Virginia Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Both Virginia's disability rights law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect the right of people with disabilities to bring service animals to public places like stores, motels, restaurants, and theaters. All public places in Virginia must comply with both state and federal laws regarding service animals.

What kind of animal counts as a service animal in Virginia varies somewhat depending on whether you're applying state or federal laws. Typically, only certain trained dogs (and possibly miniature horses) are considered service animals. Not all emotional support animals will qualify as service animals that must be allowed into public places, but people with emotional support animals do have protections when it comes to housing access.

Virginia and Federal Definitions of "Service Animal"

The federal and state definitions of what constitutes a "service animal" are nearly identical. Like Virginia, the federal definition of a service animal is a dog that's individually trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for the benefit of a person with a disability. But unlike Virginia's law, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal in some cases under the ADA.

Service dogs must be trained in a task that's directly related to your disability. For example, seeing-eye dogs can help people who are blind cross busy streets, while hearing dogs can alert deaf people to sirens or fire alarms. Other tasks service dogs might do include pulling a wheelchair, retrieving items, alerting their owner to allergens in food, or getting help during a seizure episode.

What Places Can You Bring Your Service Dog in Virginia?

Both Virginia's disability rights law and the ADA require all places open to the general public—known as public accommodations—to allow entry to disabled people and their service animals. Public accommodations include a wide variety of commonly used spaces, such as:

There's no state or federal law that requires any public accommodation in Virginia to allow entry to any non-service animal, including emotional support animals or pets. Currently, Virginia considers only dogs to be service animals, so you won't have a right to bring your cat, parakeet, or ferret into a public place, no matter how helpful the animal is.

What You Need to Know About Having a Service Animal in Public

Although Virginia doesn't allow local governments to charge you a licensing fee for your service dog, VA Code § 51.5-44(E) does require that your service dog is identified as a service dog in particular ways:

• Guide dogs for the blind or visually impaired must be in a harness.
• Hearing dogs for the deaf or hard of hearing must be on a "blaze orange" (or "safety orange") leash.
• Any other type of service dog must be in a harness, backpack, or vest that identifies it as a trained service dog.

When you bring your service animal into a public establishment, the ADA limits the kind of legal "push-back" you can get about your disability. Owners, managers, and employees can't ask you what your disabling condition is, and they can't demand to see certification or other proof that your animal is a trained service dog. They may simply ask you whether or not your dog is a service animal and, if so, what tasks it performs for you.

No Extra Charge for Service Dogs

Both the ADA and Virginia 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 these laws do allow public accommodations to demand payment for any damage your animal causes.

Service Dogs Must Remain Under Your Control

The ADA requires that service animals remain under the control of their handlers while in a public accommodation. "Control" can mean that the service dog is harnessed, leashed, or otherwise tethered to their owner, unless their owner's disability prevents them from using these physical devices. In that case, the owner must maintain control through verbal commands or other signals.

If your service dog becomes out of control—meaning it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others—and you don't take any actions to control it, you can be asked to remove your dog from the premises. So if your dog is urinating all over a mattress store, for example, or aggressively barking at other customers in a restaurant, an employee of the establishment can ask you to take your dog outside. You'll still have the opportunity to stay without your animal.

What Does Virginia Law Say About Emotional Support Animals?

Emotional support animals provide companionship, comfort, and a sense of safety to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Because they aren't trained to perform a specific task for a person with a disability, however, they have less legal protection than service dogs do. Virginia specifically excludes emotional support animals from its definition of a service dog, and they don't qualify as service animals under federal law, so you aren't entitled to have your support animal in a public accommodation, no matter how many therapeutic benefits they provide.

However, both the federal Fair Housing Act and Virginia state law prohibit discrimination against those who use service animals in rental housing accommodations. Virginia law states that disabled people with any "assistance animal" will not be denied the "equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling and any common areas of the premises." (VA Code § 36-96.3:1.)

In practice, this means that a "no pets" provision in a residential lease won't apply to your emotional support animal. And your landlord isn't allowed to charge you extra for having a support animal—although you can be required to pay for damage your animal causes.

But your landlord can ask you to provide verification of your need for a support animal if your disability isn't "readily apparent" or the landlord isn't already aware of your disabling condition. A blind person with a guide dog, for example, doesn't need to bring the results of an eye exam, but somebody with anxiety who has an emotional support iguana may need to provide a letter from their psychologist confirming the need for the assistance animal.

More Information for Disabled Virginians

You can learn more about your options as a disabled tenant in our article on the housing rights of people with disabilities. If you're looking for employment or currently working, see our article on when you can bring your service dog or emotional support animal to your job. And if you're no longer able to work full-time despite assistance from your service animal, you may want to find out if you're eligible to receive Social Security disability benefits.