Wisconsin Laws on Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals

Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Wisconsin's equal rights law, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals in most places that are open to the public, such as restaurants, hotels, stores, and theaters.

Read on to learn which places are considered public accommodations in Wisconsin, which are exempt, and which animals qualify as service animals in Wisconsin. We'll also review when state and federal laws cover emotional support animals (ESAs).

What Counts as a Public Accommodation in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin's equal rights law gives people with disabilities the right to bring their service animals into all public accommodations. The law calls for a broad interpretation of the term "public accommodations." It includes all:

• places of business
• places of recreation
• hotels and lodgings
• taverns and restaurants
• barbers, manicurists, cosmetologists, and other aestheticians
• nursing homes, clinics, and hospitals
• cemeteries, and
• other places that make goods, services, amusement, or other accommodations available—either free or for a fee. (Wis. Stat § 106.52(1)(e).)

Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is equally comprehensive. (42 U.S.C. § 12181(7).) But religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, aren't considered public accommodations under the ADA, nor are certain private clubs. (28 C.F. R. § 36.102(e).)

Are Churches and Private Clubs Required to Allow Service Animals?

Religious organizations are exempt from the ADA's public accommodation rules, including the service animal rules. This is true even when they offer secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children not affiliated with the religious institution.

Private clubs aren't considered public accommodations under the ADA, as long as the club:

• is a member-controlled nonprofit group that's highly selective
• charges substantial membership fees, and
• wasn't created to avoid compliance with civil rights laws.

But a private club that makes facilities available to nonmembers (like an event space nonmembers can rent) is subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules in those facilities.

Wisconsin law has a similar exemption for private, nonprofit clubs and organizations. If they serve only members and invited guests, they're not covered by the state public accommodations law. (Wis. Stat. § 106.52(1)(e) 2.)

Which Animals Count as Service Animals in Wisconsin?

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. The tasks or work the animal does must be directly related to the person's disability. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.) In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal.

Following are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA.

Wisconsin's equal rights law defines a service animal as a guide dog, signal dog, or other animal that is individually trained or being trained to perform tasks for someone with a disability, including:

• guiding someone with impaired vision
• alerting someone with a hearing impairment to intruders or other sounds
• providing minimal protection or rescue work
• pulling a wheelchair, or
• fetching dropped items.

Wisconsin's public accommodations law doesn't mention service animals for people with psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities. But it doesn't exclude them either. (Wis. Stat. § 106.52(1)(fm).)

Are Emotional Support Animals Covered by Wisconsin's Disability Laws?

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are animals whose presence provides a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to someone with a psychiatric or emotional disability. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they're not individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities.

Because ESAs require no training to fulfill their owners' needs, they don't meet the definition of service animals under the ADA or Wisconsin's equal rights law. That means public accommodations don't have to admit your emotional support animal. But Wisconsin housing laws provide protection for people with disabilities who need emotional support animals. (More on this below.)

Rules for Having Service Animals and ESAs in Public

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).)

Wisconsin law has a similar prohibition but it makes an exception for service animals in training. Public accommodations can ask a service animal trainer to show certification or other credentials issued by a service animal training school. And they don't have to admit a service animal in training unless it's wearing a harness or leash and a special cape. (Wis. Stat. § 106.52(3)(am).)

The ADA and Wisconsin 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.

Wisconsin law specifies that public accommodations must modify their policies and rules if necessary to make sure:

• service animals don't have to be separated from their handlers
• service animals and their handlers can be in every part of the accommodation that is otherwise open to the public, and
• service animals and their handlers aren't separated or segregated from other patrons in the establishment.

The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a threat to health and safety (like a dog that's aggressively barking and snapping at other customers). Your animal can also be excluded if it's not housebroken or if it's out of control and you can't control it. (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)(2).)

Under Wisconsin law, a public accommodation also doesn't have to admit your service animal if doing so would fundamentally change the nature of the accommodation or jeopardize its safe operation.

Neither the ADA nor Wisconsin's public accommodation laws require businesses and other public places to admit your emotional support animal. These laws also don't cover pets.

Emotional Support Animals and Service Dogs in Wisconsin Housing

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against people with disabilities, including those who use service animals and emotional support animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.

The Fair Housing Act requires housing facilities to allow "assistance animals," which includes service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for someone with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, to qualify for FHA protection, the animal must:

• work
• perform tasks or services, or
• alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.

Wisconsin law also prohibits housing discrimination against those with disabilities. The law requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when necessary, to ensure equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing unless it would impose an undue hardship on the owner of the housing. (Wis. Stat. § 106.50(2r).)

Wisconsin's fair housing law protects your right to have a service dog or emotional support animal if you have a disability-related need for the animal—even in properties that don't allow pets. Wisconsin specifically extends this protection to people with disabilities who have emotional support animals—as long as there's a disability-related need for the animal. (Wis. Stat. § 106.50(2r)(br).)

Can the Landlord Charge More for an ESA?

Under the FHA, your landlord can't charge 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. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animals page at HUD.gov.)

In addition, Wisconsin's state law prohibits housing providers from charging you extra because you have an assistance animal, but you're responsible for cleaning up after your animal and must pay for any damage it causes. (Wis. Stat. § 106.50(2r)(bg).)

What Questions Can a Landlord Ask About Your Assistance Animal?

Both the FHA and Wisconsin's fair housing law allow housing providers to ask for documentation of your disability or your disability-related need for the animal—but only if one or both aren't apparent. So, your landlord can't ask a blind tenant to document the need for a guide dog but could ask a tenant with a mental disability to show proof of that disability and the need for a service dog or an emotional support animal.

(Learn more about housing rights for people with disabilities.)