NH RSA 167-D: Service Animals and Search and Rescue Dogs

Our State's law provides certain rights to service animals and their trainers, and that law coupled with the Americans with Disabilities Act provide a protocol for business owners, their employees and service dog owners and trainers to follow. I've been trying to familarize myself with the law, so I can articulateit if necessary. The opportunity arose on a recent outing to a sports complex.

I was challenged by the facility's general manager who told me his facility was privately owned and thus was not a public facility. (You see the law provides rights and priviledges with respect to access to public facilities.) After an attempt to bring up the law on my cell phone device failed, I acquiesced to his assertion and I left the facility with Bo.

Since then, I've reached out to our State's Disabilities Rights Center seeking clarification on the definition of public facility. According to the 167-D:1 Definitions the definition is as follows:

"Public facility means any place of public accommodation and any street, highway, sidewalk, walkway, public building, and any other place or structure to which the general public is regularly, normally or customariliy permitted or invited."

If you train or own a service dog, I welcome your insight as to how to effectively influence/address uninformed business people who do not want to allow you and your working dog into their place of business.