No Animals Allowed - Food Facility

The Los Angeles County Health Department, which is the agent for California State Health Department and regulates the rules that apply to Certified Farmers' Markets, does not allow Animals into food facilities. A California Certified Farmers' Market is designated as a food facility. The designation of the Food Facility area is defined as any area within ten feet of a food stand at the market. The exception to this rule is a self-contained food truck (such as the coffee truck), which is considered a mobile restaurant, and not a food stand.

The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (DOJ) has an overriding exception for Service Animals trained to perform a task directly related to a person's disability.

The market operator is responsible to enforce the State of California laws, in this case the Health and Safety Code. In doing so, the Market Manager or designated assistant may ask a person with an animal one of two permitted questions to determine if the animal is a pet or legitimate Service Animal under the DOJ rules. These questions are not allowed to ask anything about the person's disability, rather only about the service functionality of the animal. These questions are designed to not violate the person's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rights. The DOJ has clearly given two examples of what may be asked:

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
   
   The correct answer is either Yes or No. Refusing to answer is ample cause to be asked to leave the market.
2. What work or task (service) has the dog been trained to perform?
   
   Without violating the person's HIPAA rights, the correct answer needs to only phrase any way of saying the dog was trained for a "Medical Alert". In answering this way, the exact condition is not being shared, thereby communicating that the dog is a Service Animal.

There are a few exceptions to these basic rules: if the animal is not house broken; not tethered by a leash 6 feet or less in length; is barking and/or disrupting the market, or if public health and/or safety is perceived to be in danger (e.g., the dog puts his nose in the food). In such cases, the person with the Service Animal will be asked leave the food facility area. Ref: LA County animal regulations..

Dogs or other animals on leashes may be tied to one of several outlying trees, lamp poles or other areas where they respect the ten foot rule above. They may also accompany the person to the food truck and/or the seating area around it.

Please respect these rules and remember that the Market Manager sees over one thousand people each week at the market, and can't be expected to remember all the people that bring their animals to the market. So if you are asked from week to week about your dog, please don't get upset if you need to remind the manager about your animal.

Finally, the Venice Farmers' Market does not take any responsibility for the handling or care of your animal. Thank you for your cooperation, pleasant shopping.