Austin Kidney Associates (“AKA”) strives to ensure all patients, visitors, and members of the public have equal access to the services we provide. AKA complies with federal civil rights laws under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and provides reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities and service animals.  The Americans with Disabilities Act is a set of laws that protect the right of everyone to receive equal service regardless of disability. These laws specify that service animals are permitted to accompany people with disabilities in all areas where members of the public are allowed to go.  The ADA defines service animals as an animal that is individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding the blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Service animals are working animals not pets. Under the ADA, emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion dogs are not considered service dogs because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task.  AKA welcomes Service Animals, but not pets, in all clinic spaces accessible to our patients.  A person with a disability will not be asked to remove his/her Service Animal from the premises unless: (1) the animal is out of control and the animal's owner does not take effective action to control it (for example, a dog that barks repeatedly) or (2) the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.  In the event a service animal is out of control and the handler cannot take effective action to control it, AKA will give the person with the disability the option to obtain services without having the animal on the premises.