Nebraska Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under Nebraska's civil rights law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals in public places, including restaurants, hotel rooms, stores, theaters, and other places open to the public.

Nebraska law limits coverage to only service dogs that assist people with physical disabilities. In contrast, the ADA covers animals that assist those with physical or mental disabilities. But public accommodations in Nebraska must comply with both state and federal laws.

Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you need to know about having your service animal in public. We'll also look at how state and federal housing laws treat service dogs and emotional support animals.

Which Service Animals Are Covered in Nebraska?

Under Nebraska's civil rights law, people with physical disabilities are entitled to be accompanied by their service animals in public accommodations. Nebraska law defines service animals the same way the ADA did on January 1, 2008, as guide dogs, signal dogs (hearing dogs), mobility assistance dogs, or other animals trained to do tasks or work to benefit someone with a disability. (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 49-801(19).) The state civil rights law limits its public accommodation protections to those who use a service animal for physical disabilities. The Nebraska law doesn't cover service animals used by those with mental disabilities (like psychiatric service dogs).

Under the ADA, on the other hand, a service animal is a dog that's trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of someone with a physical or mental disability. (A miniature horse can also sometimes qualify as a service animal.) So public places in Nebraska have to allow service animals that help someone with a mental disability.

In addition to signal dogs for the hearing impaired and guide dogs for the visually impaired, examples of other types of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:

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

Do Emotional Support Animals Count as Service Animals in Nebraska?

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are animals whose presence provides 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 ADA's definition of service animals. And ESAs aren't specially trained to assist someone with a visual or hearing impairment or another physical disability, so they also don't meet Nebraska's definition of service animals.

So you aren't entitled to have your support animal in a public place, no matter how many therapeutic benefits they provide. However, state and federal housing rights laws do offer some protection for ESAs in your home. (See below).

What Counts as a Public Accommodation in Nebraska?

Under Nebraska law, you must be allowed to bring your service animals into any public accommodation. (Neb. Rev. Stat. 20-127.) The law's definition of public accommodations includes the following:

• all hotels and other lodging places
• all places of public amusement, resort, or accommodation
• all common carriers, types of transportation, and public conveyances (including buses, taxis, trains, boats, and so on), and
• all places to which the public is invited.

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is equally broad. But the federal law makes some exceptions.

Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, aren't considered public accommodations under the ADA. The law exempts religious entities even if they offer secular services—like a day-care center that admits children who aren't affiliated with the religious institution.

Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and weren't created to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) also aren't covered by the ADA. Except if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, those facilities are subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules.

Rules for Your Service Animal in Public Places in Nebraska

Under the ADA, a public accommodation can't ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. Nor can a public accommodation ask about your disability. (28 CFR § 35.136(f).) If it's not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask you only two things:

• whether it is a service animal, and
• what tasks it performs for you.

The ADA and Nebraska 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 any damage your animal causes.

The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. So, 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 get it under control.

But, you're still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal isn't allowed in for one of the above reasons. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(3).)

Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals in Nebraska Housing

Nebraska's civil rights law gives those who use a service animal the right to equal, full access to housing accommodations. Landlords and others who charge for housing can't require you to pay extra or provide an additional deposit for your service animal. But Nebraska's housing discrimination law only covers service dogs trained to assist the blind or visually impaired, deaf or hearing impaired, or someone with another physical disability. The state housing law doesn't cover those who use a service animal for a mental disability. (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 20-131.02.)

Fortunately, the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use assistance animals for physical or mental disabilities. And the Fair Housing Act's definition of "assistance animal" includes service dogs and emotional support animals. To qualify as an assistance animal under the FHA, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability. To fall under this provision, you must have:

• a disability, and
• a disability-related need for the animal.

The FHA applies to most housing that's for sale, rent, or lease. So, nearly all Nebraska landlords must comply with this federal law.

What Does the FHA Say About ESAs?

The FHA says that you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities if you have a disability. The FHA protects your right to keep an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation, if it's necessary for you to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your assistance animal.

Can a Landlord Ask About or Charge for an ESA?

The Fair Housing Act allows your landlord to require documentation of your need for the service dog or ESA, but only if your disability or need for the animal isn't apparent. So, a landlord can't ask a blind person who uses a cane to prove the need for a guide dog but can ask someone with a mental disability like PTSD about the need for an emotional support cat or psychiatric service dog.

Under the Fair Housing Act, you can't be charged extra for having an assistance animal (although you might have to pay for damage your animal causes).

See the Department of Housing and Urban Development for more information about assistance animals in housing.