Missouri Service Dog and Emotional Support Animal Laws

Missouri law permits you to bring any sort of service dog to public locations, but only certain types of assistance dogs are permitted in housing.

People with disabilities may bring their service dogs to all “public accommodations,” including shops, companies, hotels, restaurants, theaters, and schools, under Missouri law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In Missouri, public accommodations must adhere to both state and federal regulations. Learn which animals qualify as service animals, which public facilities must accept them, and what restrictions you may need to follow with your support animal in the sections below.

What Is a Missouri Service Animal?

People with disabilities have the right to bring their service dogs into public places under Missouri law. Service dogs are canines who have been particularly trained to help people with physical or mental disability by completing work or performing important duties that their handlers are unable to complete for themselves. Tasks covered in Missouri’s statute include dragging a wheelchair, conducting search and rescue for a disabled person, and obtaining and transporting objects. Because Missouri law expressly addresses mental disorders, psychiatric service dogs are service dogs if they are carefully trained to undertake important duties that their handler cannot.

A service animal is a canine that has been specially taught to do disability-related duties or work for a person with a handicap, according to the ADA. (A miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal in certain situations.) The following are examples of service animals that must be permitted in public facilities under the ADA:

Hearing dogs alert their handlers to important sounds such as alarms, doorbells, and telephones; guide dogs assist those who are blind or have low vision in safely navigating; and psychiatric service animals assist their handlers in managing mental and emotional disabilities by, for example, interrupting self-harming behaviors, reminding handlers to take medication, checking spaces for intruders, or providing calming pressure during anxiety or panic attacks.
Seizure alert animals warn their handlers of oncoming seizures and may even protect their handlers during seizure activity, while allergy alert animals warn their handlers of potentially toxic foods or other substances (such as nuts).

Neither the ADA nor Missouri’s service dog statute include what some term “therapy dogs” or “emotional support animals”: animals that give a feeling of protection, companionship, and comfort to those with mental or emotional disorders or conditions. Despite the fact that these animals often provide therapeutic advantages, they are not taught to execute particular duties for their humans. Owners of public establishments are not obligated by the ADA or Missouri law to allow emotional support animals, only service animals.

Which public places must allow service animals?

The definition of public accommodations under the ADA is rather wide. It includes the following:

hotels and other types of accomodation
public transportation and terminals, depots, and stations restaurants and other places that serve food and drink\s sales or rental establishments and service establishments\s any place of public gathering, such as an auditorium, theater, stadium, museum, gym, zoo, or park\s educational institutions, and\s social service centers, like senior centers, homeless shelters, and food banks.

Missouri law governs:

hotels and other types of accomodation
public structures and amenities
All public places of enjoyment, relaxation, or resort, and any other location to which the public is welcomed, including public transportation and common carriers (such as buses and taxis).

Service Animal Guidelines

A public accommodation may not ask you questions about your impairment or seek certification or other evidence of your animal’s training or status under the ADA. Whether it is unclear what your service animal does, the business may just inquire if it is a service animal and what responsibilities it does for you.

The ADA and Missouri law both prohibit public establishments from charging a special entry charge or forcing you to pay any other additional fees in order to have your service animal with you. You may, however, be required to pay for any damage your animal causes.

Your service animal may be denied access to a public facility under the ADA if it constitutes a direct danger to health and safety, is not housebroken, or is out of control.

Housing for Service Animals in Missouri

Discrimination against persons who use service animals is prohibited under Missouri and federal law. Your landlord may not charge you more for having a service animal (though you may be required to pay for damage caused by your animal), and you and your service animal must have full and equal access to all housing amenities. A “no pets” restriction in your lease or rental agreement does not apply to your assistance animal.

However, Missouri’s housing legislation exclusively covers persons who are blind or partly blind and have guide dogs, people who are deaf or partially deaf and have hearing dogs, and those with physical impairments who have service dogs. The Missouri housing legislation does not seem to protect those with mental disorders who have service animals.

However, under the federal Fair Housing Act, housing facilities are required to include service dogs and emotional support animals if it is essential for a person with a handicap to have an equal chance to utilize and enjoy the property. To be eligible for this provision, you must have a handicap and a disability-related need for the animal.