28 CFR Part 35 Title II Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Preamble (published 2008)

Minimal protection.

In the Department's ADA Business Brief on Service Animals, which was published in 2002, the Department interpreted the minimal protection language in its definition of service animals within the context of a seizure (i.e., alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure).  Although the Department received comments urging it to eliminate the phrase "providing minimal protection" from its regulation, the Department continues to believe that the language serves the important function of excluding from coverage so-called "attack dogs" that pose a direct threat to others.