How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal in Maine Certified
There are both state and federal laws in place to protect those who have an Emotional Support Animal in Maine. For so many Americans, an ESA is invaluable to helping overcome life’s myriad challenges. However, it’s important to remember that bringing an uncertified animal onto a rental property can lead to eviction, fees, and penalties.
\Landlords must follow state and federal regulations when it comes to support animals. Any landlord found to not be complying with the law can face legal and financial repercussions. ESAs do not have the same rights as Psychiatric Service Animals, but they are protected against housing discrimination by the federal Fair Housing Act.
American Service Pets can help provide individuals with an Emotional Support Animal in Maine with the necessary certification paperwork that allows them to access housing, travel, and public accommodations with their support animals. Say goodbye to worries about “pet rent,” and find our it you qualify for an Emotional Support Animal in Maine with our simple quiz.
The Benefits of Emotional Support Animals for Their Humans
State and federal governments back the use of Emotional Support Animals as a right for individuals facing psychological trauma. ESAs can be a variety of animals that provide support and comfort, be it reptiles, birds, or amphibians. Psychiatric Service Animals, however, are usually dogs due to the fact that they are easily trainable
Numerous Americans depend on their Emotional Support Animals to aid them with functioning in everyday life. These furry friends provide many benefits to their owners, including:
Mental & Emotional Health Booster
Caring for a beloved animal provides a natural emotional boost due to the mood lifters dopamine and serotonin. The presence of a pet can also break through negative thoughts of people struggling with depression. Pets make us smile and feel less lonely.
Holistic Treatment
Nowadays, Americans are increasingly searching for holistic ways to stay healthy. Certified Emotional Support Animals serve as this natural form of drug-free treatment for anxiety, stress, and depression. Caring for an animal you love also fosters outdoor activity, which can help naturally combat depression-related symptoms as well.
Providing Comfort
The pressures of our daily lives, such as financial matters, relationships, and health concerns, can often be overwhelming. Even just the act of cuddling and playing with your furry companion can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and stress.
So many rely on their Emotional Support Animal across the U.S. American Service Pets offers the ability to secure paperwork for those with an Emotional Support Animal in Maine. Find out if you qualify in just a few short minutes.
Laws Surrounding Emotional Support Animals in Maine
Emotional Support Animals are essential in the lives of their owners, but they are not trained to perform the life-saving tasks or disability assistance the way Psychiatric Service Animals are. As a result, ESAs and PSAs are granted similar but slightly different rights under the law.
Official ESAs have some state and federal protections, but uncertified animals do not have access rights. Official paperwork for an ESA must include approval of a licensed doctor or other licensed mental health provider in Maine, and it can typically be presented across the country once obtained. Different states have varying laws though, so it’s beneficial to check before traveling out of state. Here are some laws that may pertain to your Emotional Support Animal in Maine:
Housing Laws
Individuals with an Emotional Support Animal in Maine cannot be turned down by landlords in apartments, houses, public housing units, or condos for simply having an ESA. Landlords also may not apply additional “pet rent” charges, and they must generally allow for ESAs unless the animals are deemed to cause an “undue financial burden.”
The meaning of undue financial burden can vary in Maine, but it can include:
- Property damage
- Threat to any other tenants
- Homeowner allergies
Landlords in Maine may request to see your ESA paperwork. Presenting false paperwork or misrepresenting an animal as a service or support animal can result in prosecution. In main, this misrepresentation is considered a civil violation, and guilty parties can be fined up to $1000 for each occurrence.
Public Access
ESAs do not have the same access rights to public accommodations as Psychiatric Service Animals do under state or federal laws. Generally the venue owner has the final say when it comes to ESAs. Some parks and public facilities do permit support animals, but if you are uncertain, it is a good idea to call ahead and confirm that your ESA will be permitted on the premises.
Workplace Laws
Maine employers are not legally obligated to allow Emotional Support Animals within their facilities. Depending on the employer, presenting your ESA paperwork may sway them to allow a well-behaved and housebroken animal in the workplace.
Travel Laws
Emotional Support Animals are no longer allowed in the cabin during air travel. Public transportation services such as buses, trains, and railways are under no legal obligation to board ESAs. Some rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft have less stringent policies, but you have to check ahead of time.
American Service Pets is proud to provide a simple three-step process to ESA letters in Maine for owners needing the support of their pets.
FAQ
The Basics
Yes, in addition to following the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Maine has its own human rights laws that protect individuals with disabilities and their use of service animals.
In Maine, a service animal is a god that is individually trained to do work or tasks that benefit someone with a disability.
Maine’s definition of disability includes both physical or mental disabilities, such as guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting those who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds, providing reasonable protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items. The ADA’s protections also extend to additional types of service animals, usch as psychiatric ervice animals and seizure or allergen alert animals.
The ADA includes protections for both trained dogs and miniature horses.
A person who knowingly represents an animal as a service or assistance animal is guilty of a civil violation. This misrepresentation can be through creating or providing false documents or using a false harness, collar, vest, or sign. Guilty parties will be fined up to $1000 for each occurrence.
Maine statutes state that an “especially trained service dog trainer, while engaged in the actual training process and activities of service dogs, has the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities” as a disabled individual with a service animal.
Neither the ADA nor Maine’s state laws include provisions for emotional support animals, as they are not trained in the same manner that service dogs are.
FAQ
Public Accommodations & Travel with a Service Animal
The Maine Human Rights Act includes 14 types of facilities that qualify as public accommodations: inns, motels, and other lodgings; restaurants, bars, soda fountains, ice cream parlors, and other places that serve drinks or food; movie theaters, playhouses, stadiums, concert halls, and other places of entertainment; auditoriums, lecture halls, convention centers, and other places where the public gathers; shopping centers, bakeries, clothing stores, grocery stores, gas stations, and any other places that sell or rent goods; professional offices, laundromats, dry cleaners, banks, hospitals, and any other places that provide services; all forms of public transportation; museums, galleries, libraries, and other places of display or collection; parks, zoos, swimming pools, gyms, golf courses, country clubs, seashore accommodations, and any other places for recreation, health, or exercise; all educational institutions; public elevators for all buildings with at least two tenants; town halls, courthouse, municipal buildings, and all other local or state government institutions; and all other establishments that cater to, provide goods or services to, or accept patronage from the general public. The ADA’s list of public accommodations is similarly broad.
If it is not apparent what the service animal does, the only questions an establishment may ask are whether or not the animal is a service animal and what tasks it is trained to perform.
Both the ADA and public accommodations laws in Maine allow an animal to be removed or excluded from an establishment if it is posing a direct threat to the health and safety of others. This includes the animal being out of control or not housebroken. Individuals with disabilities may still enter a facility even if their service animal is not allowed to.
Maine’s Human Rights Act covers the use of service animals on all forms of public transportation.
Employees have the right to request use of a service animal as a reasonable accommodation in the workplace. Employers must consider the reasonable accommodation request, unless the employer can prove that the request would impose undue hardship on the operation of the business.
Generally yes, service animals are allowed in areas of healthcare facilities that are open to the public, such as patient rooms or waiting areas. However, they may be restricted in areas where the animal’s presence would compromise a sterile environment, such as operating rooms or burn units.
Maine 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.
FAQ
Housing Law
Maine’s fair housing law requires landlords, owners, and managers to allow those with disabilities to be accompanied by their service or assistance animals. The definition of assistance animals is broader than the definition of service animals, including not only trained service animals, but any animal that a doctor or other licensed mental health provider, psychiatrist, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or licensed social worker has determined is necessary to mitigate the effects of a physical or mental disability.
Yes. You cannot be required to pay additional rent or security deposits, but you may be liable for damage caused to a property by your service animal.
Yes, Maine uses the term assistance animals, but the category includes emotional support and therapy animals. These animals do not have to be a dog. They can be a cat (or any other kind of animal) that your medical provider says you need because of your disability. The federal Fair Housing Act also provides protection for service animals and emotional support animals.
FAQ
Discrimination Complaints
Anyone who believes they have been subjected to unlawful discrimination covered under the Maine Human Rights Act can file a complaint with the state’s Human Rights Commission. Complaints can be filed in person or via mail within 300 days of the incident using a form provided by the commission, and they must be notarized. You may initiate a complaint by calling, writing, or visiting the Commission’s office, or by submitting an online intake form.
Submitting a housing discrimination complaint follows the same process as a public accommodations discrimination complaint in Maine. You should open an inquiry with the state’s Human Rights Commission.
How to Get Certified for an Emotional Support Animal in Maine
American Service Pets’ simple and quick process to certification begins with these steps:
See if You Qualify
Simply fill out the American Service Pets questionnaire to find out if you qualify for an ESA letter. This step only takes a few minutes!
Get Approved by a Doctor
American Service Pets gives you the power to decide whether you want to file with your own doctor or other licensed mental health provider or with one in our network for your approval. Our nationwide network of doctor or other licensed mental health providers has 24/7 availability. In most cases, approval is granted in minutes, then emailed to you for easy access.
Add Your Pet to the National Directory
Once you receive your certification, you can add your pet to our national directory of Emotional Support Animals. This important step allows you to create an online profile showing your pet’s status and ESA letter.
95% of our applicants qualify for an ESA letter. You can get yours with American Service Pets today.
The American Service Pets Advantage
There are over 45,000 Americans across the nation who have certified their Emotional Support Animals with American Service Pets. Here’s why you should choose American Service Pets for your ESA and PSA needs:
- All-in-one approval process
- You get a chance to confer with a licensed healthcare professional
- No prescription required
Our simple process alleviates worries about being separated from your animal or being punished for having one. Get started by taking our short online test.
Nationwide Experts in Emotional Support Animal Certification
You shouldn’t have to put up with hassling from people who don’t understand the health benefits of the important connection you share with your ESA. That’s why American Service Pets is here to help you register your Emotional Support Animal in Maine. Put aside concerns about rental housing or fees for simply having an ESA. If you qualify, you could get certified in just a few minutes with American Service Pets.
Disclaimer: We would like to emphasize that while the terms “certification” or “registration” may be used in relation to Emotional Support Animals, there is no official certification process for ESAs or any form of ESA registry as of this date. As such, the use of these terms should not be interpreted as legally recognized designations by government or regulatory authorities. Remember, ESAs can provide a valuable source of comfort and support, but their recognition relies on proper documentation from a healthcare professional and adherence to relevant laws and guidelines.
