These laws also require those who operate transportation services to allow service animals.
Michigan law and the ADA are similar in that both sets of law offer broad protections to people with disabilities who use service animals to assist them, including:
The ADA defines a service animal as a dog that’s individually 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.) Michigan's service animal law uses the same definition.
Like the federal law, in some cases, a miniature horse individually trained in this way will also qualify as a service animal under Michigan law. However, the state law recognizes that miniature horses might be more difficult to accommodate and allows public accommodations to consider these factors in determining whether the animal can be accommodated:
Michigan law also protects service animals in training when the animal’s raiser or trainer brings the animal to a public accommodation while training or socializing the animal. (Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.502c(3).)
Neither the ADA nor Michigan's service animal law includes what are often referred to as "emotional support animals" (ESAs). ESAs are animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to people with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Under the ADA and Michigan law, owners of public accommodations aren’t required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don't apply to pets.
Under both Michigan law and the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
The ADA establishes a civil right to bring your service animal into a public accommodation. Michigan's service animal law is included in its penal code, which makes it a misdemeanor to deny you and your service animal access to public accommodations.
If the tasks your service animal performs for you aren’t obvious, the public accommodation can ask you only two things:
The facility can’t do any of the following:
A public accommodation can ask that your service animal be removed from the premises if it isn't housebroken or it’s out of control and you’re not controlling it effectively. If this happens, you’re still entitled to use the accommodation without your service animal. You can’t be asked to remove your animal because others are allergic to or afraid of the animal.
Under the law, your service animal must be under your control and wearing a harness, leash, or other tether (unless your disability prevents you from using one or it would interfere with the animal's ability to do its job). A public accommodation can’t isolate you from other customers, treat you differently, or charge you a fee because you use a service animal.
Under the federal Fair Housing Act, landlords and housing facilities must allow “assistance animals,” if necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. Under the law, assistance animals include both service dogs and emotional support animals.
To be protected by this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify.
Under the law, having an assistance animal in your home is considered a reasonable accommodation. That means housing providers can’t refuse to allow your service animal or ESA because of “no-pet” policies. Your landlord also can’t ask you to pay a pet deposit or higher rent because of your assistance animal.
(Learn more about your housing rights at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, including how to file a complaint.)
Updated February 23, 2024
]]>Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you might need to follow with your service animal.
In Utah, people with disabilities can be accompanied by their qualified service animals (see below) in all of the following places:
Service animals must also be allowed in all places of amusement or resort to which the public is invited and all places of public accommodation, including hotels, motels, and lodges. (Utah Code § 26B-6-802(1-3).) The state law doesn't further define what counts as a public accommodation.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodation is very broad, including all of the above public places and more. But churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious entities aren’t considered public accommodations under the ADA. Religious entities are exempt even if they offer secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children who aren’t members of or affiliated with the religious institution. (42 U.S. Code § 12187.)
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) are also not covered by the ADA. But if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, those facilities are subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules.
Under Utah's disability rights law, public accommodations must allow you to be accompanied by your qualified service animal. A qualified service animal is a dog that has been trained or is being trained to do work or tasks for the benefit of someone with a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or mental disability. Animals other than dogs can’t be service animals under Utah law. (Utah Code § 26B-6-801(4).)
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s 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. Sometimes, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal under the ADA (but not Utah law).
Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither Utah law nor the ADA includes emotional support animals (ESAs) in the definition of service animals. Emotional support animals provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions.
Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they’re not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, so they don’t qualify as service animals. Utah’s public accommodation law specifically excludes animals used solely for emotional support, companionship, comfort, well-being, or crime deterrence.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation can’t question 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 your animal is a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
Utah law doesn’t require you to identify your service animals with a service animal vest, laminated card, or other form of identification. The ADA also doesn’t require service animals to wear identifying vests, harnesses, or tags.
The ADA and Utah 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. However, under Utah law, you can be held financially responsible for any damage your animal causes. (Utah Code § 26B-6-803(3).)
The ADA and Utah law both allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, 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 if it’s out of control and you’re unable to control your dog effectively.
Utah's disability rights act prohibits housing discrimination against those with disabilities, including those who use service animals. The state law also provides some protection for people with disabilities who have “support animals” as well.
Under the law, landlords can charge those with support animals a security deposit, but only if the landlord charges a similar deposit to those who don’t have service or support animals. (Utah Code § 26B-6-803(1)(b).) The state law does allow property owners to ask you to pay for any damage your animal does to the property.
The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619, 3631) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities and can’t be charged extra for having a service animal (although you’ll likely have to pay for any damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal.
Under the FHA, housing facilities and landlords must allow both service dogs and emotional support animals if having the animal is necessary for a person 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. And to qualify for protection, your animal perform some type of service or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's page on assistance animals.)
Updated February 23, 2024
]]>Connecticut's law is more limited than the ADA because it covers only dogs that assist those who are blind, deaf, or mobility-impaired. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-44.) The state law doesn't cover psychiatric service animals and service animals that assist those with other types of disabilities, as the ADA does. However, public accommodations in Connecticut must follow both state and federal law.
Read on to learn which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you might need to follow with your service animal.
Connecticut's public accommodations law protects only those who use service or assistance dogs for certain disabilities. Those who are blind must be allowed to bring their guide dogs into public accommodations. The law also protects those who are deaf or have a mobility impairment and use assistance dogs.
Connecticut law doesn’t protect people who use service dogs for other disabilities, such as psychiatric disabilities or intellectual disabilities. But the ADA does protect those with other disabilities, and public accommodations in Connecticut must comply with the ADA.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. (28 C.F.R. § 36.104.)
In addition to guide dogs and hearing dogs, here are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:
Neither Connecticut law nor the ADA covers "emotional support animals" (ESAs), which aren’t trained to perform specific tasks related to their handler’s disabilities. Instead, the presence of an ESA provides a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions.
Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, your right to bring your ESA into public places in Connecticut isn’t protected by state or federal law. Your right to bring your pet to such places also isn’t protected by law.
Connecticut's public accommodations law gives people who are blind or deaf or have mobility impairments the right to bring their service animals on all modes of public transportation (such as buses, trains, and ferries). If you have one of these disabilities, the law also protects your right to have your assistance animal with you in all places of public accommodation.
A public accommodation is any place that caters to or offers goods, services, or facilities to the general public. Under Connecticut law, public accommodations include the following:
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is equally broad. But the federal law provides a couple of exceptions, including:
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, aren’t considered public accommodations under the ADA. This exception applies even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they’re members of or affiliated with the religious institution.
The ADA also doesn’t cover private clubs that meet the following definition: member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and weren’t created to avoid compliance with civil rights laws. But if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it’s subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules in those facilities.
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. 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.
Connecticut law requires public accommodations to admit guide dogs and assistance dogs only if they’re wearing a harness or an orange-colored leash and collar. (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-44(a).) But the ADA doesn’t require your assistance animal to wear any type of harness or collar and leash that identifies it as a service dog.
The ADA and Connecticut 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. 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, the facility can kick the dog out if your dog is 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’re unable or unwilling to effectively control it. But you’re still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal isn’t allowed in.
Connecticut law prohibits housing discrimination, including discrimination against those with physical, mental, or learning disabilities. The state's fair housing law also requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations (for example, by changing their usual rules and policies) if it's necessary for a person with a disability to enjoy and use the property. The law doesn’t make any specific references to service animals.
Fortunately, the federal Fair Housing Act specifically prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities and can’t be charged extra for having a service animal—although you’ll likely have to pay for any damage your animal causes. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your guide or service dog.
Under the federal Fair Housing Act, housing providers must also allow emotional support animals when they are necessary for someone with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, both of the following must be true:
For instance, the animal must alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on assistance animals.)
Updated February 23, 2024
]]>Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered by South Carolina and federal law and which animals qualify as service animals. We’ll also go over some rules you might need to follow when you have your service animal in a public place.
Under South Carolina law, assistance dogs must be allowed in all of the following:
The ADA defines “public accommodations” very broadly as well. It includes:
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. Even religious entities that offer secular services, such as a daycare center that admits children who aren’t affiliated with the religious institution, don’t count as public accommodations under the ADA.
Private clubs also aren’t covered by the ADA, but only if they meet the specific criteria. To be exempt, the club must:
But a private club that makes facilities available to nonmembers is subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules in those facilities.
(Different federal laws protect your rights when you travel on commercial airlines. Learn more about flying with your service dog.)
Both the ADA and South Carolina law limit a service animal to a dog or miniature horse that’s trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. Under both laws, the tasks your service animal performs must be directly related to your disability.
The kinds of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
South Carolina's disability rights law defines a “service animal” similarly to the ADA. The law requires that a service animal be trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with one or more of the following types of disabilities:
Under “Layla’s Law,” which protects service animals and guide dogs from abuse in South Carolina, a service animal can be any of those described above. Additionally, this state law says the work a service animal does or tasks it performs can also include the following:
The state’s public accommodation law is a bit more vague. It gives "handicapped" people the right to bring trained “assistance dogs” into any public accommodation. But the law doesn’t specifically define the term “assistance dog.”
The South Carolina Code says elsewhere that wherever the term "handicapped" appears in the law, it should be interpreted to mean a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities—the same definition used by the ADA.
Neither the ADA nor South Carolina’s public accommodation law covers emotional support animals (ESAs). Emotional support animals provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions.
Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they aren’t individually trained to assist a person with a disability, so they don’t fit the definition of service animals under South Carolina law or the ADA. But the Fair Housing Act (see below) does provide protections for emotional support animals.
Learn more about the differences in how the law treats emotional support animals vs. psychiatric service dogs.
South Carolina law and the ADA 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.)
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. If what your service animal does isn’t apparent, the establishment can ask you only whether it’s a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, the facility can kick your dog out if the dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers.
Your animal can also be excluded if it’s not housebroken or it’s out of control, and you’re unable or unwilling to get it under control. And you’re still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal isn’t allowed in.
Like its public accommodations law, South Carolina's housing law protects "handicapped" people (those with a substantially limiting physical or mental impairment) who have “assistance dogs.” Landlords must allow you to have an assistance dog and can’t charge you an additional fee. But the law doesn't define “assistance dogs,” so it may not cover emotional support animals.
But the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals (sometimes referred to as “assistance animals”). And the FHA definition of assistance animals includes both service dogs and emotional support animals. Under the FHA:
The FHA requires housing facilities to allow “assistance animals” if the animal is necessary for someone with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. For your emotional support animal to fall under FHA protection, you must have both of the following:
In other words, to qualify, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on service animals.)
Updated July 3, 2023
]]>But the ADA and Massachusetts's disability rights law don’t apply to any of the following:
State and federal housing laws in Massachusetts do cover having an emotional support animal or a service dog in your home, however (more on this below).
This article will discuss which animals qualify as service animals in Massachusetts and which places must allow them. We’ll also look at the rules for having your service animal in public.
Massachusetts's disability rights law requires public accommodations to allow people who are blind, deaf, or otherwise have a physical disability to be accompanied by a "dog guide." The law doesn't explain what a dog guide is or what tasks it must be capable of.
But under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog (or sometimes a miniature horse) that’s been individually 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 a disability.
Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
The state law is more limited than the ADA, but public accommodations in Massachusetts must comply with both state and federal laws.
Neither the ADA nor Massachusetts's service animal law covers emotional support animals. ESAs are animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they’re not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. As a result, owners of public accommodations aren't required to admit emotional support animals—only service animals or dog guides.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is expansive. It includes:
The Massachusetts definition of public accommodation is similarly broad. Many categories of establishments are listed, as well as any place that’s open to and accepts or solicits the patronage of the public. The law also includes public conveyances like buses and taxis.
(Learn about the federal law that governs flying with your service animal or ESA.)
Under the ADA, when you bring your service animal to a public accommodation, you can’t be questioned about your disability or required to show 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.
The ADA and Massachusetts law both 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’ll probably have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
The ADA also allows for your service animal to be excluded from a public place if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, a facility can kick the dog out if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers. Your animal can also be excluded if it’s not housebroken or it’s out of control, and you’re unable to effectively control it.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Massachusetts law prohibit discrimination in rental housing against people with disabilities, including those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord can’t charge you extra for having an assistance animal.
In Massachusetts, the housing discrimination law specifically references only dog guides used by people who are blind or deaf. However, the law also requires landlords and other housing entities to make reasonable accommodations that allow people with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and common spaces. This could include accommodating your emotional support animal.
But either way, under the FHA, housing facilities must allow “assistance animals,” which includes both service dogs and ESAs, if having the animal is necessary for a person 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. To qualify, the animal must simply alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.
Under both state and federal housing laws, if your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal or ESA. But you could be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.
(For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on assistance animals.)
Updated June 30, 2023
]]>These laws also require those who operate transportation services to allow service animals. (Special rules apply to flying with your service animal.)
Under state and federal law, public accommodations can’t charge you an extra fee or expense for bringing your service animal. Under Illinois law, however, you must pay for any damage your animal causes.
Illinois law and the ADA differ in some ways, but public accommodations in Illinois must comply with both state and federal laws. And you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protection. Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals, which public accommodations must allow them, and more.
Several provisions of Illinois law describe the types of service animals that must be allowed in public accommodations. These laws differ in whether they cover service animals for physical disabilities only or whether service animals are covered for those with mental disabilities as well.
Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA defines a service animal as a dog that’s individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (A miniature horse can sometimes qualify as a service animal under the ADA.) The tasks or work your animal does must be directly related to your disability.
Illinois White Cane Law. The Illinois "White Cane" Law requires public facilities to allow the following service animals:
The law doesn't define these terms but says that these dogs must be in training or being specially trained to assist someone who fits one of the following descriptions:
Those with mental disabilities (who use psychiatric service animals, for example) appear to be excluded by the state’s White Cane Law.
Illinois Human Rights Act. The provision of the Illinois Human Rights Act that applies to housing has a similar limitation: It protects your right to have the following in rental housing:
Illinois Criminal Code. The Illinois Criminal Code, however, defines service animals more broadly to include dogs (and miniature horses) that are trained or in training as any of the following:
(Special rules apply to miniature horses, which might be more difficult to accommodate.)
The criminal code penalizes public accommodations that refuse to admit service animals.
None of the above definitions include "emotional support animals" (ESAs): animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they aren’t covered under the ADA or Illinois' laws because they aren’t trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers—meaning that, like pets, they don’t qualify as service animals.
So under the ADA and Illinois law, owners of public accommodations aren’t required to admit emotional support animals or pets—only service animals (including psychiatric service animals).
Under both Illinois law and the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
Illinois law also has a special provision that applies to public swimming facilities. Under state law, facilities must admit your service dog if it’s trained to perform a specific task or work in the water unless doing so would pose a direct threat to the health and safety of other patrons or the sanitary conditions or function of the facility. This provision doesn’t protect your right to have any other type of service animal at a swimming facility—only dogs.
A public accommodation isn’t required to allow you to have your service animal if the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. If, for example, your service dog is growling and lunging at other patrons, and you’re unable to stop the behavior, the dog might have to leave.
And note that if your service animal isn’t housebroken or is out of control (and you can’t or won’t get it under control), you can be asked to remove the animal.
Under the Illinois Human Rights Law, it’s illegal to refuse to sell or rent housing to someone with a physical disability (including blindness and hearing impairment) because that person has a guide dog, hearing dog, or other support dog. This provision applies only to those with physical disabilities.
But the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) is broader. Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow service animals and emotional support animals if having the animal is necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.
To fall under this provision, you must have both:
And to qualify for FHA protection, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.
Under the FHA, service animals and emotional support animals aren’t pets. That means “no pet” policies don’t apply to your service animal or ESA, and you don’t have to pay a pet deposit or higher rent to have one in your home. For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on service animals.
(Learn more about your housing rights as a disabled renter.)
Updated June 29, 2023
]]>Public accommodations in Arkansas must comply with both state and federal law. Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered and which animals qualify as service animals—including how the law treats emotional support animals. We’ll also review some rules you need to know when you have your service animal in public.
The ADA and Arkansas law define service animals similarly, but the ADA gives protections to more types of service animals.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that’s trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. The tasks or work your service animal does must be directly related to your disability. Service animals include guide dogs, hearing dogs, and these animals as well:
Arkansas state law limits the definition of service animals to dogs and defines service dogs the same as the ADA: dogs that are specially trained to do work or tasks for someone with a disability. For your service dog to qualify, the task(s) it performs must be directly related to the person's disability.
But the Arkansas law only applies to people with visual, hearing, or other physical disabilities. It appears that those whose service animals assist them with psychiatric or mental disabilities aren’t protected by state law. But remember that public places in Arkansas must also comply with the ADA, which does cover psychiatric service dogs and other service animals that assist those with mental, cognitive, or psychiatric disabilities.
Neither the ADA nor Arkansas's service animal law includes therapy dogs or emotional support animals (ESAs)—animals that provide a sense of safety or comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Because emotional support animals don’t qualify as service animals under the ADA or Arkansas law, the owners of public accommodations aren’t required to admit ESAs—only service animals. Service animals laws also don't apply to pets, and misrepresenting your pet as a service animal to get it into a public place that doesn’t allow pets could cost you—up to a $250 fine.
(Learn more about state penalties for service animal fraud.)
In Arkansas, you have the right to be accompanied by your service dog in or upon all public ways, public places, and other public accommodations, including:
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations which must admit your service animal. In addition to the places listed above, it includes:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation can’t question you about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. If it’s not 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.
The ADA and Arkansas law both prohibit public places from charging a special admission fee or requiring you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. However, Arkansas law requires you to pay for any damage your animal causes.
And the ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if:
But you’re still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal isn’t allowed in.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Arkansas law prohibit discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities with your service animal, and you can’t be charged extra for having a service animal (although you might have to pay for any damage your animal causes).
If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal.
Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow "assistance animals"—including both service dogs and emotional support animals—if necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, all of the following must be true:
As a result, many people with disabilities are allowed to have their emotional support animals in their rental homes according to the FHA, whether or not the rental allows pets.
Learn more about your housing rights as a disabled renter.
Updated June 28, 2023
]]>If you have disabilities, these laws also protect your right to bring your service animals into public buildings and outdoor spaces (like parks and sidewalks) and onto public transportation and common carriers (airplanes, ferries, and so on).
This article will discuss the following:
We’ll also look at some rules you need to know about having your service animal in public.
Under Indiana law, a service animal is an animal trained as:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s individually 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. A miniature horse can sometimes qualify as a service animal under the ADA.
Neither the ADA nor Indiana's service animal law includes pets or "emotional support animals” (ESAs). Emotional support animals provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions.
Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they’re not individually trained to perform specific tasks for a disabled person, so they don’t fit the state or ADA definition of “service animals.” Owners of public accommodations in Indiana are only required to allow you to bring your service animal. They don’t have to admit your ESA.
In Indiana, you have the right to bring your service animal to any public accommodation as defined by either state law or the ADA.
The ADA definition of public accommodation covers most public places. It includes:
Indiana law defines public accommodations more generally to include any establishment that caters to the public or offers the public the use or purchase of:
(Learn how the ADA protects your right to have your service animal at work.)
Under the ADA, a public accommodation can’t ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your animal's training or status. If it isn’t apparent what your service animal does, the establishment is allowed to ask you only two things:
Indiana law and the ADA 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 should expect to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public place if it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. For example, the facility can kick your dog out if the dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers.
Public accommodations can also exclude your service animal if it’s not housebroken or is out of control (and you can’t or won't take steps to control it).
Both Indiana and federal law protect you from discrimination in housing accommodations if you have a service animal. And federal housing laws protect your right to have an emotional support animal. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal or ESA.
Under state and federal laws, if you have a disability, you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. And the laws bar your landlord from charging you extra for having a service animal (although you’ll generally be expected to pay for any damage your animal causes).
Although Indiana law prohibits housing discrimination against anyone who has a physical disability, the law on service animals in housing offers you only limited protection. It applies only to guide dogs that assist someone with a disability to overcome that disability. The law doesn’t mention other types of service animals.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) offers more protection. It requires housing facilities to allow service dogs and emotional support animals—if the animal is necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. For your right to have your service animal or ESA to be protected under this provision, both of the following must be true:
In other words, to qualify for FHA protection, your animal must perform tasks or services for you or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.
(For more information, including how to file a complaint against a landlord, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistance animals page.)
Updated June 26, 2023
]]>You can also bring your service animal into public buildings and spaces and onto public transportation and common carriers like buses, ferries, and so on. (Learn about flying with a service animal under federal transportation laws.)
Alabama law isn’t as detailed as the ADA. But public accommodations in Alabama must comply with both state and federal laws. And your right to bring a service animal with you is protected by both laws. Keep reading to learn:
We’ll also look at how Alabama’s service animal laws treat emotional support animals (ESAs) and your rights under federal and state housing laws.
Under Alabama law and the ADA, a service animal is any dog individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. In addition, the ADA covers miniature horses that are individually trained.
To be covered under these laws, the tasks or work your service dog does must be directly related to your disability. Under these definitions, service dogs can include:
Psychiatric service dogs are also included under state and federal law (in 2011, Alabama expanded its service dog law beyond physical disabilities). Psychiatric service animals assist those with mental disabilities in any or all of the following ways:
Service animals can do various other tasks too—from alerting someone to potentially deadly allergens to tracking an autistic child who’s wandered away.
Neither the ADA nor Alabama's service animal law covers emotional support animals (ESAs). Emotional support animals provide a sense of safety, companionship, or comfort to those with emotional or psychiatric disabilities or conditions. Unlike psychiatric service dogs, ESAs aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for someone with a disability.
Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they don’t qualify as service animals under Alabama law or the ADA because they’re not individually trained. And so, the owners of public accommodations aren’t required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
Both Alabama law and the ADA require all public accommodations to allow you to have your service animal with you. But each law defines public accommodation somewhat differently.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
Alabama law defines public accommodations more generally to include the following:
But remember, you’re entitled to rely on whichever law offers the most protection.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation can’t ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your animal's training or status. If what your service animal does isn’t apparent, the establishment can ask you only two questions:
Both Alabama law and the ADA 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’ll likely have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public place if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, 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 take steps to control it).
Alabama is among the states where falsely claiming your pet is a service animal is a crime (a class C misdemeanor). Learn more about the growing problem of service animal fraud.
It’s against the law in Alabama to discriminate against anyone with a physical disability in leased or purchased housing accommodations. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. But Alabama's law on service animals in housing applies only to guide dogs that assist those who are totally or partially blind.
The state law bars your landlord from charging you extra for having a guide dog (although you can expect to pay for any damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your guide dog.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) offers you more protection. Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow “assistance animals,” which includes both service dogs and emotional support animals, if having the animal is 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. So to qualify for protection under the FHA, your service animal or ESA must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.
Under the FHA, service animals and emotional support animals aren’t considered pets, and you can’t be charged a pet deposit or higher rent or fees to have one. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on assistance animals.)
Updated June 26, 2023
]]>Public accommodations in Arizona must comply with both state and federal disability laws, and people with disabilities can rely on whichever law offers the most protection. Learn below which animals qualify as service animals in Arizona and which public accommodations must allow them.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a trained miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. All of the following types of service animals must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA, including:
How Arizona law defines a service animal: Under state law, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that’s trained (or is in the process of being trained) to perform work or tasks for someone with a physical or sensory disability (like blindness) or an intellectual, psychiatric, or other mental disability.
Arizona law requires that the work or tasks performed by your service animal be directly related to your disability. The state lists the tasks such an animal might perform, which include the following:
Definition of an emotional support animal: Neither the ADA nor Arizona's service animal law includes what some call therapy dogs or "emotional support animals" (ESAs). ESAs are animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions.
Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, emotional support animals and therapy dogs aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, so they aren’t considered service animals. Under the ADA and Arizona law, owners of public accommodations don’t have to allow you to have your emotional support animal. These laws only protect your right to have your service animal with you in public.
These state and federal public accommodation laws also don't apply to pets. Arizona law specifies that a business, including a public accommodation, can have a "no pets" policy as long as it’s not used to exclude service animals.
Arizona's service animal law protects your right to have your service animal in any “public place.” And the state law defines public place broadly, including any place to which the general public is invited, including:
The law applies to all public accommodations, whether it’s run by a public or private entity. Arizona law also protects your right to have your service animal with you when using all forms of transportation, specifically including the following:
Exception for zoos or animal parks under Arizona law: Under Arizona’s service animal law, special rules apply to zoos or wild animal parks. The law allows these establishments to bar service animals from areas where they might come into direct contact with the animals in the zoo or park—like a petting zoo.
If you can’t take your service animal into any area of the zoo or park, the establishment must provide—free of charge—a place for your service animal to wait while you visit the restricted area. The facility must meet all the following criteria. It must:
But service animals must be allowed in all areas where a physical barrier separates them from animals belonging to the zoo or park.
Public accommodations under the ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act defines public accommodations broadly. It includes:
Under the ADA and Arizona law, 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. If it isn’t apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask you only whether your animal is a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
And under state and federal laws, public accommodations in Arizona can’t charge you a special admission fee or require you to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. But the state law specifically states that you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA and Arizona law, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation or kicked out if:
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service dogs or animals. This means that your landlord can’t charge you extra for having a service animal (although you can be charged for damage your animal causes), and you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal.
The FHA also extends this protection to both service dogs and emotional support animals if having the ESA is 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 physical or mental disability and a disability-related need for the animal (for example, your cat alleviates the emotional effects of your disability).
(For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on assistance animals.)
Arizona's fair housing law doesn’t specifically mention service animals. But it does prohibit disability discrimination by those who sell or rent residential property. The state housing law also requires sellers or landlords to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. According to the Arizona Attorney General's fair housing page, that includes accommodating a disabled person with an assistive animal.
Learn more about how federal law protects your rights as a disabled renter.
Updated May 31, 2023
]]>In addition, under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities may bring service animals to all public accommodations. Public accommodations in Alaska must comply with both state and federal law. Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you may need to follow with your service animal.
Alaska’s Human Rights Law does not say which animals can count as service animals, but the state’s criminal statutes, which make it illegal to prevent someone with a disability from being accompanied or assisted by a certified service animal, does provide a definition. A certified service animal is an animal trained to assist someone with a disability and certified by a school or training facility for service animals to have completed such training.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been 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, such as:
In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. The ADA also covers 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 anxiety or panic attacks.
Neither the ADA nor Alaska law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Alaska law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
Alaska’s Human Rights Law defines public accommodations as places that offer goods, services, or facilities to, or that cater to, the general public. The law includes a list of places that qualify, such as:
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
Alaska’s criminal law applies only to “certified” service animals. However, the law doesn’t indicate whether the person using the animal must show certification or other proof.
The ADA and Alaska law both 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and you may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Alaska’s Human Rights law prohibits housing discrimination against those with disabilities and, as explained above, this includes those who have a condition requiring use of a service animal.
Finally, pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Read on to learn more about the kinds of public accommodations the laws cover and which animals qualify as service animals. We’ll also review some rules you’ll need to follow when you have your service animal in public, and how these laws treat emotional support animals (ESAs).
Both the ADA and the WLAD protect your right to bring your service animals into all places of public accommodation, resort, amusement, or assembly.
Washington's service animal law covers most public places, including those that offer things like:
WLAD also covers public places such as:
The ADA doesn’t regard religious entities as public accommodations, including:
The ADA excludes all religious entities—even those offering secular services, like a daycare center that admits children who aren’t affiliated with the religious institution. Washington's law against discrimination also makes exceptions for religious or sectarian entities, such as:
Private clubs also aren’t covered by the ADA, if they meet a strict definition as member-controlled nonprofit groups that:
But if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it’s subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules as to those particular facilities. Washington's law against discrimination also doesn’t cover private clubs, except in places where public use is permitted.
Washington's law against discrimination defines a service animal as a dog or miniature horse that’s been trained to assist or accommodate people with physical, sensory, or mental disabilities. Both service animals and dog guides—dogs that guide blind or visually impaired people or assist people who are hearing impaired—must be allowed in public accommodations.
Similarly, under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or sometimes a miniature horse) that’s been individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. The tasks or work your service animal does must be directly related to your disability.
Examples of service animals that must be allowed in public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Washington's equal rights law covers emotional support animals. ESAs often have therapeutic benefits for their owners, providing a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions just by being there. But they don’t qualify as service animals under the ADA or state law.
The key difference between service animals and ESAs in Washington comes down to training. Emotional support animals don’t fit the ADA’s definition of service animals because they aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities. And they don’t fit Washington’s law against discrimination, because they’re not trained to assist or accommodate someone with a disability.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation can question you about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your service animal's training or status. If it’s not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment can ask you only the following:
The ADA and Washington law both 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. However, you’ll likely 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 the health and safety of others. For example, if your dog barks aggressively and snaps at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out. Your animal can also be excluded if it isn’t housebroken, or if it’s out of control and you’re unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
Washington's law against discrimination prohibits landlords from discriminating against you if you have a disability and use a dog guide or service animal. Under state law, you must be allowed full enjoyment and access to the home with your service animal.
Similarly, the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against anyone who uses a service animal. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. And you can’t be charged extra for having a service animal (although you can be required to pay for damage your animal causes).
The FHA and Washington law don’t consider service animals to be pets. So, if your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your service animal. The same is true for pet deposits.
The federal Fair Housing Act goes further than the ADA or Washington’s discrimination law. Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow you to have an emotional support animal, if the animal is necessary for you to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.
But for your ESA to fall under this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the emotional support animal must alleviate the emotional effects of your disability (or work or perform tasks or services for you) in order to qualify.
Learn more about your rights as a disabled renter.
Updated May 22, 2023
]]>Public accommodations in Oregon must comply with both state and federal law. Read on to learn:
We’ll also look at how state and federal laws treat emotional support animals (ESAs) in Oregon.
In Oregon, you can bring your assistance animal into any place of public accommodation. The definitions of public accommodation under state and federal law differ a bit.
Oregon state law defines public accommodations as places and services that offer accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges to the public in the form of:
The definition also includes any government-owned place open to the public and services offered to the public by any governmental body.
For example, under Oregon law, many places that don’t usually admit pets, like restaurants and hospitals, fall within this definition and must accept your assistance animal. But Oregon law specifically excludes state hospitals, private clubs, and certain correctional facilities from having to allow assistance animals.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. It includes:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s been individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. Oregon law uses the same definition but uses the term “assistance animals” rather than service animals. (In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal under the ADA, but not Oregon law.)
Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions are often referred to as emotional support animals. An ESA can be a dog or any other animal and requires no training to provide therapeutic benefits to its owner.
But because these animals aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for a disabled person, the ADA doesn’t cover emotional support animals in public accommodations. Oregon law also excludes ESAs from its protections for “assistance animals.” So, the owners of public accommodations in Oregon aren’t required to admit emotional support animals—only service animals.
Under the ADA and Oregon law, a public accommodation can’t question you about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your service animal's training or status. If what your service animal does isn’t apparent, the establishment can ask you only whether it’s a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Oregon law both 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.
Under the ADA, there are times when your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation, like if:
Under these laws, you can be held responsible for any damage your service animal causes.
Although the ADA doesn’t cover housing rights, the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination based on disability—it protects the rights of people with disabilities to have service animals and emotional support animals in most housing accommodations. The FHA only exempts the following types of housing from having to allow emotional support animals:
Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals if the animal is 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 both:
In other words, your animal must alleviate the emotional effects of your disability or work or perform tasks or services for you to qualify.
Under the FHA, your landlord can’t charge you extra for having a service animal or ESA (although you’ll still likely 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 emotional support animal or service dog.
If your landlord has a no-pets policy, you can be asked to provide reliable documentation of your disability and the relationship between your disability and your need to have your service animal or ESA in your home. This documentation can be provided by your doctor or another medical professional.
But your landlord can’t ask you for documentation if your disability and need for a service dog or emotional support animal is readily apparent or the landlord already knows about them. If, for example, you’re blind and use a guide dog for navigation, your landlord probably can't request documentation.
(For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on service animals in housing.)
Updated May 10, 2023
]]>Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals in Maryland and which public accommodations are covered. You’ll also learn some rules you need to know when you have your service animal in a public place.
The ADA and Maryland law protect your right to have a service animal in public accommodations. But each law defines “service animal” a bit differently. If you’re disabled, you have the right to rely on whichever law offers the most protection.
Maryland's service animal law applies to guide dogs, signal dogs, and other animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. The tasks a service animal might be trained to do include things like:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog trained to perform disability-related tasks for someone with a physical or mental disability. In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Emotional support animals (ESAs) aren’t covered by either public accommodation law. Since both Maryland law and the ADA only cover animals trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities, neither law protects your right to have an emotional support animal in public accommodations.
Even though the presence of an ESA can be therapeutic for someone with psychiatric or emotional conditions, they don’t qualify as service animals under state or federal law. But some federal protections exist for having an emotional support animal in your home (see below).
Maryland's disability rights law gives people the right to bring their service animals to the following places:
The Maryland law doesn't further define what counts as a public accommodation. But the ADA does.
The ADA definition of public accommodation is very broad. Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations includes all of the following:
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, aren’t considered public accommodations under the ADA—even if the religious entity offers secular services. For instance, a daycare operated by a church that admits children not affiliated with the church isn’t covered under the ADA.
Private clubs generally also aren’t covered by the ADA. But to qualify for the exemption, the club must meet all the following criteria:
But if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it’s subject to the ADA's public accommodation rules in those facilities.
Both the ADA and Maryland 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 you to be charged for any damage your animal causes. And since emotional support animals aren’t covered by the ADA or Maryland’s service animal laws, you can be charged extra if an establishment permits you to have your ESA.
The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. For example, the facility can kick the dog out if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers. Your animal can also be excluded if it’s not housebroken or it’s out of control and you don’t (or can’t) bring it under control.
Although both state and federal law require an animal to be trained to be considered a service animal in Maryland, under the ADA, a public accommodation can’t demand to see certification or other proof of your animal's training or status. And the law doesn’t allow establishments to ask you about your disability.
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.
Maryland law requires landlords to allow service animals for their tenants with disabilities. You can’t be required to pay extra to have your service animal, but just as with a public accommodation, you can be charged for damage the animal causes to the rental unit.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. Like Maryland state law, the FHA protects your right to full and equal access to all housing facilities. The federal housing law also prohibits landlords from charging extra for having a service animal (except charges for damage your animal causes).
If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn’t apply to your ESA or service animal.
But the federal housing law is broader than Maryland law or the ADA. The FHA protects your right to have an “assistance animal” in your home. And the law defines assistance animals as those that assist individuals with disabilities in the following ways:
Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals. To be protected by this provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify.
Learn how federal law handles flying with your service dog or emotional support animal.
Updated May 3, 2023
]]>These laws also protect your right to use transportation services with your service animals.
State law and federal law define “service animals” differently, but public accommodations in Ohio must comply with both sets of laws. And if you're disabled, you can rely on whichever law provides you the most protections.
Read on to learn which service animals are covered by Ohio law and the ADA—including how these laws treat emotional support animals—and which public accommodations must allow you to bring your assistance animal.
There are federal and state laws that protect your right to bring a service animal to a public accommodation, and they’re all a little different. Ohio has two different sets of laws on service animals and public accommodations. Each law describes which animals qualify for protection differently.
Ohio Revised Code's laws permit "assistance dogs" to accompany people with disabilities into public accommodations. Under this law, assistance dogs must be trained by a nonprofit special agency, and are limited to the following:
Under this definition, psychiatric service animals don't qualify, nor do animals trained to assist with other disabilities, such as:
Ohio’s Administrative Code, which interprets the state's civil rights laws, has a much broader definition of service animals—and this law also applies to public accommodations. Under the Administrative Code, people with disabilities may bring all "animal assistants" into places of public accommodation.
Under this law, an animal assistant is any animal that assists a person with a disability. The examples provided include:
Because the definition of disability in the Administrative Code includes both physical and mental impairments, this provision of the law appears to include psychiatric service animals and animals trained to perform other services for those with disabilities.
Under the ADA, a service animal is simply a dog that is individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal under the ADA.) The tasks or work the animal does must be directly related to the person's disability.
Neither Ohio law nor the ADA covers emotional support animals (ESAs) or pets. ESAs are different than service dogs in the following ways:
Emotional support animals are used to provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions.
Emotional support animals often have therapeutic benefits, but their lack of training means they don’t qualify as service animals under the ADA or Ohio law. As a result, the owners of public accommodations don’t have to admit your emotional support animal. Ohio law and the ADA only protect your right to have a service animal or trained animal assistant that aids with your disabilities.
The Ohio Administrative Code defines public accommodations to include any place that offers accommodations, facilities, or advantages to the public. It lists many types of establishments that fit the bill—everything from hotels and restaurants to retail malls and video arcades.
The ADA definition of public accommodations includes most businesses and nonprofits that serve the public. Like Ohio law, the ADA covers hotels and restaurants, plus all the following:
Only religious organizations and private clubs that meet certain criteria are exempt from the ADA’s public accommodation access rules. And although many public accommodations can choose to allow your emotional support animal, the laws in Ohio don’t require it.
(Learn when you might be able to bring your emotional support animal to work.)
If you choose to register your service dog, Ohio allows you to get a permanent registration tag. Although owners of other dogs must pay to register their animals, it's free to register a service dog in Ohio—but you’ll need to show proof by certificate or other means to qualify.
When you take your assistance animal to a public place, the establishment owner or staff can ask if the animal is a service animal and which tasks the animal is trained to perform. But they’re not allowed to ask you questions about your disability or your animal’s credentials.
You can’t be charged extra to bring your service animal or animal assistant to any public accommodation in Ohio. But you can be asked to remove the animal if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others—for instance, if your service dog is growling and lunging at other patrons, and you can’t get it under control. And you’ll likely be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under Ohio's Administrative Code, people with disabilities who use animal assistants (trained guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs) are entitled to have those animals with them on any premises they:
Your landlord can’t require you to pay extra to have a service animal, although you’re responsible for any damages your service animal causes to the property or to another person.
And unlike the ADA, the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) applies to all types of service dogs, including seizure dogs and emotional support animals.
The FHA requires housing facilities to allow your ESA or service dog if:
To meet this standard, your animal must do one or more of the following:
Learn more about your rights as a disabled renter.
Updated April 21, 2023
]]>These laws also require those who operate transportation services like buses and cabs to allow service animals.
Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals in Georgia, which places must allow them, and more.
Under Georgia law, only a dog can qualify as a service or assistance animal. And the law states that an “assistance dog” must have been specially trained to perform a physical task by a school for seeing-eye, hearing, service, or guide dogs—that is, the trainer must be a licensed or certified person, organization, or agency.
Georgia law allows you to bring a guide dog or assistance dog into public accommodations if you:
The law defines a physical disability as a physical impairment or defect that causes you to be unable to move around without aid or limits your ability to do any of the following:
Note that this definition doesn't include mental, developmental, or intellectual disabilities. Therefore, some types of assistance animals, like psychiatric service dogs likely aren’t covered by Georgia’s law.
In contrast, the ADA defines a service animal as a dog that’s trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. (Sometimes, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal under the ADA.) The tasks or work your service animal does must be directly related to your person's disability to be covered by the ADA.
Georgia law and the ADA differ in some ways, but public accommodations in Georgia must comply with both sets of laws. And if you have a disability, you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protection.
Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) are animals that relieve one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s psychiatric or emotional disability or condition. ESAs are often used to provide their owners with a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort.
These animals can have real therapeutic benefits, but they don’t meet the definition of service animals under state law or the ADA because they aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a disability. Because they aren’t considered service animals, owners of public accommodations aren’t required to allow you to have an emotional support animal.
Both Georgia law and the ADA define public accommodations in very broad terms. Under these laws, you have the right to have your service animal in all the following places:
Public accommodations also include state and local government facilities and any nonprofit organizations and businesses that serve the general public—at least, anywhere customers are generally permitted to go.
(Learn when you can and can’t have your service animal at work.)
You can’t be charged extra to bring your service animal to any public accommodation in Georgia. And you can’t be asked about your disability, only whether the dog is a service animal and what tasks your dog is trained to perform.
Under the ADA, your dog isn’t required to wear a special vest, harness, or tag that identifies the dog as a service animal. But your service dog must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered unless one of the following applies:
Public accommodations can’t bar your service animal unless it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. Under the ADA, you can only be asked to remove the animal if:
Under Georgia law and the ADA, you can be required to pay for any damage your service animal causes.
Both state and federal laws protect the rights of people with disabilities when it comes to housing. That includes your rights to reasonable accommodation, including having a service animal. (Learn more about disabled renters’ rights.)
Georgia's service animal law protects the rights of people with disabilities who have service animals to full and equal access to housing. Under the law, you can’t be discriminated against in the rental, lease, or purchase of housing.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) offers people with disabilities more protection for their assistive animals. The FHA requires housing facilities to allow both service animals and emotional support animals, if necessary, for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.
To qualify under this federal protection, both of the following must be true:
In other words, your service dog must perform tasks or services to aid you to qualify for FHA protection. And if you have an emotional support animal, to be covered under the law, the animal must alleviate the emotional effects of your disability.
Your landlord can’t require you to pay extra to have a service dog or emotional support animal. And any “no-pet” policies don’t apply to your ESA or guide or service dog. But you are liable for any damages your service dog or emotional support animal causes to the property or another person.
If you’ve faced housing discrimination because of your service dog or emotional support animal, you can file a complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Updated April 14, 2023
]]>Both sets of laws offer broad protections to people with disabilities who use the following types of service animals to assist them:
Both federal and state laws in New Jersey specify what counts as a service animal. The laws are similar, but there are a few differences.
In New Jersey, the LAD requires public accommodations to allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by their service or guide dogs. The law defines a guide dog as a dog specially trained by a recognized organization to assist someone who is blind or deaf.
Under New Jersey law, the definition of “service dog” is a dog that is individually trained to meet the requirements of a person's disability, including (but not limited to):
New Jersey law recognizes physical, mental, developmental, and psychological disabilities, so a dog that’s individually trained to assist with any of these disabilities should qualify as a service dog.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. And the tasks or work the dog does must be directly related to the person's disability. (In some circumstances, an individually trained miniature horse also qualifies as a service animal under the ADA.)
Neither the ADA nor New Jersey's service animal law covers pets or emotional support animals (ESAs)—animals used by those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities to have:
These animals often have therapeutic benefits, but they don’t qualify as service animals because they aren’t trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Neither the ADA nor New Jersey law requires the owners of public accommodations to admit emotional support animals, only service animals.
Both New Jersey law and the ADA protect your right to access a public accommodation with your service animal. How each law defines “public accommodation” is similar but not identical.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes all businesses and organizations that offer goods and services to the public or are open to the public, like:
The New Jersey LAD also includes a long list of public accommodations that must allow service animals—everywhere from amusement parks and summer camps to doctors’ offices and government agencies.
The only public places exempt from both laws include religious establishments and private clubs that meet specific criteria.
The New Jersey LAD requires public accommodations to admit people with disabilities and their service dogs and treat them the same way as other patrons. For instance, you can’t be asked to sit in a special area for people with pets, and you can’t be charged an additional fee for having a service dog.
Your right to have your service dog with you is subject only to these conditions:
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from public accommodations if it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out. Your dog can also be excluded if it’s not house-trained.
New Jersey's LAD prohibits discrimination in housing—whether rented, leased, or purchased—against those with disabilities, including those who use service dogs. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. If you have a service dog, your landlord can’t:
Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), housing facilities must allow both service dogs and emotional support animals. The law requires that you have equal access to housing if you have a disability, and having the animal is necessary for you to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.
To fall under this FHA provision, you must have a disability, and you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must do one of the following to qualify:
Like the state law in New Jersey, the FHA prohibits landlords from charging you more to have your service animal or ESA in your home.
Learn more about how the Fair Housing Act protects disabled renter’s rights.
Updated April 14, 2023
]]>Public accommodations in North Carolina must comply with both state and federal law. And if you’re disabled, you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protection.
Here’s what you need to know about which animals qualify as service animals in North Carolina, which public accommodations must allow them, and how these laws treat emotional support animals.
North Carolina’s law on public accommodations refers to service animals but doesn't define which animals qualify. But the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has created a brochure for businesses regarding customers with service animals, which uses the ADA's definition.
How does the law define service animal? Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that’s individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal under the ADA.) The tasks or work your service animal does must be directly related to your disability.
Examples of service animals covered by North Carolina law and the ADA include the following:
The ADA and North Carolina law also cover psychiatric service dogs. These dogs aid people with mental disabilities by scanning for safety threats or interrupting dangerous or self-destructive behaviors.
Does the law cover emotional support animals? Although not trained to perform specific tasks, emotional support animals (ESAs) often have therapeutic benefits. Their presence can provide companionship, comfort, and a sense of safety to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions.
But because ESAs aren’t individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, the owners of public accommodations aren’t required to admit them. In North Carolina, federal and state laws only protect your right to have your service animal with you in public—not your emotional support animal.
These laws also don't apply to pets.
Under North Carolina law, if you have a disability, you can bring your service animal anywhere the public is invited to go. That’s a wide range of public accommodations and includes:
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad. It includes the places listed above and all the following:
Service animals. North Carolina law says that if you’re disabled, you have the right to be accompanied by a service animal trained to assist you with your specific disability in any of the places listed above. It also says that you qualify for these protections by either:
Registration is voluntary—your dog doesn’t have to be registered as a service animal to accompany you to any public accommodation. If you choose to register your dog, you can find the application form on the NC Department of Health and Human Services website.
When you have a service animal, the establishments you visit can’t ask you detailed questions about your disability or your animal. But you can be asked if your animal is a service animal and which tasks the animal is trained to perform.
Public accommodations also can’t charge you extra to bring your service dog—including extra cleaning fees at hotels. And hotels can’t require you to stay in “pet-friendly” rooms—you have the right to book any open room, whether pets are permitted or not. But, you can be required to pay for any damage your dog causes.
Emotional support animals. The public accommodation rules for emotional support animals are different. Since the ADA and North Carolina law don’t recognize emotional support animals as service animals, public accommodations can refuse your ESA entry or charge you extra to bring your ESA along. Hotels and inns can require you to stay in “pet-friendly” rooms and charge extra fees to have your emotional support animal with you.
Under North Carolina's service animal law, if you have a disability and you use a service animal, you’re entitled to have your animal with you on any premises you lease, rent, or use. A landlord can’t require you to pay extra to have a service dog, although you’re liable for any damages your animal causes to the property or to another person.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) protects your right to have an “assistance animal” in your home—which can be a service animal or an emotional support animal. Under the FHA, housing facilities must allow service dogs and ESAs—if having the animal is necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home.
Under the FHA, service dogs and emotional support animals aren’t considered pets, so a “no pets” policy in a lease doesn’t apply to them. And you can’t be charged a pet deposit to have your service dog or ESA live with you.
To fall under this federal housing provision, you must have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must perform tasks or services for your benefit OR alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify for FHA protection.
Learn about the federal rules for flying with your service dog or ESA, including when your right to have an assistive animal on the plane is protected and when it’s not.
Updated April 11, 2023
]]>Public places “accommodations” in Virginia must comply with both state and federal laws regarding service animals. Read on to learn:
What kind of animal counts as a service animal in Virginia varies somewhat depending on whether you’re applying state law or federal laws.
Virginia's disability rights law requires public places to allow guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs. The law defines these services animals as follows:
Under the ADA, 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. A miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal in some cases under this law. (Virginia’s definition of service animals doesn’t include miniature horses, only dogs.)
Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Psychiatric service dogs are dogs that help someone with a psychiatric or emotional disability. These service dogs perform tasks like:
Psychiatric service dogs are covered by the ADA. Virginia doesn’t specifically mention psychiatric service dogs in its laws, but the state’s definition of a service dog includes dogs that “interrupt impulsive or destructive behavior,” which is a task a psychiatric service dog might do for a person with PTSD or severe depression. It’s likely that Virginia law also covers service animals that can do specific tasks for people with psychiatric disabilities such as reminding them to take their medication.
What some call “emotional support animals” (ESAs) are animals that provide companionship, comfort, and a sense of safety to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. And although they’re protected under the laws of some states, neither the ADA nor Virginia's service animal law protects your right to have your ESA in a public accommodation.
In fact, Virginia’s disability law specifically excludes emotional support animals from its definition of a service dog. The law states that providing companionship, emotional support, well-being, or comfort doesn’t qualify as performing work or tasks for a person with a disability.
Although ESAs often provide therapeutic benefits, they aren't individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers and so don’t qualify as service animals under the ADA either. Since state and federal laws don’t recognize them as service animals, owners of public accommodations in Virginia aren’t required to admit emotional support animals.
Virginia's service animal law applies to all public places like:
In addition, it applies to all common carriers and public modes of transportation, like buses, trains, and subways. But the law does include a provision that allows local governments to create alternative paratransit or special transportation services for those with disabilities.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is extensive. It includes places like:
There’s no state or federal law that requires any public accommodation in Virginia to allow you to have an emotional support animal or pet.
Although Virginia bars local governments from imposing a licensing fee for your service dog, the state law does require that service dogs be identified in particular ways:
Under the ADA, when you take your service animal to a public accommodation, you can’t be questioned about your disability. And accommodation owners, managers, and personnel can’t demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal's training or status. If what your service animal does isn’t apparent, you can only be asked whether it’s a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
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.
The ADA does allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal in the following circumstances:
In these situations, you can be asked to remove the animal from the premises.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Virginia law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. Under both state and federal laws, you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities.
What this means is that a “no pets” provision in a lease or rental agreement doesn’t apply to your service animal. And your landlord isn’t allowed to charge you extra for having a service animal—although you can be required to pay for damage your animal causes.
The FHA offers even more protection, requiring housing facilities to allow both service dogs and emotional support animals if the animal is necessary for someone with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To be protected by this provision, you must have both:
In other words, your animal must perform tasks or services or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability to qualify for protection under federal housing laws.
Learn more about your rights as a disabled renter.
Updated April 10, 2023
]]>Learn below which animals qualify as service animals in Colorado, which public accommodations must allow them, and the rules you might need to follow with your service animal.
The ADA and Colorado law define a service animal as a dog that's individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (In some circumstances, an individually trained miniature horse can also qualify as a service animal.)
To qualify under this definition, the tasks or work your animal does must be directly related to your disability. For example:
Not all disabilities are physical or obvious to a casual observer. For instance, a psychiatric service dog can perform different tasks for people with different psychiatric disabilities, such as:
Service animals can do a variety of other tasks too. You might have a service dog that does one or more of the following tasks:
Emotional support animals provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they aren't covered by the ADA and Colorado's public accommodations law.
Remember, to qualify as a service animal under these laws, your animal must be a dog (or miniature horse) that’s individually trained to perform specific tasks for you. Because ESAs aren't individually trained to assist their owners, they aren't considered service animals under the ADA or Colorado law. So, owners of public accommodations aren't required to allow you to have your emotional support animal.
Both the ADA and Colorado law define public accommodations broadly. So, the list of places that must comply with federal and state service animal laws includes all of the following:
Under the ADA, any business, including a private entity, that's open to the public or that provides goods or services to the public is considered a public accommodation.
The ADA protects service animal owners from being interrogated or challenged before taking their animals into public places. Under the law, you can't be questioned about your disability or required to show certification or other proof of your animal's training or status.
If what your service animal does isn't obvious, the establishment can ask you only the following:
You also can't be charged a special admission fee or be required to pay any other extra cost to have your service animal with you. But you'll likely have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
And the ADA does allow public accommodations to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking at other customers, the facility manager can kick the dog out. Your animal can also be excluded if:
Both federal and Colorado laws bar housing discrimination against people who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord can't charge you extra for having a service animal. But you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes beyond reasonable wear and tear.
But federal protections for people with disabilities under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) are broader. Under the FHA, housing providers must allow both service dogs and emotional support animals. The FHA protects your right to have a service dog or ESA in your home if you have both:
To qualify for protection under this federal housing law, your animal must:
In other words, if you're disabled and you need a service dog or ESA to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy your home, you must be allowed to have your animal without having to pay more. If your lease or rental agreement includes a "no pets" provision, it doesn't apply to your service animal or ESA. Nor do pet deposits, since the FHA doesn't consider service dogs or emotional support animals to be pets.
(Learn more about your rights as a disabled renter under the Fair Housing Act.)
Updated April 6, 2023
]]>Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals, which public accommodations must allow them, and how these laws treat emotional support animals.
Pennsylvania's Human Rights Act protects people with disabilities from discrimination in public accommodations for using a guide or support animal. And the state’s criminal statutes make it a misdemeanor for a public accommodation to deny entry to someone using a service animal, including:
But the Pennsylvania law states that these protections only cover people who are blind, deaf, or have another physical disability. The state definition of service animal appears to exclude psychiatric service dogs and emotional support animals, which assist people with mental disabilities.
In contrast, under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or sometimes a miniature horse) that's individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. So the ADA protections include psychiatric service dogs, which are trained to help someone with a mental impairment by performing specific tasks, such as:
While Pennsylvania and federal law define service animals differently, public accommodations in Pennsylvania must comply with both state and federal law. And you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protections.
Emotional support animals (ESAs) provide companionship and comfort to disabled persons with psychiatric or emotional conditions. But they don’t qualify as service animals under either Pennsylvania law or the ADA.
The use of ESAs can often have therapeutic benefits and a sense of safety for their handlers. But since they’re not individually trained to perform specific tasks, emotional support animals aren’t covered by either Pennsylvania service animal laws or the ADA.
While both state and federal laws require owners of public accommodations to allow trained service animals and aid animals that assist an individual with a disability, they aren’t required to admit emotional support animals.
Under the Pennsylvania Human Rights Act (PHRA), public accommodations include any place that offers accommodations, facilities, or advantages to the public. It lists many types of establishments that fit the definition, including:
The rules for taking your service dog or emotional support animal on a plane are different than those for public accommodations or housing. Learn more about flying with your service animal or ESA.
When you visit any public accommodation in Pennsylvania, you can’t be charged extra to bring your service dog or assistance animal with you. But you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.
And an establishment doesn’t have to allow your service animal to be there if the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, if your service dog is snarling and snapping at other patrons, and you can’t get it to stop the behavior, you could be asked to remove the dog from the premises.
Those who operate public accommodations aren’t allowed to ask you detailed questions about your disability or your service animal. But you can be asked if your animal is a service animal and which tasks the animal is trained to perform.
The laws in the Keystone State offer people with disabilities some protections when it comes to service animals and housing. Under Pennsylvania's Administrative Code, if you use a guide or support animal for a physical disability, you can’t be discriminated against in housing accommodations or commercial property because of your animal.
Federal law offers you more protection. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires landlords and housing facilities to allow service dogs and emotional support animals if the animal is necessary for a person 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 this protection, your animal must:
Remember, when it comes to your guide dog, service dog, or emotional support animal, you can rely on whichever law provides the most protection. Federal law forbids housing providers from:
What do you do if you feel a housing provider has treated you unfairly because of your disability or the presence of your service animal or ESA? You can file a complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
You can also file a discrimination complaint with Pennsylvania’s Human Relations Commission for violations of your right to have a guide dog, service dog, or aid animal at a public accommodation or in your home.
Updated March 29, 2023
]]>These laws also require anyone who operates transportation services (like buses and taxis) to allow service animals.
Both federal and state laws protect people in Texas who use service animals, and you’re entitled to rely on whichever law gives you the most protections. Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals in Texas and which protections apply to emotional support animals (ESAs).
Under Texas's Human Resources Code, a service animal or an assistance animal is a dog that’s specially trained to assist someone with a disability and is used by a person with a disability. These conditions count as a disability:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or, in some cases, a miniature horse) that’s individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. The tasks or work your service animal does must be directly related to your disability.
Neither law covers pets or emotional support animals (ESAs)—animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they’re not specially trained to do particular types of work for their owners, so they aren’t considered service animals under Texas law or the ADA.
But psychiatric service dogs are covered by both Texas law and the ADA. Unlike ESAs, these dogs are trained to provide services that allow people with mental impairments to go places and face situations they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. Psychiatric service dogs are trained to perform tasks like:
Under the ADA and Texas law, owners of public accommodations must allow service dogs—including psychiatric service dogs. But they aren’t required to admit emotional support animals or pets.
Texas law has a very broad definition of public accommodations. It includes everything from government buildings and public streets and sidewalks to:
In Texas, you can bring your service animal to any place that appears on this list, but it doesn't include private workplaces. (Learn how the ADA protects your right to have a service animal in the workplace.)
Under Texas law, no public accommodation can make demands or ask questions about your service animal's certification or qualification, but they can ask what type of assistance the animal provides. If your disability isn’t apparent, the establishment can ask either or both of the following:
The ADA allows public accommodations to exclude a service animal that poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others. For example, if your dog is dangerously aggressive toward other patrons, it can be kicked out.
You can’t be charged extra to bring your service animal on public transportation. But you can be required to pay for any damage your animal causes. And if you use a service animal to assist you with travel or auditory awareness, the animal must be in a harness and leash.
There are penalties for refusing to allow a service animal in public accommodations—it’s a class C misdemeanor. Texas law also imposes penalties on those who falsely claim or imply (for example, by using a service dog harness) that their animal is a service animal when it isn’t. Service dog fraud is a class B misdemeanor in Texas.
Texas law protects your right to have a service dog in your home, even if you rent it. And federal law—the Fair Housing Act (FHA)—extends that right to have any “assistance animal,” including an emotional support animal in rental property. Texas landlords must allow you to have your service dog or ESA as a reasonable accommodation as long as:
If you have a service dog or ESA in Texas and you fit the above criteria, a property owner can’t:
But you can be required to pay if your assistance animal causes damage to the property (other than normal wear and tear) or injures another person.
Both Texas and federal fair housing laws apply to most housing situations, with a few exceptions. The laws exempt the following:
If you think you’ve been discriminated against in housing because of your service dog or emotional support animal, you have the right to file a complaint through the Texas Workforce Commission’s (TWC’s) Civil Rights Division or the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD’s) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO).
Learn more about how to fight housing discrimination.
Updated March 27, 2023
]]>These laws also require those who operate transportation services, like car services and public transit, to allow service animals.
Florida law and the ADA differ in some ways, but public accommodations in Florida must comply with both sets of laws, and if you’re disabled, you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protections.
Florida laws also offer people with disabilities some protection covering their emotional support animals.
Read on to learn:
For access to public accommodations, Florida law (and the ADA) only cover service dogs and miniature horses. But for housing, Florida law also offers some protection for emotional support animals (ESAs). (Fla. Stat. § 413.08 (2022).) (See more below.)
Florida's service animal law applies to animals that are trained to do work or perform tasks for someone with a disability, whether your disability is:
The work the animal does must be directly related to your disability. For example, a service animal might:
Both Florida and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) define an emotional support animal as “any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability.” Although ESAs often have therapeutic benefits, they’re not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, so the ADA and state service animal laws don’t cover them.
Neither law requires owners of public accommodations to allow emotional support animals—only service animals (including psychiatric service dogs). So, a theater owner doesn’t have to let you bring your emotional support dog into the theater but must allow you to have a trained service dog.
Under state and federal law, most public accommodations must allow service animals in Florida. The Florida state service animal law covers the following:
You have the right to bring your service animal into any of these places. (Fla. Stat. § 413.08(1)(c) (2022).)
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. So, your right to have your service animal extends to many other places under this federal law, including the following:
Although many public accommodations can choose to allow emotional support animals, some can’t—like bars and restaurants. In Florida, service dogs must be admitted to bars and restaurants. But emotional support animals are barred from both under the FDA Food Code (which Florida uses to regulate restaurants) and Florida Health Department rules (which cover bars).
A place of public accommodation can't charge you extra to bring your service animal with you. Even if the establishment ordinarily charges a pet deposit, you can't be required to pay it for your service animal. But the establishment can usually require you to pay for any damage your animal causes.
The rules for emotional support animals are different. Public places, like hotels and rental cars, can charge a pet deposit or an extra fee if you want to have your emotional support animal with you.
When you have an assistive animal in public, Florida law requires that your animal must be under your control at all times. The animal must have a harness and leash (or another tether) unless your disability or the tasks your service animal performs prevents using these tools. In this situation, the animal must be under control through other means, such as voice commands or signals.
An establishment can't require you to provide documentation that your service animal is trained, and it can't ask you about your disability. But you can be asked whether your animal is a service animal required for your disability and about the work the animal has been trained to perform. (Note that falsely claiming your emotional support animal or pet dog is a service dog is a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida.)
The law doesn’t require a public accommodation to allow your service animal to remain if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, if your service dog is growling and lunging at other patrons, and you’re unable to stop the behavior, the dog might have to leave. An establishment can also exclude a service animal that isn't housebroken or is out of control.
Both service animals and emotional support animals are protected under Florida’s housing laws.
Service animals and housing in Florida. Under Florida's service animal law, people with disabilities who have service dogs and other assistance animals are entitled to full and equal access to housing. Your landlord can't refuse to rent to you or require you to pay extra to have a service animal. But you can be required to pay for any damages your service animal causes to the property or to another person. (Fla. Stat. § 413.08(6) (2022).)
Housing laws for emotional support animals. Florida’s housing law requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations for people who have an emotional support animal. But someone renting to you can deny your request for accommodation to have an ESA if the animal poses a direct threat to the safety or health of others. So, an emotional support tiger would probably not fall under the protections of the law.
Most landlords can’t charge extra for emotional support animals except to cover damage caused by the animal.
The law prohibits discrimination in the provision of housing "to the extent required by federal law." It mirrors the protections provided to someone with emotional support animals under the federal Fair Housing Act. (Fla. Stat. § 760.27(2) (2022).)
Qualifying for protection under Florida housing law. To be protected under Florida laws governing service animals and emotional support animals, both of the following must be true:
And to qualify for protection under Flordia’s housing laws, your animal must either:
(For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development's guidance on service animals.)
When it comes to service animals, the ADA and Florida service dog laws are very clear: If you have a disability, you have the right to take your service animal to a public place without being denied entry or being charged an extra fee. If a restaurant, hotel, cab, or other public accommodation in Florida denies you entry because of your service animal, it’s a crime (second-degree misdemeanor).
Florida law doesn’t treat assistive animals like service dogs or emotional support animals as pets. So when you wish to live somewhere that has a “no pets” policy, having a service dog or ESA is generally considered a reasonable accommodation under Florida law.
Learn how the ADA protects your right to have a service dog at work.
Updated March 14, 2023
]]>This protection from disability discrimination requires employers to work with you to accommodate your disabilities in reasonable ways. This includes having to provide an accommodation for employees with assistive animals—for instance, by making an exception to the employer's usual rules about not bringing dogs to work.
Both state and federal laws protect disabled employees from workplace discrimination and require California employers to provide reasonable accommodation. Here’s what you need to know about your right to have a service dog or emotional support animal at work.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal law that protects the rights of disabled workers, service animals are considered a reasonable accommodation. Many, but not all, employers must abide by the ADA. To be covered, your employer must be one of the following:
California law covers even more employers. Under the FEHA, your employer must provide reasonable accommodation for support animals if the company has five or more employees (including both part-time and full-time workers). But the FEHA doesn't apply to religious nonprofit organizations.
In California, the term “assistive animal” includes trained animals that perform specific assistance for a disabled person, such as:
The term also includes "support" dogs and other emotional support animals. These assistive animals provide support to people with disabilities, such as:
Only a dog trained to recognize and respond to an individual's disability-related need for assistance can be considered a service dog. But an emotional support animal doesn't have to be specially trained to perform work or tasks related to a person's disability in order to be covered by California's workplace disability laws.
Although California law requires employers to accommodate disabled employees who need a service dog or emotional support animal at work, the law allows employers to set some limitations. Employers are allowed to require that an assistive animal in the workplace:
Because emotional support animals qualify as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, California employers can’t require that an animal have specific training to provide disability-related assistance to the employee before allowing the animal in the workplace.
When the disability or need for reasonable accommodation isn’t obvious, a job applicant or employee might need to provide the employer with reasonable medical documentation from a health care provider that confirms the following:
Under California law, the health care provider who supplies this documentation doesn’t have to be a doctor. Documentation can come from other providers, including the following:
In California, a job applicant or employee with a mental or physical disability or medical disorder that makes it difficult to perform a "major life activity" is protected by these rules. For the purposes of disability discrimination in the workplace, “mental disability” includes all of the following:
California's definition of disability is broader than the federal definition. Like federal law, California considers working to be a major life activity. But in California, a disability need only "limit" your ability to work to qualify for legal protections, whereas federal law requires that disability "substantially limit" your ability to work.
Also, in California, to be limited in the major life activity of working, you only need to be limited in performing the requirements of a single, particular job. Under federal law, you must be significantly restricted in the ability to perform either:
The inability to perform a single, particular job isn’t considered a substantial limitation under the ADA. That means California law protects a greater number of workers who need to bring their service dog or emotional support animal to work than federal law does.
Workplace protections in California also apply to job applicants and employees with a "special education" disability. Someone with a special education disability has a health impairment or mental or psychological disorder that requires special education or related services (or has in the past) but that doesn’t qualify as a mental disability.
If you have a disability, you generally have the right to reasonable accommodation at work—that is, workplace changes or assistive measures that allow you to perform the essential functions of your job. And California regulations specifically include allowing service dogs and emotional support animals at work among its examples of reasonable accommodation. (California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Division 4.1, Subchapter 2, Article 9, Section 11065(p)(2)(B).)
But an employer isn’t required to provide reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee if doing so would impose an “undue hardship” on the business. Under the law, an undue hardship is any accommodation that causes significant difficulty or expense considering the following:
Learn more about when your employer can refuse your request for accommodation.
Under both California law and the ADA, if you need a workplace accommodation—including bringing your service or support animal to work—you must request it. It’s generally better to put your request for accommodation in writing.
Once you request accommodation, the law requires your employer to work with you to figure out an accommodation that’ll be both effective and practical. So, even if your employer has concerns about having your assistive animal at work, the employer can’t just deny your request outright. Instead, your employer must engage with you in what the law calls a "flexible, interactive process."
For example, let’s say you ask to bring your service dog to work, but your employer is hesitant because of a coworker who’s allergic to dogs. Your employer must work with you to find a strategy that accommodates you and protects that employee. That could include:
The state generally considers having a service dog or emotional support animal in the workplace a reasonable accommodation. So, what can you do if your employer refuses your request to bring your service dog or support animal to work?
If your supervisor refuses your request to have your support animal at work, start by moving up the chain of command. Submit your request to a higher authority within the company (like your boss’s boss) or directly to the HR department. If you work at a branch office, send your request to the corporate headquarters.
If your employer still denies your request to bring your assistive animal to work or takes negative action against you because of your request for accommodation, contact an experienced disability discrimination attorney. A lawyer can help you file a complaint with the federal and state departments that enforce disability discrimination laws in the workplace:
And if needed, your attorney can file a lawsuit against your employer in court.
An employer that loses a reasonable accommodation case can be ordered to comply with ADA and FEHA rules (meaning you must be allowed to have your service or emotional support animal at work). The court can also order your employer to pay any or all of the following:
Learn more about finding an employment discrimination attorney to take your case.
Updated March 13, 2023
]]>Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been individually trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal.) Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
South Dakota’s service animal law doesn’t explain what types of animals qualify. The law states only that public accommodations must allow those who are blind, deaf, or otherwise physically disabled to be accompanied by their specially trained service animals. Based on this definition, psychiatric service animals and other animals who are trained to assist those with mental disabilities do not appear to be covered.
While South Dakota law is not as broad as the ADA, public accommodations in South Dakota must comply with both state and federal law.
Neither the ADA nor South Dakota’s service animal law covers what some people call therapy dogs or “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and South Dakota law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
South Dakota law defines public accommodation as hotels and other lodging places; places of public amusement, accommodation, or resort; and all other places to which the public is invited.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and South Dakota 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety, cannot be controlled, or if it isn't housebroken.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and South Dakota law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. This means that you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities and you may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, landlords and housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. To fall under this provision, you must have a physical or mental disability and you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
Like its public accommodation law, South Dakota’s housing law covers only service animals specially trained to assist those who are blind, deaf, or have another physical disability. The law does not extend to those who use service animals for a mental disability. Learn more at the South Dakota Human Rights Division's service animal page.
]]>In North Dakota, you may bring your service animal into any public accommodation, health care facility, transportation service, or any other place to which the public is generally invited. For example, restaurants, shops, hotels, service establishments, office buildings the public enters (such as an accountant or lawyer’s office), hospitals, and arenas all fall within this definition.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. It includes all sorts of establishments to which the public has access, including stores, theaters, gyms, zoos, parks, schools, and homeless shelters.
In North Dakota, service animals include signal dogs (for the hearing-impaired), guide dogs (for the sight-impaired), and other animals trained to perform tasks, work, or provide assistance to people with disabilities. The law lists some examples of these tasks, including retrieving dropped items, providing support for balance, assisting in a medical crisis, or providing protection to someone with a disability.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. In addition to hearing dogs and guide dogs, here are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:
Neither the ADA nor North Dakota’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and North Dakota law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and North Dakota 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and North Dakota law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not be charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes).
If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal. Your landlord, however, can ask you to provide reliable documentation of your disability and the relationship between your disability and your need for an accommodation in the form of a service or assistance animal. This documentation may be provided by a physician or other medical professional. However, your landlord may not ask you for documentation if your disability and need for a service or assistance animal are readily apparent or the landlord already knows about them. If, for example, you are blind and use a guide dog for navigation, your landlord probably can’t request documentation.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>In Rhode Island, people with disabilities may be accompanied by their qualified service animals on all public conveyances (forms of transportation, including buses, taxis, trains, and so on), stations and terminals; all educational institutions, from kindergartens to universities; and all places of public resort, assembly, amusement, or accommodation, such as hotels, restaurants, theaters, and any other place to which the public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes hotels, motels, public transportation, restaurants, stores, auditoriums, gyms, zoos, parks, libraries, museums, schools, social service centers, and more.
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
Under Rhode Island’s human rights law, public accommodations must allow you to be accompanied by your personal assistance animal. A personal assistance animal is a dog that has been trained (or is in the process of being trained) as a:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In addition to guide dogs and hearing dogs, here are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:
Neither the ADA nor Rhode Island’s human rights law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, nor are they specially trained to assist a particular person.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Rhode Island 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Under Rhode Island’s fair housing act, you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing with your personal assistive animal. For purposes of this housing discrimination law, a “personal assistive animal” is one specifically trained by a certified animal training program to assist someone who has a disability with tasks of independent living. As under the ADA, you can’t be charged an extra fee or deposit, but you can be required to pay for damage done by your animal.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use any type of service animal. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>In Hawaii, a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or tasks to benefit someone with a disability, including a intellectual, mental, sensory, or physical disability.
Under the ADA, the definition is roughly the same with a few twists. The tasks or work the service animal does must be directly related to the person’s disability. And in some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal.
Examples of service animals under Hawaii's social services law and under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Hawaii law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Hawaii's definition of a "public accommodation" (where people can take their service dogs) includes:
The ADA is equally broad and sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Hawaii’s public accommodations law, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals in restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, and other public accommodations.
Under the ADA and Hawaii law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. In fact, Hawaii law explicitly excludes companion and comfort animals, unless the animal meets the definition of a service dog and is accompanying someone to perform the tasks for which the dog has been individually trained. These laws also don’t apply to pets. Public accommodations in Hawaii must comply with both state and federal law.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Hawaii 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Hawaii’s fair housing law prohibits housing discrimination based on disability and requires property owners to make reasonable accommodations to allow those with disabilities to use and enjoy their housing, which could include allowing service animals. However, the law provides that, if the reasonable accommodation includes a service animal, the property owner may impose reasonable restrictions.
Similarly, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you may need to follow with your service animal.
In Idaho, people with disabilities may be accompanied by their assistance dogs on all common carriers and public conveyances (forms of transportation, including buses, taxis, trains, boats, and so on); all hotels and other lodging places; all places of public amusement, resort, or accommodation; and all places to which the public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
Under Idaho’s public accommodations law, you are entitled to bring your assistance dog with you to public accommodations. An assistance dog includes only a:
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with any type of physical or mental disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Idaho’s human rights law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, nor are they specially trained to assist a particular person who is visually impaired, is hearing impaired, or has another physical disability. Pets are also not covered by either state or federal law.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Idaho 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Idaho’s Human Rights Act prohibits property owners from discriminating against those who seek to rent or purchase their property on the basis of disability (among other things). The Act also requires property owners to make reasonable modifications to the property, if necessary to allow someone with a disability to fully use and enjoy the property. However, this law does not specifically address service animals.
The federal Fair Housing Act specifically prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under the New Mexico Service Animal Act, public accommodations must allow you to be accompanied by your "qualified service animal." A qualified service animal is a service dog or service miniature horse that is trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
The ADA doesn’t include pets or what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
New Mexico service animal law specifically excludes emotional support animals, comfort animals, and therapy animals, which are defined as animals that accompany people with disabilities, but do not perform work or tasks for them and do not accompany them at all times.
In New Mexico, people with disabilities may be accompanied by their qualified service animals on all common carriers (forms of transportation), to all public accommodations, and into all buildings that are open to the public. The law doesn’t further define what qualifies as a public accommodation, but generally the term includes lodgings, stores, restaurants, public gathering places, and more.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
The ADA and New Mexico 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and New Mexico’s Service Animal Act allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
In addition, the federal Fair Housing Act says that housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify.
New Mexico’s Human Rights Act prohibits housing discrimination based on disability, as long as the person’s disability is not related to his or her ability to rent or maintain the housing under consideration. This law doesn’t mention service animals. New Mexico landlords are still subject to the federal Fair Housing Act, however.
]]>In Maine, a service animal is a dog that is individually trained to do work or tasks to benefit someone with a disability, including a intellectual, mental, psychiatric, sensory, or physical disability.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been 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.
Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under Mane state law and the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Maine’s public accommodations law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Under Maine’s Human Rights Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals in restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, and other public accommodations. However, under the ADA and Maine law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals or pets, only service animals. Public accommodations in Maine must comply with both state and federal law.
The ADA and Maine 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
The ADA and Maine’s public accommodations law allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The Maine Human Rights Act includes a list of 14 types of facilities that qualify as public accommodations. Maine protects your right to be accompanied by your service animal in:
The ADA sets out a similarly long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal.
The fair housing provisions of Maine’s Human Rights Act prohibit housing discrimination based on disability. They also require landlords, owners, and managers to allow those with disabilities to be accompanied by their assistance animals. The definition of assistance animals is broader than the definition of service animals and includes not only service animals individually trained to assist those with disabilities, but also any animal that a doctor, psychiatrist, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or licensed social worker has determined is necessary to mitigate the effects of a physical or mental disability.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Below, we explain which public accommodations are covered, which animals qualify as service animals, and some rules you may need to follow with your service animal.
Under Nebraska’s civil rights law, people with certain disabilities are entitled to be accompanied by their service animals in public accommodations, as defined below. Nebraska law defines service animals as a guide dog, signal dog (hearign dog), or other animal trained to do tasks or work to benefit someone with a disability. However, the civil rights law also limits its public accommodation protections to those who use a service animal for deafness or hearing impairment, blindness or visual impairment, or another physical disability. The law does not cover those who use service animals for mental disabilities.
Under the ADA, on the other hand, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Nebraska’s civil rights law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers, nor are they specially trained to assist a particular person who is visually impaired, is hearing impaired, or has another physical disability. Pets are also not covered by either state or federal law.
Under Nebraska law, service animals must be allowed in 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. Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, however, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Nebraska’s civil rights law gives those who use a service animal the right to equal, full access to housing accommodations. Landlords and other who charge for housing may not require people who use service animals to pay extra or to provide an additional deposit for their animals. However, like the state’s public accommodations law, the housing discrimination law applies only to those who use a service animal for blindness or visual impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, or another physical disability. It does not cover those who use a service animal for a mental disability.
The federal Fair Housing Act, on the other hand, prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals for physical or mental disabilities. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>In Mississippi, you are entitled to be accompanied by your support animal on all public conveyances, such as buses and taxis, and in all hotels, lodgings, business that are open to the public and sell goods or services, all places of public accommodation, amusement, or resort, and all places to which the general public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. It includes all of the above plus also lists libraries, museums, educational institutions, and social service centers (like senior centers, homeless shelters, and food banks).
Mississippi’s Support Animal Act defines a service animal as a dog or other animal that is specifically trained as a guide, leader, listener, or to provide any other assistance necessary to assist a blind, hearing-impaired, or mobility-impaired person in day-to-day activities. A mobility impairment is defined as one that makes a person unable to move with crutches, a wheelchair, or another form of support, or limits that person’s ability to climb, sit, rise, descend, walk, or perform similar types of functions. Only animals that assist people with these physical disabilities are covered: Psychiatric service animals and animals that assist with physical disabilities that don’t meet these definitions are not protected by Mississippi state law.
Under the ADA, however, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal under the ADA.) In addition to hearing dogs and guide dogs ("seeing-eye" dogs), here are some examples of service dogs that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:
Neither the ADA nor Mississippi’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. And, as noted above, Mississippi law is even more restrictive, protecting only service animals that assist those who are blind, hearing impaired, or mobility impaired.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Mississippi 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes).
If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal, but you can be asked to provide reliable documentation of your disability and the relationship between your disability and your need for an accommodation in the form of a service or assistance animal. This documentation may be provided by a physician or other medical professional. However, your landlord may not ask you for documentation if your disability and need for a service or assistance animal are readily apparent or the landlord already knows about them. If, for example, you are blind and use a guide dog for navigation, your landlord probably can’t request documentation.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under Iowa law, public accommodations must allow you to be accompanied by your service dog or assistive animal. A service dog is a dog that is specially trained to assist a person with a disability, whether the dog is referred to as a service dog, an independence dog, a support dog, or by any other title. An assistive animal means a simian (a monkey or an ape) or other animal that is specially trained or in training to assist a person with a disability.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
The ADA doesn’t include what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Similarly, although Iowa law refers to support animals, only animals that are trained to assist someone with a disability are covered by the law, not animals whose purpose is to provide comfort simply by being present. Neither the ADA nor Iowa’s disability law cover pets.
In Iowa, people with disabilities may bring their service animals with them to any place of public accommodation. In Iowa, public accommodations include:
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad and includes any place that is open to the public.
The ADA and Iowa 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
And under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. Under Iowa law, your service or assistive animal must be under control. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Iowa law and the federal Fair Housing Act and prohibit discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals (and assistive animals, under Iowa law). You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
In addition, the federal Fair Housing Act says that housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under Nevada's disability law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been 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. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. In addition to guide dogs (seeing-eye dogs) and hearing dogs, examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
In Nevada, people with disabilities may bring their service dogs or miniature horses with them to any place of public accommodation. Nevada defines places of public accommodation very broadly to include hotels and other lodging establishments (except the proprietor’s own home, if five or fewer rooms are rented out), restaurants, theaters, stadiums, stores, professional offices, hospitals, funeral parlors, zoos, schools, day care centers, food banks, senior centers, homeless shelters, golf courses, and any other place where the public is invited. Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad, covering all of the categories described above.
Under Nevada’s public accommodations law and the ADA, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service dogs or miniature horses in all public accommodations. Neither the ADA nor Nevada’s public accommodations law give people the right to bring pets or “emotional support animals” into public accommodations: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Under the ADA and Nevada’s public accommodations law, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Nevada 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
The ADA and Nevada’s public accommodations law allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable to effectively control it.
Nevada’s housing discrimination law prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to someone with a disability solely because that tenant will live on the property with an animal that supports, assists, or provides services to the tenant. The landlord may require the tenant to provide proof that the animal provides the necessary support, assistance, or services. This may take the form of a statement from the tenant’s health care provider that the animal performs a function that ameliorates the effects of the tenant’s disability. The federal Fair Housing Act also prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals.
You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs, miniature horses, and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Kansas law applies to "assistance dogs," which include:
Under the ADA, a service animal is any dog or miniature horse that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In addition to guide dogs and hearing assistance dogs, here are some other examples of service animals under the ADA:
Neither the ADA nor Kansas’s public accommodations law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
In Kansas, people with disabilities may bring their guide dogs, hearing assistance dogs, or service dogs on all common carriers and forms of public transportation (including buses, trains, boats, and cars); to all hotels, lodgings, restaurants, other places that sell food; to all places of public resort, amusement, or accommodation; and to all other places to which the public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad. It includes restaurants, hotels, recreational facilities, parks, zoos, educational institutions, social service centers, and any other place of public gathering.
Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Kansas’s disability rights law, people with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their assistance dogs/service animals in restaurants, hotels, stores, theaters, and other public accommodations. Owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals or pets. Kansas law specifically states that dogs who provide comfort, protection, or personal defense (and are not trained to mitigate someone’s disability) don’t qualify as assistance dogs.
Under Kansas law, if a question comes up about whether your animal is an assistance animal, you may provide the public accommodation with a letter or identification card. The contents of the card depend on whether you trained the animal yourself or it was trained by a school or professional trainer, but it must include a picture of the animal.
Under the ADA, however, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. Public accommodations in Kansas must comply with both state and federal law.
The ADA and Kansas 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Finally, the ADA and Kansas’s public accommodations law allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Kansas law and the federal Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals (or assistance dogs, under Kansas law). You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>The District of Columbia defines a service animal as an animal that:
The definition under D.C. law specifically excludes animals that serve solely as companions or that serve only to deter crime.
Similarly, under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks. But in some cases, under the ADA a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
The ADA does not cover what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities. Pets are also not covered.
Under the laws of Washington, D.C., service animals must be allowed in all hotels and other lodging places; all places of public amusement, resort, or accommodation; all places to which the public is invited, and all common carriers, types of transportation, and public conveyances (including buses, taxis, trains, boats, and so on).
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad. It includes:
Religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
The ADA and Washington, D.C. 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. D. C. law also allows an establishment to ask whether your animal is required for your disability and whether your animal is housebroken.
The District of Columbia’s disability rights law requires landlords to allow full and equal access to housing for people with mental and physical disabilities and their service animals. D.C. law does not allow landlords to charge extra for a service animal, but you must pay for any damage your animal causes. Landlords are allowed to require only (1) that you provide a verification from a physician or other healthcare provider that you meet the District’s definition of a person with a mental or physical disability; and (2) that you demonstrate a connection between your disability and the function provided by your service animal. Landlords may not inquire more deeply into the nature or severity of your disability, nor may they require you to describe your disability in determining whether you are eligible for the rental.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. Under the Fair Housing Act you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Wisconsin’s equal rights law gives people with disabilities the right to bring their service animals into all public accommodations, a term the law interprets broadly to include all places of business; all places of recreation; hotels and lodgings; taverns and restaurants; barbers, manicurists, cosmetologists, and other aestheticians; nursing homes; clinics and hospitals; cemeteries; and all other places that make goods, services, amusement, or other accommodations available, free or otherwise.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is equally comprehensive. However, religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution.
Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities. Wisconsin law is similar: private, nonprofit clubs that serve only members and their invited guests or the club’s own guests are not covered.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been 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. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Wisconsin’s equal rights law defines a service animal as a guide dog, signal dog, or other animal that is trained individually to perform tasks for someone with a disability, including the task of guiding a vision-impaired person, alerting a hearing-impaired person to intruders or sound, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items. Wisconsin's law does not address whether it covers service animals for people with psychiatric disabilities.
Neither the ADA nor Wisconsin’s equal rights law, however, covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities.
Under the ADA and Wisconsin law, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
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. However, you may 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, to make sure service animals and their handlers can be in every part of the accommodation that is otherwise open to the public, and to make sure that service animals and their handlers are not separated or segregated from other patrons in the establishment.
The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. Under Wisconsin law, your service animal need not be admitted if it would fundamentally change the nature of the accommodation or jeopardize its safe operation. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
Wisconsin law prohibits housing discrimination against those with disabilities. Those who have impaired vision, hearing, or mobility must be allowed to be accompanied by their animals if they are specially trained to lead or otherwise assist them. (The law doesn’t reference other types of disabilities for which someone might use a service animal.) However, you may be required to provide the credentials of a recognized school that trained the animal for this purpose, and you must clean up after your animal and pay for any damage it causes.
]]>Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been 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. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Minnesota’s Human Rights Act adopts the ADA’s definition of service animals, BUT it restricts its coverage to those who are blind, deaf, or have a physical or sensory disability. This limit appears to exclude those who use service animals for a psychiatric or mental disability. Minnesota businesses still must comply with the ADA, however.
Neither the ADA nor Minnesota’s equal rights law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities.
Minnesota gives people with certain disabilities the right to bring their service animals into all public accommodations, including all streets, highways, sidewalks, and walkways; all public buildings, facilities, and places; all common carriers and modes of transportation (including buses, trains, boats, and so on); all hotels and lodging places; all places of public resort, amusement, or accommodation; and any other place to which the public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very comprehensive, including all places to which the public is invited. However, religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Minnesota 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. Minnesota law states that service animals must be properly leashed or harnessed so their handlers may control them.
Minnesota law prohibits housing discrimination against those with disabilities. Those who are blind, deaf, or have other physical or sensory disabilities must be allowed to live with their service animals. However, it must be possible to identify your dog as trained by a recognized training program. And although you can’t be required to pay extra to have your service dog, you may have to pay for any damage it causes.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under Missouri law, people with disabilities are entitled to bring their service dogs into public places. Service dogs are defined as dogs that are specifically trained to assist those with physical or mental disabilities by doing work or performing necessary tasks that their handlers can't perform for themselves. Examples of the tasks listed in Missouri's law include pulling a wheelchair, performing search and rescue for a person with a disability, and retrieving and carrying items. Because Missouri law explicitly covers mental disabilities, psychiatric service dogs fall within the definition of service dogs, as long as they are specially trained to do necessary work that their handler can’t do.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been individually trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for a person with a disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal.) Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Missouri’s service dog law includes what some people call therapy dogs or “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Missouri law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
Missouri law applies to:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Missouri 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety or if it is not housebroken or is out of control.
Missouri and federal law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. Your landlord may not charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes), and you and your service animal must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Missouri’s housing law, however, protects only blind or partially blind people who have guide dogs; deaf or partially deaf people who have hearing dogs; and people with physical disabilities who have service dogs. People with mental disabilities who have service animals do not appear to be protected by the Missouri housing law.
But pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, as long as it's necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Tennessee’s public accommodations law doesn’t use the term “service animal.” Instead, it refers only to “dog guides.” The law doesn’t define the term dog guide, but it does say that public accommodations are required to allow dog guides only if they are leading or accompanying someone who is blind, deaf, hard of hearing, or otherwise physically disabled. Based on the language, it seems unlikely that a psychiatric service animal would qualify for protection under Tennessee law.
Under the ADA, however, a service animal is any dog that has been individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Tennessee’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Tennessee law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals and dog guides. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Tennessee law requires places of public accommodation, recreation, and amusement to allow dog guides. These places include hotels, restaurants, barber shops, stores, theaters, public transportation, public schools, and elevators.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
Under the ADA and Tennessee law, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
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 may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out. Tennessee law and the ADA both allow an accommodation to exclude your animal if it is not housebroken or out of control (and you can't take steps to control it).
Tennessee law prohibits discrimination in leased or purchased housing accommodations against those with physical disabilities. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities. Tennessee's law on service animals in housing, however, applies only to guide dogs that assist handlers who are fully or partially blind. Your landlord may not charge you extra for having a guide dog (although you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Under the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow all service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>However, in the wake of disruptions caused by untrained emotional support animals on planes and passengers' attempts to fly with unusual species, the U.S. Department of Transportation amended the ACAA regulations to allow airlines to impose restrictions on traveling with some types of service animals. Read on for details.
Previously, airlines were required to allow most species of assistance animals—including pigs, monkeys, and miniature horses—with some exceptions, such as when they posed a direct threat to health and safety. As of January 10, 2021, a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rule amended the ACAA regulations to define a service animal as a dog (regardless of breed or type) that is individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.
Airlines may not refuse to allow a service animal based on its breed or physical type, but they may require that the dog fit on the handler's lap or within the handler's foot space on the plane. They may also require that service dogs be harnessed or leashed on the plane and in the airport. (14 C.F.R. § 382.117, 85 Fed. Reg. 79742 (2020).)
Under the amended regulations, airlines may require passengers traveling with service dogs to submit a completed form with information and assurances about the animal's training, health, and good behavior. Also, if any segment of the flight is scheduled to take at least eight hours, the passenger may need to provide documentation that the service animal won’t need to relieve itself on the plane or can do so in a way that doesn’t create a health or sanitation problem.
The DOT rule also prohibits airlines from treating psychiatric service animals any differently than other service animals (such as by requiring additional documentation from a mental health professional, as the regulations previously allowed). (14 C.F.R. § 382.117, 85 Fed. Reg. 79742 (2020).)
Under the previous regulations, travelers could bring untrained emotional support animals on planes as long as they provided documentation from a mental health professional that they needed the animal's presence to fly. Because these animals don't need any special training, the lax requirements led to conflicts on flights, including attacks on other passengers or trained service animals.
In response to all the complaints, the amended regulations no longer require airlines to recognize emotional support animals as service animals. That means that anyone who wants to bring an emotional support animal on a plane may have to comply with the individual airline's restrictions—and extra fees—for flying with pets.
People with disabilities who are flying with trained service dogs may have to submit the DOT forms (discussed above) up to 48 hours in advance of the travel date if a reservation was made before then. Otherwise, the passengers may submit the forms at the gate before boarding. Airlines may not require that people traveling with service dogs check in physically at the airport (rather than using online check-in).
]]>These disability laws generally require landlords, transportation operators, employers, and business owners to allow service animals even if they otherwise prohibit animals. And some people try to take advantage of these requirements by falsely claiming that their pets are service animals. Many states are onto this ruse: It is a crime in some places to try to pass off a pet as a service animal.
Under the federal ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been individually trained to work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, whether physical or mental. In some cases, miniature horses that have been specially trained also count as service animals. Most state disability laws define service animals similarly, although there may be some variation in the details; to find out your state’s rules, select your state from the list of state laws on service animals.
Service animals perform a wide variety of tasks, such as:
Service animals are specially trained to perform their tasks. In fact, many are bred specifically for this purpose, then trained for months to learn their work. The work requires such focus and discipline that many animals don’t ultimately make the grade–and those that do often retire in middle age.
As wonderful as they may be, pets are not service animals. Nor are emotional support animals: animals that provide comfort, companionship, and even protection to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals can greatly help their owners and may have therapeutic value, they are not the same as trained psychiatric service animals and are not covered under the laws as service animals.
A growing number of states have passed laws making it illegal to falsely claim that you are entitled to be accompanied by a service animal. In some states, it’s illegal to falsely misrepresent that your pet or other animal is a service animal (by, for example, putting your dog in a “guide dog” or “service dog” vest).
The penalties for violating these laws vary. In California, for instance, it is a misdemeanor to falsely and knowingly claim that you are the owner or trainer of a service animal. The crime is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. In New Jersey, you can be fined from $100 to $500 for putting your dog in a guide dog harness to falsely pass it off as a guide dog. In Texas, outfitting your dog as a service animal (when it is not) is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $300 and 30 hours of community service.
For people with disabilities, specially trained service animals play an absolutely vital role. They make it possible for those with disabilities to work, travel, stay safe, and, in some cases, stay alive.
By falsely claiming that your pet is a service animal in order to, for example, bring it into a restaurant with you or take it on the bus, you are not only inconveniencing others who have to put up with your animal. You are poisoning attitudes towards true service animals, and leading bystanders and proprietors to believe others may be “faking it.” In addition, if you enter a facility where an actual service animal is working, your untrained animal may jeopardize the safety of the service animal and its handler. And, you may also be breaking the law. Leave your pet at home, and allow true service animals to do their jobs.
]]>Which California law applies depends on three factors: what kind of animal it is, how the animal helps the disabled individual, and the setting or place involved.
A "service dog," under California law, is a dog trained to help a specific individual with a disability with services such as fetching dropped items, minimal protection work, rescue work, or pulling a wheelchair. There are two important things to note about the California's definition of service dogs. First, it is limited to dogs. (But because the ADA authorizes the use of miniature horses as service animals in some limited circumstances, California does as well.)
Second, it is further limited to dogs that are trained to help individuals with their specific requirements. So, no animal other than a dog can qualify as a service animal, even if that animal is trained to assist a person with a disability. Furthermore, even a dog will not qualify as a service dog if it is not individually trained to help an individual with a disability (in a way that is related to his or her disability).
California doesn't have a separate definition for "psychiatric service dog," but a dog that is individually trained to help a person with a mental disability with specific requirements is considered a service dog, and an individual that uses such a dog is entitled to the same rights under the law as someone with a physical disability that uses a service dog.
Examples of work or tasks that a service dog can be trained to perform for someone with a mental disability include:
An "emotional support animal" is a dog or other animal that is not trained to perform specific acts directly related to an individual’s disability. Instead, the animal's owner derives a sense of well-being, safety, or calm from the animal’s companionship and presence. An emotional support animal does not need to be a dog, but can be. (For more on the basic difference between service dogs and support animals, see Nolo's article on service dogs and support animals.)
California law guarantees people who use trained service dogs full and equal access to public places.
In California, the service dog guarantees apply to an even broader range of public places than the ADA covers, including:
Public places must allow persons with disabilities to bring in their service dogs and, if necessary, they must modify their practices and to accommodate the dogs. Public places must also permit an authorized trainer to bring in a service dog, even if the trainer herself doesn't have a disability.
A public place can ask only two questions to determine if that individual's dog is a service dog:
The public place cannot require a person to "prove" that their dog is a service dog. A service dog is not required to be registered, certified, or identified as a service dog. However, in California, pretending to be an owner of a service dog is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 (and/or up to six months imprisonment).
California has specific rules regarding the use of service dogs at zoos or wild animal parks. Such places are not required to allow service dogs in areas where animals are not separated from the public by a physical barrier. But a zoo or park that doesn't allow service dogs into such areas must provide free, clean, and safe kennel facilities. Under some circumstances, the facility must also provide certain additional accommodations--such as free transportation and sighted escorts--to blind or visually impaired patrons and to individuals who rely on their service dog for mobility.
The protections discussed above do not apply to emotional support animals. California law, like federal law, doesn't require that emotional support animals be allowed in public places.
California does have laws, however, protecting the use of emotional support animals in other settings. To learn more, see Nolo's articles on when California landlords have to allow psychiatric service dogs and emotional support animals and how California protects psychiatric service dogs and emotional support animals in the workplace. In addition, federal law allows people with disabilities to bring their emotional support animal onto an airplane. (See Nolo's article on federal protections for emotional support animals.)
California law typically offers greater protection than federal law for persons with disabilities. For example, California defines "disability" more broadly than the ADA does. Under the federal ADA, a physical or mental impairment qualifies as a disability only if it "substantially limits" a major life activity. In California, a physical or mental impairment need only limit (not "substantially" limit) a major life activity, which simply means that the impairment must make the achievement of the major life activity difficult.
In California, a mental disability includes any mental or psychological disorder or condition--such as intellectual disability, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, or specific learning disabilities--that limits a major life activity. A major life activity refers to physical, mental, and social activities and working. California does not, however, consider compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or unlawful substance use disorders to be mental disabilities.
]]>In Louisiana, a service animal is a dog who is trained to do work or tasks for someone with a disability, whether physical or mental. A service dog might be a guide dog, a hearing dog, a mobility dog, an autism service dog, a seizure alert dog, a dog that provides assistance during a medical crisis, or a dog that assists people (including veterans) with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or in some cases, a miniature horse). In addition to guide dogs and hearing dogs, here are some examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA:
Neither the ADA nor Louisiana’s service animal law includes therapy dogs or what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Louisiana law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
In Louisiana, you may bring your service animal into any public accommodation, which includes:
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
The ADA and Louisiana law have similar rules for what accommodations may ask about your service animal, your service animal’s behavior, and fees for your service animal.
Under the ADA and Louisiana law, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Louisiana law both 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Federal and state law allow a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and Louisiana law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals or psychiatric servce animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not be charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been individually trained to perform disability-related tasks or work for the benefit of a person with a disability. (In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal.) Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Wyoming’s disability rights law uses the same definition as the ADA.
Neither the ADA nor Wyoming’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Wyoming law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is very broad. It includes:
In Wyoming, you may bring your service animal into any place of public accommodation and any place to which the public is invited. Wyoming uses the same definition of public accommodation as the ADA.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Wyoming 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety, if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control.
Under Wyoming law, you may not be discriminated against in rental housing because you use an assistance animal: an animal that works, performs tasks, or provides assistance to a person with a disability or an animal that provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified effects or symptoms of a person’s disability.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. This means that you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord or property manager may not charge extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Oklahoma gives people with certain disabilities the right to bring their service dogs into all public accommodations, including all streets, highways, sidewalks, and walkways; all public buildings; all common carriers and modes of transportation (including airplanes, cars, buses, trains, boats, and so on); all motels, hotels, and other lodging places; all college dormitories and other educational facilities; all restaurants and other places where food is sold; and all places of public resort, convenience, amusement, or accommodation to which the general public is invited.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very comprehensive and includes all public places. However, religious entities, such as churches, synagogues, and mosques, are not considered public accommodations under the ADA. This is so even if the religious entity offers secular services, such as a day-care center that admits children whether or not they are members of or affiliated with the religious institution. Private clubs (member-controlled nonprofit groups that are highly selective, charge substantial membership fees, and were not created in order to avoid compliance with civil rights laws) are also not covered by the ADA. However, if a private club makes facilities available to nonmembers, it is subject to the ADA’s public accommodation rules as to those facilities.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been individually 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. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Oklahoma law applies only to guide, signal, or service dogs who assist those who are blind, deaf or hard of hearing, or otherwise physically disabled. A service dog must be individually trained to a physically disabled person’s requirements. The law doesn’t apply to other types of animals, nor to dogs who assist those with other types of disabilities, such as psychiatric or other mental disabilities. Oklahoma businesses still must comply with the ADA, which applies more broadly as noted above.
Neither the ADA nor Oklahoma’s equal rights law covers what some people call “emotional support animals”: 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 are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities. Pets are also not covered.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you. Oklahoma law states that signal dogs (those that assist deaf or hard of hearing people) must wear an identifying orange collar.
The ADA and Oklahoma 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. However, you may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
Oklahoma’s landlord-tenant laws prohibit landlords from ending a rental arrangement or refusing to enter into one with a tenant who is blind, deaf, or otherwise physically disabled because the tenant uses a guide dog, signal dog, or service dog. (There is an exception for tenancies entered into before November 1, 1985.)
Likewise, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or miniature horse) that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In addition to hearing dogs and guide dogs, service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
West Virginia’s White Cane Law defines a service animal as a guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to perform work or tasks for someone with a physical or mental disability. The law lists the following as examples of tasks a service animal might perform:
Neither the ADA nor West Virginia law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and West Virginia law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
West Virginia’s White Cane Law defines public accommodations to include:
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
West Virginia’s White Cane Law specifically says that a service animal need not be licensed or certified by the government. Your service animal also need not have any particular sign or label. It must be on leash while on a common carrier like a bus, and it may not take up a seat on public transportation.
The ADA and West Virginia law both 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes. West Virginia law creates an exception to this rule: You are not liable for damage done by your service animal to someone (or that person’s property) who provokes or incites your animal to cause damage.
The ADA allows a public accommodation to exclude your service animal if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
Similarly, West Virginia’s fair housing law prohibits discrimination in selling or renting housing based on disability and requires landlords to accommodate assistance animals: any service, therapy, or support animal that weighs less than 150 pounds. The animal must provide assistance or do work or tasks for the benefit of someone with a disability, or must provide emotional support that alleviates at least one identified effect or symptom of the person’s disability. The animal need not be certified or have specific training. However, a landlord need not allow an assistance animal that would pose a direct threat to health and safety or that would cause substantial physical damage to the property.
]]>Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. In addition to hearing dogs and seeing-eye dogs (a.k.a. guide dogs) service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Vermont’s public accommodations law does not include a definition of service animals. However, it does provide that people with disabilities may not be prohibited from entering public accommodations with their service animals. Public accommodations in Vermont must comply with both state and federal law.
Neither the ADA nor Vermont law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.
Vermont defines public accommodations as schools, stores, restaurants, facilities, or establishments that offers goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, benefits, or accommodations to the public. Vermont’s public accommodations law also applies to any person, organization, governmental entity, or other entity that operates, owns, or leases a public accommodation.
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. An establishment may ask you only whether your dog is a service animal and what tasks it performs for you.
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 may 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 (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it. You are still entitled to enter the public accommodation even if your service animal is not allowed in.
Vermont’s unfair housing practices law prohibits discrimination in the sale or renting of property based on the renter or purchaser’s use of specially trained animals. Landlords may not charge an additional security deposit.
In addition, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 your animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>In Montana, you may bring your service animal into any place that caters to the public (offers facilities, services, or goods to the general public). Montana’s public accommodations law includes a long list of examples, including hotels, inns, trailer parks, and campgrounds; restaurants, ice cream parlors, cafes, and bars; barbershops and salons; swimming pools, skating rinks, golf courses, and resorts; bathrooms and rest houses; theaters; and hospitals.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is both broad and detailed. It includes:
In Montana, a service animal is defined as a dog or other animal that is individually trained to provide assistance to someone with a disability. Similarly, under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or in some cases, a miniature horse) that has been individually trained to perform disability-related tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Montana’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Montana law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Montana 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and Montana law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not be charge you extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law defines a service animal as a guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to perform work or tasks for someone with a physical disability. The law includes examples of tasks a service animal might perform: pulling a wheelchair, fetching dropped items, or providing minimal rescue or protection work. However, the law does not appear to cover service animals that help those with mental disabilities, such as psychiatric service animals. These animals are covered under the ADA, as noted below.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Delaware law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers.
Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law defines public accommodations as any place that:
Delaware law includes state and local agencies, as well as hotels and motels that cater to the transient public.
The ADA sets out a long list of facilities that qualify as public accommodations to which you may bring your service animal, including:
Under Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities may bring service animals (under Delaware law, only service animals that assist those with physical disabilities) to any public accommodations. Owners of public accommodations, however, are not required to allow emotional support animals and pets. Public accommodations in Delaware must comply with both state and federal law.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
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 may 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, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, is not housebroken, or if it is out of control).
Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law doesn’t include any rules about charging for or excluding service animals. However, Delaware’s White Cane Law provides some rules for guide and leader dogs, who work with those who are blind. You may not be charged any extra fees to have your guide dog with you, but you may have to pay for any damage it causes. And, your guide dog may be excluded if admitting it would create a clear danger of disturbance or of physical harm to others.
Delaware’s White Cane Law requires landlords to allow guide dogs for those who are fully or partially blind. Your landlord may not charge you extra for your guide dog, but you may have to pay for any damage caused by your dog.
As to other types of service animals, Delaware’s Fair Housing Law prohibits discrimination in selling or renting housing based on disability, and the law requires landlords and others to make reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities. Although the law doesn’t refer to service animals, having a service animal might constitute a reasonable accommodation, depending on the circumstances.
But fortunately, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing accommodations against those who use service animals, so you must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>Kentucky law requires all public accommodations to allow people with disabilities who are accompanied by assistance dogs. Kentucky doesn’t further define “assistance dogs,” but it does define disability to include physical and mental impairments, such as intellectual disabilities, organic brain syndrome, and emotional and mental illness. Therefore, Kentucky law applies both to dogs that assist handlers with physical tasks (like pulling a wheelchair or alerting to particular sounds) and to psychiatric service dogs.
Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or sometimes a miniature horse) that has been trained to perform tasks for a person with a mental or physical disability. Examples of service animals that must be allowed into public accommodations under the ADA include:
Neither the ADA nor Kentucky’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and Kentucky law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals and dog guides. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Kentucky's assistance dog law applies to hotels, motels, restaurants or other eating establishments, and all public places of amusement, recreation, or resort. It also applies to public buildings, elevators, and transportation (as long as the dog does not take up a seat).
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also very broad. It includes places such as hotels, bus stations, restaurants, stores, theaters, gyms, zoos, libraries, schools, homeless shelters, and much more.
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
The ADA and Kentucky 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. However, you may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety. For example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out. An accommodation may also exclude your animal if it is not housebroken or out of control (and you cannot or won’t take steps to control it).
Kentucky and federal law prohibit discrimination in rental and public housing accommodations against those who use assistance dogs and service animals. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and may not be charged extra for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service animal.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>In New Hampshire, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to do tasks or work for the benefit of someone with a disability. The disability may be physical, sensory (such as low vision or deafness), or intellectual, psychiatric, or some other kind of mental disability. The tasks a service animal might perform include helping a blind person navigate, retrieving items, pulling a wheelchair, helping a person with a psychiatric disability by preventing or interrupting impulsive behaviors, or providing physical support to assist someone whose mobility is impaired to balance and remain stable.
Similarly, under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal under the ADA. 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:
Neither the ADA nor New Hampshire’s service animal law includes what some people call “emotional support animals”: animals that provide a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional disabilities or conditions. Although emotional support dogs and therapy dogs and other animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. Under the ADA and New Hampshire law, owners of public accommodations are not required to allow emotional support animals, only service animals. These laws also don’t apply to pets.
Public accommodations in New Hampshire must comply with both state and federal law.
In New Hampshire, you may bring your service dog into any public accommodation, which includes a long list of examples, including hotels, roadhouses, and trailer parks; restaurants, ice cream parlors, and bars; swimming pools, skating rinks, gymnasiums, fairs, and pool halls; shops and stores; theaters, auditoriums, music halls, and meeting places; schools and libraries; and hospitals.
Under the ADA, the definition of public accommodations is also quite broad. It includes:
Under the ADA, a public accommodation may not ask you questions about your disability or demand to see certification, identification, or other proof of your animal’s training or status. If it is not apparent what your service animal does, the establishment may ask you only whether it is a service animal, and what tasks it performs for you.
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 may have to pay for any damage your animal causes.
Under the ADA, your service animal can be excluded from a public accommodation if it poses a direct threat to health and safety (or example, if your dog is aggressively barking and snapping at other customers, the facility can kick the dog out). Your animal may also be excluded if it is not housebroken, or if it is out of control and you are unable or unwilling to effectively control it.
Both the federal Fair Housing Act and New Hampshire law prohibit discrimination in rental housing accommodations against those who use service dogs. You must be allowed full and equal access to all housing facilities, and your landlord may not charge you extra for having a service dog (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). If your lease or rental agreement includes a “no pets” provision, it does not apply to your service dog.
Pursuant to the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals, if necessary for a person 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 you must have a disability-related need for the animal. In other words, the animal must work, perform tasks or services, or alleviate the emotional effects of your disability in order to qualify. (For more information, see the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s guidance on service animals.)
]]>New York law and the ADA differ in some ways, but public accommodations in New York must comply with both sets of laws. If you have a service animal in New York, you’re entitled to rely on whichever law provides the most protections. Read on to learn which animals qualify as service animals, which places must allow them, and how these laws treat emotional support animals.
New York's Civil Rights Law requires public facilities to allow guide dogs, service dogs, and hearing dogs. Under the law, a service dog is a dog that has been or is being trained to work or perform tasks for a person with a disability (including psychiatric disabilities). For example:
Note that New York’s service animal law applies only to dogs, not other animals.
The ADA defines a service animal similarly—as a dog that’s individually trained to perform tasks or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability. But under the ADA, a miniature horse can also sometimes qualify as a service animal. Whether your service animal is a dog or miniature horse, the tasks or work the animal can do must be directly related to your disability.
The definition of service animal doesn’t include emotional support animals (ESAs) under either New York law or the ADA. Emotional support animals provide companionship and emotional support that eases the symptoms or effects of a person’s disability, and they can have therapeutic benefits. Emotional support animals can be any type of animal.
But emotional support animals don’t have specialized training to aid their handlers, so they don’t qualify as service animals under New York law or the ADA. Although both laws require owners of public accommodations to admit service animals (including psychiatric service dogs), neither law protects your right to have your emotional support animal with you in public. These state and federal service animal laws also don't apply to regular pets.
You have the right to take your service dog to any public accommodation in New York as defined by law. New York service dog laws consider a wide range of locations to be public accommodations, including all of the following:
But the ADA rules and New York service dog laws don’t apply to flying with or being in an airport terminal with your assistance animal. Learn about your right to have your service dog or emotional support animal with you when you fly.
Housing providers in New York are governed by the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). And your right to have an emotional support animal live with you is protected under the FHA—whether you’re buying or renting just about any type of home, including all of the following types of dwellings:
The FHA requires housing providers to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities, and that includes having a service dog or emotional support animal live with you if you need one. But you must request the accommodation, and you can be asked to provide a letter from your health care provider stating that you need the ESA.
Under this federal housing law, service dogs and emotional support animals aren’t considered pets. So, they can’t be barred from your residence because of a “no pets” policy, and breed and size restrictions don’t apply to ESAs or service dogs.
In the City of New York, the NYC Human Rights Law also protects against disability discrimination in housing—including protecting your right to have an ESA as a reasonable accommodation for your disability. Under the law, any animal that’s legal to own in the city can be an emotional support animal. So, you can have a support turtle or ferret, but not an emotional support bat or bear under city health codes.
(Learn more about landlord-tenant laws in New York.)
A public accommodation isn’t required to allow your service animal to remain if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. If, for example, your service dog is growling and lunging at other patrons, and you’re unable to stop the behavior, the dog might have to leave.
And the FHA allows a housing provider to refuse a reasonable accommodation request for a service dog or emotional support animal in the following situations:
Ultimately, under both federal laws and New York service dog laws, you can lose your right to have your service dog in a public accommodation or the right to have your ESA live with you if you can’t keep the animal under control.
In New York, a public accommodation can ask you if your dog is a service animal if it's not clear. But you can’t be required to present a license, document, or other proof that your animal is a service animal. And a public accommodation can’t require you to pay a fee or any extra charge for having a service animal.
If your disability isn’t apparent, a housing provider can ask for documentation of your need for a service dog or emotional support animal. But the FHA prohibits landlords and homeowner associations (HOAs) from charging you extra (or making you pay a special deposit) to have your ESA or service dog in your home.
Different rules apply to having service dogs and emotional support animals at work. Learn more about when New York employers are required to allow dogs and other animals at work.
Updated March 28, 2023
]]>Different laws govern the use of service animals in different contexts. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) governs the use of service dogs in public places.
The ADA guarantees people with disabilities who use service dogs equal access to public places such as restaurants, hospitals, hotels, theaters, shops, and government buildings. This means that these places must allow service dogs, and the ADA requires them to modify their practices to accommodate the dogs, if necessary.
However, these protections only apply to dogs that satisfy the ADA’s definition of “service animal.” The ADA defines a service animal as a dog that is "individually trained" to "perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.” The tasks a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability.
A "helper monkey" or a cat cannot be considered a service animal under the ADA; the ADA limits the definition of service animals to dogs. In some limited circumstances, the ADA provides that public places should also accommodate persons with disabilities who use miniature horses to perform tasks.
The best-known example of service dogs are guide dogs that help blind people navigate safely around obstacles. Service dogs can also be trained to assist deaf individuals, wheelchair-users and other people with mobility impairments, as well as people who have psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities.
“Psychiatric service dogs” are service dogs that provide assistance to people with psychiatric disabilities, such as severe depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Examples of work or tasks that psychiatric service dogs perform include:
Many individuals—both with and without disabilities—derive emotional support and comfort from dogs and other animals that are not specially trained to perform specific tasks directly related to a psychiatric disability.
The ADA considers such “emotional support animals” to be distinct from psychiatric service dogs, and treats them differently. The ADA does not grant emotional support dog owners the same right of access to public places that it gives to individuals who use psychiatric service dogs. That means that under the ADA, a movie theater, for example, must allow psychiatric service dogs to accompany their owners into the movie auditorium but can refuse to admit individuals with emotional support dogs.
It is not always clear—to staff at public places, and even to some people with disabilities—whether an animal accompanying an individual with a psychiatric disability or impairment is performing a psychiatric service or “merely” providing emotional support. Confusion may result in unlawful and discriminatory treatment of people with disabilities.
The key distinction to remember is that a psychiatric service animal is actually trained to perform certain tasks that are directly related to an individual’s psychiatric disability. The dog’s primary role is not to provide emotional support. It is to assist the owner with the accomplishment of vital tasks they otherwise would not be able to perform independently. In addition, a psychiatric service dog must not only respond to an owner’s need for help, the dog must also be trained to recognize the need for help in the first place. A dog must be able to respond and recognize to be a service dog.
By contrast, an emotional support dog is a pet that is not trained to perform specific acts directly related to an individual’s psychiatric disability. Instead, the pet's owner simply derives a sense of well-being, safety, or calm from the dog’s companionship and physical presence.
The animal companionship of an emotional support dog can have genuine therapeutic benefits for individuals with psychiatric disabilities and less severe mental impairments. But unless the dog is also trained to work—to independently recognize and respond to its owner’s psychiatric disability—the dog does not qualify as a psychiatric service dog and does not receive the protections of the ADA.
For example, people with social phobia might only feel safe enough to leave their home for food or medication if their dog accompanies them. Such a dog would be considered an emotional support animal.
If, however, the same person is prone to dissociative episodes when they leave home, and their dog is trained to recognize and respond to the onset of such an episode by nudging, barking, or removing the individual to a safe location, then the dog would be considered a psychiatric service dog.
Some states have laws that provide broader protection than the ADA. For example, while the ADA only applies to qualified individuals with a disability, Rhode Island’s law extends those protections to cover trainers of personal assistance animals as well.
On the other hand, several states have disability discrimination laws that, unlike federal laws, exclude psychiatric service dogs from protection. This does not mean that the ADA does not apply in those states. It means that psychiatric service dog owners simply do not have additional rights under state laws in these locales. As long as federal law applies, the ADA trumps or “preempts” the more restrictive state law.
While the ADA governs the use of emotional support animals in public places, two other federal laws, the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and Fair Housing Act (FHAct), govern the use of emotional service animals in housing or on commercial aircraft.
Under the Fair Housing Act, an individual with a disability may be entitled to keep an emotional support animal in housing facilities that otherwise do not allow pets. An emotional support animal—which can include animals other than dogs—must be permitted as a reasonable accommodation when an individual requires the animal in order to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the housing. The assistance the animal provides must relate to the individual’s disability.
The federal Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) requires commercial airlines to permit service animals to accompany passengers with a disability on flights. As of January 10, 2021, a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rule amended the requirements for traveling with service animals and emotional support animals. The rule requires airlines to treat trained psychiatric service animals the same as other service animals, with no special documentation from a mental health professional. At the same time, however, the rule allows airlines to impose additional restrictions on service animals, including limiting them to dogs and requiring people with disabilities to submit forms attesting to the dogs' training, good behavior, and health. (Learn more about the rules for flying with service dogs.)
Under the DOT rule, airlines may also treat emotional support animals like pets rather than service animals. This means that people who want to bring their emotional support animals onboard may have to pay the extra fees and meet all of the restrictions on flying with pets.
]]>Both federal and California state laws define “reasonable accommodation.” Landlords in California must follow both state and federal fair housing laws.
The federal Fair Housing Act requires that landlords accommodate the needs of tenants with disabilities, at the landlord’s expense. This means that the landlord must adjust their rules, procedures, or services in order to give the person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a rental unit or a common space. (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(B).)
California’s reasonable accommodation law is very similar to federal law. Under California law, a “reasonable accommodation” is an exception, change, or adjustment in rules, policies, practices, or services that’s necessary for a person with a disability to have equal opportunity to use and enjoy a rental. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12176(a) (2023).)
Neither federal nor California law requires landlords to bend every rule and change every procedure. Rather, landlords must accommodate reasonable requests—they don’t have to make changes that would seriously impair their ability to run their business or incur substantial costs.
Most of the time, waiving a “no-pets” or “no-animals” rule for the benefit of a person with disabilities will be considered a reasonable accommodation under both federal and California law.
Many terms exist in popular culture to describe animals that might be kept by people with disabilities. For example, you might hear such an animal called an “assistance animal,” a “service animal,” a “psychiatric service animal,” an “emotional support animal,” a “comfort animal,” or a “support animal.”
California law simplifies all these terms under the umbrella term of “assistance animals,” then breaks “assistance animals” into two categories: service animals and support animals. Under California law, landlords must make reasonable accommodations for a tenant who has any form of assistance animal to help with the individual’s disability.
Service animals are animals that are specifically trained to perform a task or do work for the benefit of a person with a disability (regardless of whether the disability is physical or mental). California law doesn’t limit the type of animal that can qualify as a service animal, but the most common are dogs and miniature horses.
Specific examples of service animals include:
(Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §§ 12005; 12185 (2023).)
Support animals—including comfort animals and emotional support animals—are animals that people keep for emotional, cognitive, or similar support. In California, people with disabilities who have a support animal can request a reasonable accommodation related to their need to have the animal in their rental.
(Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §§ 12005; 12185 (2023).)
Landlords can deny a request to keep a service or support animal in California if granting the request would:
Also, landlords can deny a request if:
(Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §§ 12176; 12179 (2023).)
A landlord can’t reject an assistance animal because of breed, size, or weight. In other words, a determination that an assistance animal poses a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage must be based on an individualized assessment that relies on objective evidence about the specific animal's actual conduct. The determination must not be made on mere speculation or fear about the types of harm or damage an animal could cause or because of evidence about harm or damage that other similar animals have caused. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12185 (2023).)
It’s not enough for a landlord to simply deny the accommodation for one of these reasons, though. If the request poses too great a burden, the landlord must engage with the tenant to try to identify, evaluate, and implement another solution. This doesn’t mean that the landlord and tenant must reach a compromise—instead, it means that they must interact and exchange information in good faith and make a reasonable attempt to work it out. What’s considered reasonable depends on the facts of each individual case. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12177 (2023).)
California landlords may not require applicants or residents to pay any pet fee, additional rent, or other additional fee—including additional security deposit or liability insurance—in connection with the assistance animal. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12185(d)(2) (2023).)
When the disability or need for reasonable accommodation is not obvious, a landlord may ask the person with a disability for documentation that they have a disability and a disability-related need for the service dog or support animal. This means that the only questions that California landlords can ask the individual are:
Landlords can’t ask the individual with the disability to have the animal perform the task. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12185 (2023).)
If the disability isn’t readily apparent, the landlord can request only information that:
The tenant must then provide the landlord with some form of credible information supporting the existence of the disability. It can be from the person themselves or a third party. The third party doesn’t have to be a health care provider; rather, it can be any reliable source who has personal knowledge of the individual’s need for a service or support animal. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 12178 (2023).)
California law breaks out two main categories of disability:
(Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 11065 (2023).)
Landlords must make reasonable accommodations for individuals with any disability that falls under these categories.
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