Coffee Shops, By Law, Must Prohibit Most Dogs
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the composer most commonly known as "Mozart." However, although less well-known, Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart, was also a musician and an innovative composer. Leopold was known for his musical "naturalism," which included using unconventional sounds to convey a story.
In his Hunting Symphony, Leopold aimed to recreate the atmosphere of a hunt, including an imitation of dogs barking, hunting calls, and gunshots. Rather than using live dogs or real guns, most orchestras use a recording of dogs barking, and gunshots are simulated by percussion instruments.
In September 2023, the Danish Chamber Orchestra brought a unique twist to the Hunting Symphony by incorporating three canine performers into their performance of Leopold' 's work. The furry stars - Cookie, Sophus, and Sica - were carefully selected after a series of auditions. The dogs underwent three months of rigorous training before the performance, where they learned to bark on cue and remain quiet during the rest of the symphony.
The canines' stage debut took place at the Haydn Festival in Copenhagen before an audience of 750. As the third movement of the symphony began, the three dogs pranced onto the stage with their handlers/owners, ready to perform their assigned parts to the audience's delight.
While Cookie, Sophus, and Sica were well-trained and welcomed onto the stage, not all dogs are well-trained, and some venues do not welcome dogs. Yet, dog owners sometimes are loathe to leave their canine best friends at home.
I recently observed this in a coffee shop I frequent. The coffee shop is in a residential area, and some dog owners will quickly pop in to pick up their beverages while walking their dogs. Although not service animals, most of those dogs are small to medium-sized and are in the shop just long enough for the owner to grab their order.
This week, however, I have twice observed a dog owner bring their large dog, happily wagging its tail and clearly not a service animal, into the shop. Rather than quickly departing after receiving their order, this owner sat down at a table to drink their coffee, enjoy a pastry, and visit with a friend. Curious, I stayed in the shop while the dog sat patiently by its owner's table for at least 30 minutes.
The dog was cute, friendly, and well-behaved. Nevertheless, with the exception of service animals, Maryland, like many (dare I say most) jurisdictions, does not allow dogs at indoor food service establishments. This article discusses laws relating to service animals, emotional support animals, and pets in Maryland food service establishments.
Service Animal, Emotional Support Animal, or Pet?
Since Maryland law treats animals differently depending on whether they are a service animal, emotional support animal, or pet, I'll first discuss this distinction.
Most states define "service animal" similarly to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which defines "service animal" narrowly. Only dogs (and, under some circumstances, miniature horses) can be service animals. Further, under the ADA, service animals must be trained to work or perform tasks for a disabled individual. For instance, seeing eye dogs and dogs that assist deaf individuals by alerting them to audible fire alarms. A service animal may be trained to perform other tasks, such as to anticipate an impending seizure for an epileptic or dangerously low blood sugar for a person with diabetes or to carry items for an individual whose physical disability prevents them from doing so.
"Emotional support animals" may be dogs, but they also can be other animals. Cats are common emotional support animals, and news reports tell of a pig, chicken, peacock, and squirrel serving as emotional support animals.
Emotional support animals also assist disabled individuals and can be invaluable in improving the lives of neurodivergent individuals or those with mental health concerns. However, while service animals have specific training to perform specific tasks, emotional support animals have no specific training.
Lastly, pets are animals people keep for companionship rather than to assist with a disability. Like emotional support animals, pets may be dogs, but they can also be other animals.
Since many disabilities are not readily visible, it can be challenging to differentiate an emotional support animal from a pet on sight. Therefore, some pet owners try to obtain special treatment by falsely claiming their pets are emotional support animals. Unfortunately, such fraudulent claims can cause actual harm to individuals who rely on emotional support animals. Faced with numerous false claims that pets are emotional support animals, businesses may treat all claims that an animal is an emotional support animal with suspicion.
Maryland Law Regarding Animals in Food Service Facilities
Even though both service animals and emotional support animals help disabled individuals, the ADA and Maryland law treat them differently. The ADA requires that service animals be allowed in areas of public accommodation. That means that businesses open to the public, including restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores, must allow service animals into any area where members of the public generally are allowed.
Under the ADA, service animals may be excluded from an area of public accommodation only under the following circumstances:
1. The handler cannot or does not control the service animal.
2. The service animal is not housebroken.
3. The service animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be reduced or eliminated acceptably through a reasonable modification of practices or procedures. Whether a service animal is a direct threat must be based on the specific animal, not on speculation or upon experience with other animals.
The ADA doesn't cover emotional support animals, so individuals have no right under the ADA to have their emotional support animal in a public accommodation. Other laws, such as the Fair Housing Act, employment discrimination laws, and state or local laws, may provide individuals with the right to have their emotional support animal. However, those laws usually won't apply to customers at food service businesses.
Most state and local retail food regulations prohibit all animals in food service establishments. The ADA and similar state laws typically provide an exception for service animals (as long as they do not provide a direct threat to the health or safety of others). However, that exception would not apply to emotional support animals or pets because they are not service animals.
For instance, Maryland's retail food regulations allow service animals in food service facilities, including restaurants and grocery stores. Under Maryland law, service animals may accompany their owners in public buildings, restaurants, shops, hospitals, schools, and hotels, even though they may be food service establishments.
Maryland law does not allow emotional support animals or pets at indoor food service establishments. Maryland law may, however, allow emotional support animals at outdoor dining areas, with prior Health Department approval and provided certain conditions, including signage, are met. Maryland law also allows pet dogs (but not other pets) to accompany their owners at outdoor dining areas under certain conditions.
For example, if a restaurant offers both indoor and outdoor seating, a person with a service dog cannot be required to dine outside due to the presence of the animal. However, the same is not true for emotional support animals. The restaurant may not permit emotional support animals indoors and can require an individual with an emotional support dog to dine outdoors. In Maryland, individuals with emotional support animals other than dogs are out of luck, as the law permitting animals at outdoor dining facilities is limited to dogs.
Business owners and customers should be aware that this prohibition of emotional support animals and pets at indoor dining venues is not at the discretion of the restaurant, coffee shop, or other food service establishment. If a business owner allows emotional support animals or pets in its establishment, the business owner could be sanctioned for violating food regulations. Customers, therefore, should make the business' job easy and not bring their emotional support animals or pets into food service businesses.
These legal requirements provide a challenge for business owners. They must exclude emotional support animals and pets from indoor food service establishments, yet those owners risk losing customers by not allowing the animals. People unaware of Maryland law may claim the business discriminated against them unlawfully or is not "dog-friendly." As a result, business owners who comply with the law may find themselves with negative social media ratings or posts for doing what they must to retain their business licenses in good standing.
Best Practices for Food Service Businesses
Regulators can fine or even shut down a food service business due to violations. However, negative reviews or social media posts also can damage or even be fatal to a business. So, business owners must balance the need to comply with food safety laws with customer relations issues. As such, businesses need to focus on customer communication, education, and legal compliance.
Customers probably don't mean harm when they take their dogs into a coffee shop briefly to pick up their morning java while walking their dogs. They may think it's just for a few minutes, and they aren't staying, but the business could suffer if the food inspector shows up during those minutes. Further, individuals with emotional support animals may erroneously believe that under the ADA, they may take their animals into public accommodations, including food service businesses.
Through customer education, businesses can increase compliance with food safety laws. We see "no shoes, no shirt, no service" signs on the doors of food services businesses. Businesses could also post signs saying, "We love animals, but due to legal requirements, your animals must remain outside." Signage that says only service animals allowed could be modified to add, "We welcome individuals with disabilities, but due to legal requirements, we cannot welcome emotional support animals." Signage like this may also empower and support employees who are expected to enforce food safety laws.
Customers who disagree with food service laws should not intentionally violate those laws as a form of protest. This type of individual "protest" isn't likely to effect change and can result in fines and other sanctions on businesses, which may have a small profit margin and cannot afford those expenses.
Since many disabilities are not readily visible, others may falsely claim that their pets are emotional support animals to obtain legal benefits they believe are unfair. Those false claims may cause businesses and even the public to view individuals who genuinely depend on emotional support animals with suspicion.
It's beyond the scope of this article to say whether emotional support animals should be treated the same as service animals. Once the public understands that this distinction exists, those who object to the distinction may decide to advocate for changes in the law. Further, public signage showing that the business strives to comply with food service laws could be a mitigating factor should inspectors observe violations.
© 2025 by Elizabeth A. Whitman
Any references to clients and their legal situations have been modified to protect client confidentiality
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