Vermont Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under Vermont's public accommodations law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities can bring service animals to all public places, including stores, businesses, motels, restaurants, theaters, schools, and more. This article will explain:

• which public accommodations the laws in Vermont cover
• which animals qualify as service animals, and
• some rules you'll need to follow with your service animal.

We'll also discuss when the law protects your right to have an emotional support animal.

What Counts as a Service Dog in Vermont and Under the ADA?

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that's trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. Besides hearing dogs and seeing-eye dogs (guide dogs), service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations (places) under the ADA include:

• 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 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).

Vermont's public accommodations law doesn't include a definition of service animals, but it's intended to be consistent with the ADA. (Vt. Stat. tit. 9, § 4500.) The state law does require public accommodations to allow people with disabilities to have service animals. And Vermont's public accommodations law, unlike the ADA, also extends protection to service animals in training. ((Vt. Stat. tit. 9, § 4502.)

Public accommodations in Vermont must comply with both state and federal law.

How Vermont Law Treats 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. 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 definition of service animals.

Because ESAs don't qualify as service animals, Vermont state law and the ADA public accommodations law treat them the same as pets and don't require public accommodations to admit them. But federal housing laws do cover emotional support animals. (More on this below.)

Public Accommodations Defined in Vermont

Vermont defines public accommodations as schools, stores, restaurants, facilities, or establishments that offer to the general public:

• goods
• services
• facilities
• privileges
• advantages
• benefits, or
• accommodations.

Vermont's public accommodations law also applies to any person, organization, governmental entity, or other entity that operates, owns, or leases a public accommodation. (Vt. Stat. Tit 9, § 4501(1) and (8).)

The ADA defines public accommodations as facilities operated by private entities whose activities affect commerce. (28 C.F.R § 36.104.) The law sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you have the right to bring your service animal, including:

• hotels and other lodging establishments
• public transportation, including stations and depots
• restaurants and other places that serve food and drink
• any place of public gathering, exhibition, or entertainment
• places of exercise or recreation, such as gyms and parks, and
• social service centers, like senior centers and homeless shelters.

Rules for Service Animals in Public Places in Vermont

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 as a service animal. An establishment can only ask 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. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(8).) However, 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. For example, a facility can kick your dog out if it's aggressively barking and snapping at other customers. Your animal can also be excluded if it isn't housebroken, or if it is out of control and you're unable or unwilling to effectively control it. (28 CFR § 35.136(b).)

If your service animal is excluded, you're still entitled to enter the public accommodation and make purchases or use services.

Service Animals and ESAs in Vermont Housing

Vermont's unfair housing practices law prohibits landlords from discriminating in renting out property, based on the renter's use of specially trained animals. (Vt. Stat. Tit. 9, § 4503.) Landlords can't charge an additional security deposit for your service animal.

Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), people with disabilities must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing against those who use "assistance animals" and bars housing providers from charging you extra for having an assistance 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 your assistance animal.

Under the FHA, "assistance animals" includes both service dogs and emotional support animals. So, housing facilities must allow ESAs and service animals, if necessary for someone with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To qualify under this provision, you must have a disability, and your animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

The Fair Housing Act allows your landlord to ask you to document your disability and disability-related need for the animal—but only if it isn't apparent. So, a housing provider can't ask a blind person to prove the need for a guide dog but can ask you to show proof that you need a seizure alert animal.

(Learn more about assistance animals in housing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development at HUD.gov.)