Mississippi Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under the Mississippi Support Animal Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities can bring service animals to all "public accommodations," including motels, restaurants, theaters, and schools. Although Mississippi law is more limited than the ADA, public accommodations in Mississippi must comply with both state and federal law.

Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered by state and federal disability laws and which animals qualify as service animals. We'll also look at how these laws treat emotional support animals (ESAs).

What Counts as a Public Accommodation in Mississippi?

The Mississippi Support Animal Law protects the rights of people with some types of disabilities to bring their support animals with them:

• on all modes of transportation, such as buses and taxis
• in all hotels, lodgings, and businesses open to the public and that sell goods or services, and
• all places to which the general public is invited.

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. (42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).) It includes all the above places, plus also lists:

• libraries and museums
• restaurants and bars
• parks and zoos, and
• educational institutions and daycares.

Private clubs. Private clubs aren't covered by the ADA if they:

• weren't created to avoid compliance with civil rights laws
• charge substantial membership fees
• are member-controlled nonprofit groups, and
• are highly selective about membership.

But a private club that makes facilities available to nonmembers is subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules in those facilities.

Churches, synagogues, and mosques. The ADA doesn't treat religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques, as public accommodations. They're exempt from the law like some private clubs, even for religious organizations that offer secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children who aren't members. (28 C.F. R. § 36.102(e).)

Which Counts as a Service Animal in Mississippi?

Mississippi's Support Animal Act defines a support animal as a dog or miniature horse specifically trained for the benefit of someone with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. As long as the work or tasks performed are directly related to the person's disability, the law has a broad definition of support animal. (Miss. Code § 43-6-153.)

The state law lists several types of work that a support animal could be trained to do, including the following.

However, the Mississippi Support Animal Act only gives people with some types of disabilities to the right to bring their service animals to public accommodations, including those who are:

• blind
• deaf or hard of hearing
• mobility impaired, or
• diagnosed with PTSD and a veteran of the armed services. (Miss. Code § 43-6-155.)

So Mississippi law doesn't protect your right to have a service animal that assists with other physical disabilities or with mental disabilities (except military veterans with PTSD). Fortunately, the ADA's public accommodations law is much more inclusive. All public accommodations in Mississippi must also comply with the federal law.

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with any physical or mental disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) Besides hearing dogs and guide dogs ("seeing-eye" dogs), the following types of service dogs must also be admitted to public accommodations under the ADA:

• psychiatric service animals, which help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities
• seizure alert dogs, which let their handlers know of impending seizures, and might also guard their handlers during seizure activity, and
• allergen alert dogs, which let their handlers know of foods or other substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

A miniature horse can sometimes also qualify as a service animal under the ADA. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(9).)

How the Laws in Mississippi Treat Emotional Support Animals

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they aren't individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.

Although the Mississippi Support Animal Act includes "comfort animals" in its definition of support animals, the state law doesn't give you the right to have an emotional support animal in public accommodations. And under the ADA, owners of public accommodations in Mississippi aren't required to admit ESAs, only service animals.

However, federal housing law does treat emotional support animals as assistance animals that landlords may need to accommodate (more on this below).

Rules for Your Service Animal in Mississippi

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 you only whether it's a service animal and what tasks it performs for you. (28 CFR 36.302(c)(6).)

The ADA 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. However, you might have to pay for any damage your animal causes.

Mississippi law protects the rights of people who are totally or partially blind or deaf to be accompanied by a specially trained guide dog or hearing dog on a blaze orange leash without paying extra for the animal. But under the law, you are liable for any damage your animal does to the facility or premises. (Miss. Code § 43-6-7.)

Under the ADA, a public accommodation can exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, for example, the facility can kick the dog out). The facility can also exclude your animal if it isn't housebroken or if it's out of control and you can't get it under control. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(2).)

Service Animals and ESAs in Mississippi Housing

Mississippi doesn't have a state disability housing rights law, but the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects the housing rights of people with disabilities.

The FHA prohibits discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service dogs and assistance animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord can't charge you extra for having an assistance animal (although you might be responsible for damage your animal causes). The FHA covers both service animals and ESAs.

FHA rules for emotional support animals. The federal Fair Housing Act requires housing facilities to allow an emotional support animal if having one is necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. Under the FHA, assistance animals include service dogs and emotional support animals like cats and birds.

To fall under state and federal housing rights protections, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, to qualify as an assistance animal, your animal must either perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

What questions can a landlord ask? Unlike the ADA's public accommodations protections, the FHA and allows a landlord to ask for certification of your need for the assistance animal, but only if it's not apparent. So, your landlord can ask for a letter from your health care provider verifying your need for an emotional support rabbit, but is not allowed to ask a blind tenant to prove the need for a seeing-eye dog. A physician or other medical professional can provide the required ESA letter.

Can the landlord charge more for an ESA? Under the FHA, a housing provider can't charge you extra for having an emotional support animal. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your assistance animal.

For more guidance on service animals and ESAs in housing, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animals page at HUD.gov.