CHAPTER 167-E PUBLIC SAFETY COMFORT DOG CERTIFICATION
Section 167-E:1
167-E:1 Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. "Certified public safety comfort dog" means a specifically trained dog that provides support, comfort, and crisis response to individuals, groups, and communities in various settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, disaster relief areas, emergency response/public safety agencies and other places where people may be experiencing stress, trauma, or crisis. Certified public safety comfort dogs are trained to interact gently and empathetically with people, offering unconditional support and non-judgmental companionship to help alleviate anxiety, reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance overall well-being and resilience. Certified public safety comfort dogs are not considered service dogs or emotional support animals.
II. "Certified public safety comfort dog handler" means an emergency response or public safety worker who is responsible for the care, training, and supervision of a certified public safety comfort dog during its interactions with individuals, groups, and communities in need of support or crisis response. A certified public safety comfort dog handler shall ensure that it behaves appropriately, follows commands, and maintains a calm and comforting presence in various environments. A certified public safety comfort dog handler shall be trained to understand canine behavior, communication, and emotional support techniques, allowing them to effectively guide the certified public safety comfort dog's interactions with individuals, groups, or communities in distress or crisis situations.
III. "Emergency response or public safety worker" means any law enforcement officer certified under RSA 106-L, certified county corrections officer, sheriff or deputy sheriff, state police officer, civilian law enforcement employee, civilian county corrections employee, any call, volunteer, or regular firefighter, civilian fire department employee, rescue or ambulance worker, including ambulance service, emergency medical personnel, first responder service, and volunteer personnel, telecommunicators, and local dispatchers, including any retired emergency response or public safety workers as defined in this section.
IV. "Local dispatcher" means a person who determines the location, status, and assistance required by callers and walk-in customers for public safety services and dispatches the appropriate police, fire, ambulance, or other units to provide needed emergency services at the state, city, town, or private emergency services level.
V. "Telecommunicator" means an employee of the department of safety, division of emergency services and communications who is responsible for receiving at the public safety answering point telephone calls made to E911 and transferring or relaying such calls to public or private safety agencies.
VI. "Certified public safety comfort dog team" means a trained certified public safety comfort dog and its handler, working collaboratively to provide support, comfort, and crisis response to individuals, groups, and communities in various settings. The certified public safety comfort dog team shall undergo specialized training to develop skills in empathy, active listening, and non-verbal communication, enabling them to effectively respond to the emotional, behavioral, physical, cognitive, and relational needs of those they encounter.
VII. "Certified public safety comfort dog trainer" means any person who is employed to train dogs for the use of a certified public safety comfort dog or is volunteering and training to raise dogs for the use of certified public safety comfort dogs by emergency response or public safety workers, or an individual trainer who helps an emergency response or public safety worker to train their certified public safety comfort dog.
VIII. "Housing accommodation" means any publicly assisted housing accommodation or any real property, or portion thereof, which is used or occupied, or is intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied, as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one or more persons.
IX. "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 customarily permitted or invited.
X. "Place of public accommodation" includes any tavern roadhouse, hotel, motel, or trailer camp, whether for entertainment of transient guests or accommodation of those seeking health, recreation, or rest; any producer, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retail shop, store establishment, or concession dealing with goods or services of any kind; any restaurant, eating house, or place where food is sold for consumption on the premises; any place maintained for the sale of ice cream, ice, and fruit preparations or their derivatives, soda water or confections, or where any beverages of any kind are retailed for consumption on the premises; any garage; any public conveyance operated on land or water, or in the air, or any stations and terminals thereof; any bathhouse, boardwalk, or seashore accommodation; any auditorium, meeting place, or hall; any theater, motion picture house, music hall, roof garden, skating rink, swimming pool, amusement and recreation park, fair, bowling alley, gymnasium, shooting gallery, billiard and pool parlor, or any other place of amusement; any comfort station; any dispensary, clinic, or hospital; any public library; any kindergarten, primary and secondary school, trade or business school, high school, academy, college and university, or any educational institution under the supervision of the state board of education, or the commissioner of education of the state of New Hampshire.