Table 2.

An overview of the implications of our proposed definitions for various regions of the world.

Region	Key Points
Africa	Inconsistent uptake of legal standardization throughout continent; IAHAIO, AAII, and SCAS beginning to operate in Africa, and globally accepted standards/definitions are provided; Our proposed definitions could be a useful guide for a developing industry.
Asia	Assistance dogs present in many countries, but with restrictions on which disabilities are supported (e.g., for Japan, guide, hearing, and mobility dogs; for South Korea, guide and hearing dogs; and Hong Kong and Singapore, guide dogs); In India, “service dogs” and “assistance dogs” both refer to our definition of “assistance animal”, but they are rare; In most parts of Asia, “therapy animal” may mean our definition of the term or our definition of “educational/school support” or “visiting/visitation” animal; In Japan, animal specialists working in animal-assisted programs, rather than human services or healthcare professionals; adoption of our definitions may promote participation of human specialists in animal-assisted programs; No known animal-based supports in Indonesia; one known guide dog in Malaysia.
Australia/New Zealand	In Australia, “assistance animals” are defined in legislation; the definition accords with our recommended definition; In New Zealand, “disability assist dog” is recognized in legislation; Emotional support animals not formally recognized; The term “therapy animal” used to describe our definition of “therapy animal”, but also our definition of “educational/school support” or “visiting/visitation” animal.
Europe	Variation between countries regarding terminology and standards; European Committee for Standardization working to establish standards for assistance dogs; their “assistance dog” agrees with our definition of “assistance animal”; The term “therapy animal” is used to describe our definition of “therapy animal”, but also our definition of “visiting/visitation” animal.
North America	In the United States (US), “service dog” is used consistently in legislation, although State of California uses “assistance animal”; accords with our definition of “assistance animal”; One use of term “assistance animal” in federal US legislation, but it refers to service dogs and emotional support animals; it does not agree with our definition of “assistance animal”; May be difficult to phase out “service animal” in US; In Canada, “service animals”, in provincial laws, are similar to “service dogs” in the US, but may be referred to as “service dog”, “guide dog”, “service animal”, and “assist animal”; In Canada, “police service dog” describes dogs working in the military, but it is not known whether this causes confusion around service dogs for disability; The term “therapy animal” used to describe our definition of “therapy animal”, but also our definition of “visiting/visitation” animal.
South America	Many countries refer to “assistance animal” in legislation, rather than “service animal”; Some countries have limits on disability types supported by assistance animals (e.g., in Peru and Brazil, only guide dogs are recognized in legislation); Some civic organizations are members of IAHAIO and adopt their terminology; The term “therapy animal” is used to describe our definition of “therapy animal”, but also our definition of “visiting/visitation” animal; No provision for emotional support animals.