53G-9-211. Therapy animal handling -- Policy.
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Effective 5/3/2023
53G-9-211. Therapy animal handling -- Policy.
(1)As used in this section:
(a)"Animal-assisted intervention" means an intervention designed to promote improvement in an individual's physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functioning through interactions with a specially trained animal.
(b)"Local education agency" means a school district or charter school.
(i)"Therapy animal" means an animal that:
(A)provides affection and comfort to an individual for emotional support;
(B)is accompanied by a therapy animal handler; and
(C)is trained to provide animal-assisted intervention.
(ii)"Therapy animal" does not include a service animal or support animal as those terms are defined in Section 26B-6-801 .
(d)"Therapy animal handler" means an individual who is trained to handle a therapy animal for animal-assisted interventions.
(a)If a school within a local education agency provides animal-assisted interventions through therapy animals, the local education agency shall adopt a policy for proper handling of a therapy animal on school grounds.
(b)The policy described in Subsection (2)(a) shall include:
(i)local or national certification or registration requirements for a therapy animal and therapy animal handler;
(ii)guidelines for when a therapy animal and therapy animal handler are allowed on school grounds;
(iii)notice requirements for parents, students, and school faculty and staff regarding the use of a therapy animal on school grounds; and
(iv)guidelines to prevent students and staff who have an animal allergy or are uncomfortable around animals from interacting with a therapy animal on school grounds.
(3)This section does not require a school to allow the use of a therapy animal.
Amended by Chapter 328 , 2023 General Session