Animals on Property

Animals on Manchester VA property
The staff at VA Manchester know how important service dogs are to the health and well-being of our Veterans with disabilities. Our goal is to partner with our Veterans to ensure that their visit meets and exceeds their expectations. Working together, we can provide a safe and healing environment for all Veterans and visitors.
Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. They are welcome on VA property! Emotional support animals provide therapeutic benefits through companionship and by being a calming presence. They are not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities. By law, these types of animals are NOT allowed in public places, including the VA.

We ask that you please help us by not bringing in any animals except trained service dogs.
The health and safety of our Veterans, their service dogs, and our staff is very important to us, so there are a few requests we have that will help ensure a positive experience for everyone:

Service dogs must:

• Be fully trained (service dogs in-training are not allowed)
• Be at least one year of age
• Be on a lease unless the Veteran is unable to hold the leash due to a disability or if the leash would interfere with the Service Dogs safe, effective performance of tasks
• Be well groomed and in good health
• Not bark, growl, or bite
• Not urinate or defecate inside
• Stay off furniture and people

If your service dog does not follow one of the rules above, staff will have to ask you to temporarily remove the dog from the facility. You may bring the dog back as soon as the dog is able to follow the above rules and have a worry-free visit!

Service dogs are an essential part of your care, and they are allowed in most areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go. There are just a few areas at the VA that are prohibited to service dogs:

• Areas where food is stored or prepared
• Areas where MRIs, X-Rays, or CT scans are performed
• Operating rooms
• Surgical areas
• Any other place where the presence of a service dog would pose a significant health risk to patients or staff, or would disrupt the treatment of patients.

While Veterans are at the VA, staff are not permitted to care for, supervise or assume responsibility for service dogs. In order to ensure the safety and comfort of the service dog, Veterans should have an alternate handler with them who can take over if needed.
Please “paws” before bringing pets to the VA! We don’t want to have to “bark” at you!
If you have questions about animals on VA property, contact Jacqui Dion, VIST Coordinator/Service Dog Champion, at .