Hi Stef,
I work at a Miniature Museum in AZ and as a Museum Services Supervisor, I've encountered something similar but with a visitor bringing in her cat back in July. Instead of confronting the visitor head on, I pretend to be passing by and happen to notice the animal.
With this visitor, I start with a positive greeting, "Hello, how is your visit so far?" followed by a comment of "Oh, is this your cat? How cute!" then I slip in the 'negative' of "I'm so sorry but I need to ask if this is a service animal?" Often times, visitors will immediately say yes or would say no, which is fine since we are legally allowed to ask one or two questions if applicable, as stated in the ADA website:
When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person's disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.
The visitor with the cat hesitated and said no to her cat being a Service Animal. I bring the conversation back into a positive way by saying, "No worries, you're not in trouble, I just needed to state this that way you're aware of our policy". In this situation, I mentioned about our museum's policy on no pets allowed other than service animals, which is stated on our website as well as we have a sign. However, the visitor claimed she didn't see a sign or didn't see it on our website and assumed it was allowed. Which meant to the visitor:
No Statement/Signs = Yes, it is allowed
*Of course, not everyone looks at museum websites or reads signs in museums
The visitor asked if she could leave her cat in the car so she could continue her walkthrough around the museum. However, it was early July and it gets scorching hot in Arizona. I'm not sure if this is everywhere in the U.S. but of course in Arizona, we have ARS§ 13-2910 regarding the unlawful act of leaving an animal unattached/confided in a motor vehicle if physical injury or death is likely to result. In the end, after stating this, I had to ask her to leave. Another positive I brought in was offering a refund on her admission or a free guest pass for her to come back next time, without her cat.
This encountered resulted in our department having to talk about different scenarios regarding service animals, pets, and even Emotional Support Animals.
Stef, if you ever encounter this again, look into the ADA site that was provided by the other commenters in this thread. If you need to as well, look into the ADA's FAQ's https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-animals-faqs/ about emotional support animals. I do not think ESA have a official website however, if you search "Emotional Support Animal laws by state" on google, AI Overview responds with several pointers, including one that states:
Where ESA's are not covered: The legal rights of ESAs differ significantly from those of service animals in several key areas
Public Access: ESAs are not covered under the ADA, so businesses, restaurants, and other public places are not required to allow them.
Visitors in the past have used ESA's as a way to bring in their bunnies, ducks, birds, etc., inside our museum-- which did happen on several occasions in the past. If you and the rest of your staff discuss this and have a concrete structure on how to go about this topic of service animals, emotional support animals, and pets in general, you will all end up feeling confident and secure when coming across visitors who will get upset, angry, or want to contest to why they should have their animal be inside the museum. People do need to be aware that museums have policies and this is no exception.
Eri Tenorio
Museum Services Supervisor
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Eri Tenorio
Museum Services Weekend Supervisor
Mini-time Machine Museum of Miniatures
Tucson AZ
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-10-2025 07:30 AM
From: Stef Staley
Subject: Pets in a museum
Pets in a museum:
How do you handle people wanting to bring in pets to your museum? We are a lighthouse museum and people are wanting to bring in their dogs, ferrets, bunny and cats in to tour the museum. We have on the door posted a sign that says "NO PETS ALLOWED" - Service animals specifically trained to aid a person with a disability are welcome". However, people interpret this to mean any pet can come in and when we ask if the pet is a service animal specifically trained, every person says it is and it is obvious it is not. How do you handle this? Do you require paperwork that says it's a service animal? Do you just let any animal in? People are traveling with their pets and don't want to leave them in the car, so they think they can just bring them inside the museum. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.
Stef Staley
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum
Stef Staley, Executive Director
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum
PO Box 43
Northport, MI 49670
231-386-7195 (O), 231-499-1787 (C)