Service and Companion Animals

No. Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have
identification papers. Some states have programs to certify service animals, New Hampshire does not.  Businesses may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability. Businesses may ask if the animal is a service animal required because of a disability and what work or tasks it has been trained to perform. Businesses cannot require documentation as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal.

The service animal must be permitted to accompany you to all areas of the facility where customers and the public are normally allowed to go. You may not be segregated from other customers.

A service animal is not a pet. The ADA requires the business to
make an exception to the “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service
animal by a person with a disability.

No. Neither a deposit nor a surcharge may be imposed on an individual with a disability as a condition to allowing a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if deposits are routinely required for pets.

However, a public accommodation may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal causes damage so long as it is the
regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for
the same types of damages. For example, a hotel can charge a guest with a disability for the cost of repairing or cleaning furniture damaged by a service animal if it is the hotel’s policy to charge when non-disabled guests cause such damage.

Yes. Taxicab companies may not refuse to provide services to
individuals with disabilities. Private taxicab companies are also prohibited from charging higher fares or fees for transporting
individuals with disabilities and their service animals than they charge to other persons for the same or equivalent service.

Any animal, including a service animal, can be excluded from a
facility when that animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the  health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. The business may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.

A service animal must be housebroken.

Although a public accommodation may exclude any service animal that is out of control, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises.

There may be a few circumstances when a public accommodation is not required to accommodate a service animal – that is, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. Generally, this is not likely to occur in restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities. But when it does, for example, when a dog barks during a movie, the  animal can be excluded.