UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Assistance Dogs
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is an international treaty that protects the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. It serves as the legal foundation in many countries for granting full access rights to assistance dogs.

• Equal Access – Persons with disabilities have the right to enter all public spaces and access services with their assistance dog.
• Non-Discrimination – Denying entry to an assistance dog in a public facility is considered discrimination based on disability.
• Inclusion – Governments, businesses, and institutions are required to make reasonable accommodations to enable access with an assistance dog.
• Awareness – States that have ratified the Convention must promote public understanding of the rights of persons with disabilities, including the right to be accompanied by an assistance dog.

Where the CRPD Applies
The CRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) applies in all countries that have signed and ratified the treaty.

Global Scope

• Adopted by the United Nations on 13 December 2006.
• Signed by over 190 countries, with the vast majority also having ratified it.
• Any country that ratifies the CRPD is legally obligated to incorporate its provisions into national legislation.

For the Kingdom of the Netherlands

• The CRPD applies to the European part of the Kingdom.
• Caribbean part of the Kingdom has not yet ratified the CRPD.
• For assistance dogs, this means that equal access and non-discrimination in all public spaces are not yet mandatory in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. We have compiled a list that provides an overview by location that soon will be published.

Privacy Protection
When a person identifies their dog as a service animal, staff can only ask:

• Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Staff are not permitted to:

• Request documentation proving that a dog is registered, licensed, or certified as a service animal.
• Require the dog to demonstrate its trained task(s) or ask about the nature of the handler’s disability.

While not required by law, some service animals may wear identifying vests and many handlers use registration ID cards or tags to make public interactions smoother and to help others recognize the dog’s working status. The presence of a vest does not in itself confirm that the dog is a service animal. To be considered a service animal, the dog must be individually trained to perform specific tasks that assist a person with a disability.

Important to Note

• The CRPD is internationally binding, but the practical implementation depends on how each country incorporates it into domestic law.
• Some nations have specific assistance dog regulations, while others rely solely on the general equality and non-discrimination principles outlined in the treaty.
• The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) applies only in the United States and its territories.