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Illness & disability
Service animals
Service animals do some of the things that people with disabilities cannot do for themselves. A service animal may:
- Guide people with visual impairments (for instance, a Seeing Eye® dog)
- Alert people with hearing problems to sounds
- Pull wheelchairs
- Carry and pick up things for people who have a hard time moving around
- Respond to medical crises, such as seizures caused by epilepsy
- Most service animals are dogs. But other animals also can be trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. For instance, miniature horses are trained to guide the blind and pull wheelchairs. Cats can be trained to pick up dropped items and alert people with hearing impairments to important noises.
Content last updated October 21, 2009
