Alaska Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

The state of Alaska makes it a crime to prevent someone with a disability from being accompanied by or receiving assistance from a certified service animal in a public place, including motels, restaurants, theaters, and more.

Alaska's Human Rights Law defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity or a condition that might require the use of a prosthesis, special mobility equipment, or a service animal. (Alaska Stat. § 18.80.300(14).)

In addition, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows people with disabilities to bring service animals to all public accommodations. Public accommodations in Alaska must comply with both state and federal law.

Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you'll need to follow with your service animal. We'll also look at how state and federal laws in Alaska treat emotional support animals (ESAs).

Which Animals Count as Service Animals in Alaska?

Alaska's Human Rights Law doesn't specify which animals can be counted as service animals. But the state's criminal statutes—which make it illegal to prevent someone with a disability from being accompanied or assisted by a certified service animal—do provide a definition. Under this law, a certified service animal is an animal trained to assist someone with a disability and certified by a school or training facility for service animals to have completed such training. (Alaska Stat. § 11.76.130.)

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) The tasks or work the animal does must be directly related to the person's disability, such as:

• alerting a handler of an impending seizure
• reminding handlers to take medication, or
• helping those who are visually impaired to navigate safely.

In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(9).)

The ADA also covers psychiatric service animals, which can help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by interrupting self-harming behaviors, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks.

Alaska Law and Emotional Support Animals in Public Places

Neither the ADA nor Alaska law protects your right to have an emotional support animal (ESA) in public places. ESAs are animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they're not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, so they don't meet the state or ADA definition of service animals.

Under the ADA and Alaska law, owners of public accommodations, like grocery stores and movie theaters, aren't required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. But there are laws that protect your right to have an ESA in your home. (See below.)

Alaska Public Accommodations Defined

Alaska's Human Rights Law defines public accommodations as places that cater to the public or offer goods, services, or facilities to the general public. (Alaska Stat. § 18.80.300(16).) The law includes a list of places that qualify, such as:

• restaurants
• hotels, motels, and inns
• trailer parks, resorts, and campgrounds
• barber shops and beauty parlors
• skating rinks, golf courses, and swimming pools, and
• all other public amusement and business establishments.

The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as places of public accommodation too. Under this federal law, you can bring your service animal to all the following places:

• public transportation, including terminals, depots, and stations
• bakeries, grocery stores, and other retail stores
• laundromats, gas stations, funeral parlors, and other service establishment
• libraries, museums, and educational institutions, and
• social service centers, like senior centers, homeless shelters, and food banks. (42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).)

Under the ADA, religious organizations aren't considered public accommodations. And private clubs are exempt from the public accommodation rules except in areas open to the general public. (28 C.F. R. § 36.102(e).)

Rules for Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals in Alaska

Under the ADA, a public accommodation can't ask you about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. If it isn't apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask only whether your animal is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. (28 CFR 36.302(c)(6).)

Alaska's criminal law applies only to "certified" service animals. But it doesn't specify whether you must provide certification or proof, like using a special collar or leash, to show that your animal is a certified service animal. State law also doesn't say whether your animal must remain by your side when in public.

The state law makes it a crime to restrict your access to a public accommodation or charge extra because you have a service animal. But under this law, you're financially responsible for any property damaged by your animal. (Alaska Stat. § 11.76.130(a)-(b).)

The ADA also prohibits public accommodations from charging a special admission fee or requiring you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. But you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes if the establishment routinely charges others for damages.

Under Alaska law and the ADA, public accommodations aren't required to admit your emotional support animal. And the ADA allows your service animal to be excluded if it poses a direct threat to health and safety—like a dog that's aggressively barking and snapping at other customers. Your animal can also be excluded if:

• it isn't housebroken, or
• it's out of control and you're unable or unwilling to effectively control it.

Even if your service animal isn't allowed in, you still have the right to enter the public accommodation, make use of the facilities, and purchase goods or services. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(3).)

Assistance Animals, Service Dogs, and ESAs in Alaska Housing

Alaska's Human Rights law prohibits housing discrimination against tenants with disabilities. Under this state law, that includes anyone who has a condition that requires the use of a service animal.

Federal housing rights law prohibits discrimination in housing against people with disabilities, including those who use "assistance animals." You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.

Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), housing facilities must allow both service dogs and emotional support animals, if a tenant with a disability needs one to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, to qualify, the animal must:

• perform tasks or services, or
• alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

If you meet these criteria, any "no pets" provision in your lease or rental agreement doesn't apply to your service animal or ESA. And your landlord can't charge you extra for having an assistance animal, but you might have to pay for damage your animal causes. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animals page at HUD.gov.)

Federal housing law does allow a housing provider to ask for documentation of your disability or your disability-related need for the animal—but only if it's not apparent. So, under this federal law, a landlord can't ask a blind tenant to prove the need for a guide dog but could ask that tenant to document the need for an emotional support rabbit.

But Alaska law bars housing providers from asking about your disability. The ban covers verbal inquiries and application questions too. (Alaska Stat. § 18.80.240(3).) And your landlord is required to follow both laws—whichever is more protective of your rights.