How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal in New Hampshire Certified

Businesses and organizations that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the facilities where customers are normally allowed to go. New Hampshire’s public accommodations definition includes a long list of examples, including hotels, roadhouses, trailer parks, restaurants, ice cream parlors, bars, swimming pools, skating rinks, gymnasiums, fairs, pool halls, shops and stores, theaters, auditoriums, music halls, meeting places, schools and libraries, and hospitals. The ADA’s definition of public accommodations is equally broad.

The only questions that may be asked of a service animal handler (when it is not obvious what service the animal provides) are 1. Is the animal required because of a disability? and 2. What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?

Service animals may be removed from or denied access to public accommodations if they are not housebroken, are out of control, or pose a threat to the health and safety of other patrons in the establishment. If a service animal has been barred from an establishment, the individual with the disability may still enter without the animal.

Transportation that is open to the public is covered under public accommodations law, and therefore must allow access for individuals with disabilities and their service animals. Taxis and shuttles, garages, “any public conveyance operated on land or water,” or any stations or terminals related to public conveyances are specifically mentioned in New Hamphire’s statutes, but generally all public transportation is covered.

Some municipalities in New Hampshire may allow you to register your animal as a service animal at no charge. In doing so, you can receive a tag directly from the governor’s commission on disability for your animal. However, this registration is optional and by no means a requirement for public access.

Employees with disabilities may apply to have their service animal in the workplace with them as a reasonable accommodation. When evaluating the reasonable accommodation request, employers can consider whether the request will provide undue hardship or fundamentally alter the nature of the business.

The ADA protects the right of service animals to be present in areas of healthcare facilities where the public is allowed, such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude an animal from places where its presence may compromise a sterile environment, such as operating rooms or burn units.

It is illegal to willfully interfere or attempt to interfere with a service animal. Depending on the level of interference, the offender could be charged with a misdemeanor.

New Hampshire follows the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which defines a service animal as a dog (regardless of breed or size) trained to do work or perform tasks to assist a qualified individual with a diability, and may include psychiatric service dogs. Minature horses are excluded in this definition.

Airlines can require a passenger to provide a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) form attesting to the animal’s health, behavior, and training and a U.S. DOT form attesting that the animal can either not relieve itself or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner (if the animal will be on a flight that is 8 or more hours).

The ACAA does not address service animals in-training, so airlines are not required to carry them as they do not meet the requirements of an ACAA-defined service animal. However, airlines can make their own individual policies.