Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals in Maine

In Maine, service dogs must be permitted in public areas, while assistance animals must be permitted in residences.

We explain which animals qualify as service animals and assistance animals in Maine, where service animals are permitted, and some guidelines you may need to follow with your service animal in the sections below.

What Is Considered a Service Animal in Maine?

A service animal in Maine is a canine that has been specially taught to do labor or duties that aid someone with a handicap, such as an intellectual, mental, psychiatric, sensory, or physical impairment.

A service animal is a dog or small horse that has been taught to do duties or labor for the benefit of a person with a handicap, according to the ADA. The animal’s responsibilities or labor must be directly tied to the person’s impairment.

The following are examples of service animals that must be permitted in public facilities under Mane state law and the ADA:

Hearing dogs alert their handlers to important sounds such as alarms, doorbells, and other signals guide dogs assist those who are blind or visually impaired in safely navigating 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 peanuts).

Neither the ADA nor Maine’s public accommodations statute cover what some refer to as “emotional support animals,” which are animals that give a feeling of safety, companionship, and comfort to those suffering from mental or emotional problems. Although these animals are often therapeutic, they are not specifically taught to do particular duties for their humans.

What Are the Laws in Maine Regarding Public Accommodations and Service Animals?

People with disabilities have the right to be accompanied by their service animals at restaurants, hotels, shops, theaters, and other public venues under Maine’s Human Rights Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Owners of public places, however, are not compelled by the ADA or Maine law to accept emotional support animals or pets, only service animals. Maine’s public accommodations must adhere to both state and federal regulations.

The ADA and Maine 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.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Maine’s public accommodations statute enable a public accommodation to refuse your service animal if it presents a clear hazard 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 regulate it adequately. Even if your service animal is not permitted, you have the right to access the public facility.

A public accommodation may not ask you questions about your impairment or request certification, identification, 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.

In Maine, how are public accommodations defined?

The Maine Human Rights Act specifies 14 categories of institutions that are considered public accommodations. Maine safeguards your freedom to be accompanied by your service animal in the following ways:

restaurants, bars, soda fountains, ice cream parlors, and other businesses that provide beverages or food inns, motels, and other accommodations, whether for transients or otherwise
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 (of a lawyer or accountant, for example), laundromats, dry cleaners, banks, hospitals, and any other places that provide services
Town halls, courthouses, municipal buildings, and all other local or state government institutions, as well as any other businesses that cater to, give products or services to, or take patronage from the general public, must have public elevators.

The ADA establishes a similarly extensive list of establishments that qualify as public accommodations and to which you may bring your service animal.

What Are the Animal Policies in Maine Housing?

The fair housing provisions of Maine’s Human Rights Act ban disability-based housing discrimination. They also oblige landlords, owners, and managers to enable people with impairments to bring their service animals with them. Assistance animals are broader than service animals in that they include not only service animals that have been 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 forbids discrimination against persons who utilize service animals in housing accommodations. You must have full and equal access to all housing facilities, and you may not be charged an additional fee for having a service animal (although you may have to pay for damage your animal causes). A “no pets” restriction in your lease or rental agreement does not apply to your assistance animal.

Housing facilities must allow service dogs and emotional support animals if required for a person with a handicap to have an equal chance to utilize and enjoy the house, according to the federal Fair Housing Act. To be eligible for this provision, you must have a handicap and a disability-related need for the animal. To qualify, the animal must labor, provide duties or services, or lessen the emotional impact of your impairment.