Maine Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under Maine law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities have the right to fair and equal access to all public accommodations. That includes the right to have your service animal with you at any place open to the public.

Federal and state housing laws also protect your right to have an assistance animal in your home—even in rental units that don't allow pets.

Below, we explain which animals qualify as service animals and assistance animals in Maine and where service animals must be allowed. We'll also review whether state and federal laws extend to emotional support animals (ESAs).

What Counts as a Service Animal in Maine?

In Maine, a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or tasks to benefit someone with a disability, whether the disability is:

• intellectual
• mental
• psychiatric
• sensory, or
• physical.

This definition applies only to the public accommodations laws in Maine's Human Rights Act and the state's White Cane Law. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 4553 9-E.)

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (and sometimes a miniature horse) trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. The tasks or work the animal does must be directly related to the person's disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.)

Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under Maine state law and the ADA include:

• hearing dogs, which alert their handlers to important sounds, such as alarms, doorbells, and other signals
• guide dogs, which help those who are blind or visually impaired navigate safely
• psychiatric service animals, which help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by, for example, interrupting self-harming behaviors, reminding handlers to take medication, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks
• seizure alert animals, which let their handlers know of impending seizures and might also guard their handlers during seizure activity, and
• allergen alert animals, which let their handlers know of foods or other substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

Are Emotional Support Animals Covered Under Maine Law?

An emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to someone with a psychiatric or emotional disability. But unlike service dogs, ESAs aren't individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, nor are they always dogs.

Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, neither federal nor state public accommodations laws cover emotional support animals. But other state and federal housing laws may protect your right to have an ESA in your home. (See below.)

What Are the Rules for Public Accommodations and Service Animals in Maine?

Under Maine's Human Rights Act, the state's White Cane Law, and the ADA, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals in public places, such as restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, and other public spaces.

Maine's White Cane Law extends these protections to service dogs in training (SDITs) when accompanying a specially trained service dog trainer. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 17 § 1312 4.)

But neither the ADA nor Maine law requires owners of public accommodations to admit emotional support animals or pets—only service animals and SDITs as defined above.

Maine's law and the ADA offer similar protections, and public accommodations must comply with both state and federal law. The ADA and Maine law prohibit 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 might have to pay for damage your animal causes. In fact, under state law, you're liable for damage done to the premises or facilities by your service animal. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 4592 8.)

Under the ADA and Maine's public accommodations law, a public accommodation can exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out.

Your animal can also be excluded if it's not housebroken, or it's out of control and you can't or won't take action to control it. But you're still entitled to enter the public accommodation, even if your service animal isn't allowed in. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(3).)

Under the ADA, staff at a public accommodation can't question you about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. (28 C.F.R. § 35.136(f).) If it isn't apparent what your service dog does, the establishment can ask you only whether it is a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.

How Are Public Accommodations Defined in Maine?

The Maine Human Rights Act includes a list of 14 types of facilities that qualify as public accommodations. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 4553 8.) The state law protects your right to be accompanied by your service animal in all the following places:

• inns, motels, and other lodgings, whether for transients or otherwise
• restaurants, bars, soda fountains, ice cream parlors, and other places that serve drinks or food
• movie theaters, playhouses, stadiums, concert halls, and other places of entertainment
• auditoriums, lecture halls, convention centers, and other places where the public gathers
• shopping centers, bakeries, clothing stores, grocery stores, gas stations, and any other places that sell or rent goods
• professional offices (of a lawyer or accountant, for example), laundromats, dry cleaners, banks, hospitals, and any other places that provide services
• all forms of public transportation, including terminals, depots, and stations
• museums, galleries, libraries, and other places of display or collection
• parks, zoos, swimming pools, gyms, golf courses, country clubs, seashore accommodations, and any other places for recreation, health, or exercise
• all educational institutions, from nursery schools to graduate schools
• public elevators for all buildings with at least two tenants (or one landlord and one tenant)
• town halls, courthouses, municipal buildings, and all other local or state government institutions, and
• all other establishments that cater to, provide goods or services to, or accept patronage from the general public.

Maine's White Cane Law also protects your right to have your service animal with you on all public conveyances or modes of transportation and any place to which the general public is invited. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 1312 3.)

The ADA sets out a similarly long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations which must allow you to bring your service animal.

Are Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs Allowed in Maine Housing?

In Maine, state and federal housing laws protect the rights of people with disabilities, including the right to have a service dog or assistance animal in your home if you need one.

Service Animals Under Maine's Fair Housing Law

The fair housing provisions of Maine's Human Rights Act prohibit housing discrimination based on disability. They require landlords, owners, and managers to allow tenants with physical or mental disabilities to be accompanied by their assistance animals. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 4582-A.)

The definition of assistance animals is broader than the definition of service animals. It includes not only service animals individually trained to assist those with disabilities but also any animal needed to mitigate the effects of a physical or mental disability. (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, § 4553 1-H.) For your assistance animal to qualify, a licensed professional from the following list must certify your need for the animal:

• doctor
• psychiatrist
• physician's assistant
• nurse practitioner
• licensed social worker
• licensed professional counselor, or
• other licensed health professionals with knowledge of your disability-related need for the animal.

Federal Housing Law and Emotional Support Animals

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals or emotional support animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.

If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your assistance animal. And you can't be charged extra for having an assistance animal (although you might have to pay for damage your animal causes).

Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals if the animal is necessary for someone with a disability 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, your assistance animal must:

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

If your disability or your need for the assistance animal isn't apparent, the Fair Housing Act allows a landlord to ask for documentation, like a letter from your doctor. So you might have to show proof of your need for an emotional support animal, but a landlord can't ask a blind tenant for proof of the need for a guide dog.

When Can Housing Providers Reject Your Assistance Animal?

Both state and federal law allow housing providers to exclude your assistance animal if it poses a threat to others' health, safety, or property that can't be mitigated by a reasonable accommodation. A service or emotional support animal can also be excluded if it substantially interferes with others' reasonable enjoyment of the housing. However, exclusions must be based on the animal's conduct, not its breed or size.

(Get more information on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animal page at HUD.gov.)