service animals

Via Church prohibits having a pet in controlled buildings and premises, with the exception of service animals for a person with disabilities.

Service Animals

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is defined as “any animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals to an impending seizure or protecting individuals during one, and alerting individuals who are hearing impaired to intruders, or pulling a wheelchair and fetching dropped items.” In compliance with the ADA, service animals are welcome on property and may attend any worship service, class, meeting or other event. There may be exceptions to certain areas. 

Emotional Support Animals

Via Church prohibits animals functioning as Emotional Support Animals on church property except upon a locally licensed professional therapist’s written recommendation having been submitted, reviewed and accepted by Via Church staff. 

Animal Behavior Expectation

Reasonable behavior is expected from service animals while on Via Church property. The owners of disruptive and aggressive service animals may be asked to remove them from our campus. If the improper behavior happens repeatedly, the owner may be asked not to bring the service animal into any facility until the owner takes significant steps to mitigate the behavior.