New Hampshire Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under New Hampshire's service animal law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities can bring service animals to all public "accommodations" (places), including stores, restaurants, and theaters. State and federal laws also protect your right to have your service animal in your home.

Below, we explain which animals qualify as service animals in New Hampshire and which public accommodations the law covers. We'll also discuss when federal law includes protection for emotional support animals.

What Are Service Animals in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire's service animal law and the ADA's public accommodations law are similar. And public accommodations in New Hampshire must comply with both laws.

How New Hampshire Law Defines Service Animal

In New Hampshire, a service animal is a dog trained to do tasks or work for the benefit of someone with a disability. No other type of animal is considered a service animal in New Hampshire. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 167-D:1 IV.) Under this law, anyone with any type of disability can have a service animal, whether the disability is:

• physical
• sensory (such as a visual or hearing impairment)
• intellectual
• psychiatric, or
• mental.

New Hampshire law also requires that the work or tasks your service animal performs must be directly related to your disability. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 167-D:2.) Under this law, a service dog can perform tasks including, but not limited to, the following:

• helping a blind person navigate
• retrieving items
• pulling a wheelchair
• alerting someone to the presence of allergens
• helping a person with a psychiatric disability by preventing or interrupting impulsive behaviors, or
• providing physical support to help someone with impaired mobility balance and remain stable.

Service Animals Under the ADA's Public Accommodations Law

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog trained to perform disability-related tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) In addition to guide dogs and hearing dogs, here are some other examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:

• psychiatric service animals, which can help their handlers manage mental and emotional disabilities by 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 substances that could be dangerous (such as peanuts).

Sometimes a miniature horse can qualify as a service animal under the ADA.

Are Emotional Support Animals Considered Service Animals in New Hampshire?

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are animals of any type that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although ESAs (and therapy dogs) often have therapeutic benefits, they don't meet the definition of service animals under the state law or ADA's public accommodation law because:

• ESAs aren't necessarily dogs (or miniature horses), and
• they're not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.

Neither New Hampshire's service animal law nor the ADA requires owners of public accommodations to allow you to have an emotional support animal—only a service animal. These laws also don't apply to pets. But New Hampshire's service animal law does cover service animals in training. (N.H. Rev. Stat § 167-D:6.)

What Counts as a Public Accommodation in New Hampshire?

In New Hampshire, you can bring your service dog into any public accommodation, which includes a long list of examples, including:

• hotels, motels, and trailer camps
• roadhouses, bars, and restaurants
• swimming pools, skating rinks, gymnasiums, fairs, and pool halls
• shops and stores, including grocery stores
• theaters, music halls, schools, and libraries
• public transportation, taxis, trains, buses, and their stations, and
• clinics and hospitals. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 167-D:1 III.)

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also quite broad. It includes:

• hotels and other lodging establishments
• public transportation and terminals, depots, and stations
• restaurants and other places that serve food and drink
• service, sales, or rental establishments
• places of entertainment, like theaters, auditoriums, sports stadiums, museums, and libraries
• recreational facilities, such as zoos, parks, gyms, and bowling alleys
• educational institutions, and
• social service centers, like senior centers, homeless shelters, and food banks. (42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).)

Are There Any Limitations on Your Service Animal in New Hampshire?

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 dog does, the establishment can ask you only whether your dog is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. (28 CFR § 35.136(f).)

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.

Under the ADA, public accommodations must admit service animals in any part of the establishment open to clients, customers, and members of the public. (28 CFR 36 § 302(c)(7).) But a public accommodation can exclude your service animal in the following circumstances:

• your animal poses a direct threat to health and safety (like a dog that's aggressively barking and snapping at other customers)
• your animal isn't housebroken, or
• your service animal is out of control, and you're unable or unwilling to get it under control.

(Learn about your ADA protections for having a service animal at work.)

Are Service Animals Allowed in New Hampshire Housing?

Both the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and New Hampshire law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service dogs. People with disabilities must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.

Under the FHA, your landlord can't charge you extra for having a service animal (although you might have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to service animals.

New Hampshire law protects your right to be accompanied by your service animal in any housing accommodation. But this protection is limited to service dogs. (N.H. Rev. Stat. § 167-D:4.)

Do Landlords Have to Allow Emotional Support Animals in New Hampshire?

Under the FHA, housing providers must allow "assistance animals" if someone with a disability needs one to fully enjoy their home. Assistance animals include service animals and emotional support animals. So your landlord has to accommodate your emotional support animal if it's reasonable under the circumstances to do so.

To fall under this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. So, to qualify, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

Unlike the ADA's public accommodations law, the FHA allows a landlord to ask for documentation of your disability or your need for a service dog or ESA—but only if it isn't apparent. That means a housing provider can't ask a blind tenant to prove the need for a guide dog, but could ask a person with PTSD to document the need for an ESA or psychiatric service dog.

(Get more information about ESAs and service animals in housing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development at HUD.gov.)