public streets, sidewalks, and transportation to restaurants, hotels, stores, offices, places for recreation and amusement, and any other place where members of the public are customarily invited.

In Texas, the terms “assistance animal” and “service animal” mean “a canine that is specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability.” The tasks that the service animal may perform must be directly related to the owner’s disability and is actually used by the person with the disability.

If a person’s disability is not apparent, employees may ask the person only whether the service animal is required because the person has a disability and what type of task or work the animal is trained to perform.

Per Texas law and the ADA, an animal that provides only a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions is not considered a service animal but rather is an “emotional support animal”.   Under the ADA and Texas law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals into such locales, only service animals that fit the definitions above.  It is illegal under Texas law to represent that his or her animal is a specially trained service animal and is punishable by fine and community service