During the 2021 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly introduced a bill requiring Maryland public schools to allow therapy dogs on to their campuses^[1]; however, the bill died after being referred to committee.^[2]  House Bill (“HB”) 713 and Senate Bill (“SB”) 409 would permit therapy dogs, along with their handlers, to attend Maryland public schools and provide support to students and faculty members.^[3]

Delegate Michele J. Guyton was the first legislator to introduce the idea of therapy dogs in Maryland public schools, doing so during the 2020 legislative session.^[4]  Therapy dogs are dogs that provide “comfort and affection” to people in places that can produce stress or anxiety such as nursing homes, hospitals, and schools.^[5]  However, not every dog may become a therapy dog.^[6]  To become a certified therapy dog, a dog must have passed the American Kennel Club’s (“AKC”) Canine Good Citizen test and then the dog must go through therapy dog certification with an organization that provides the appropriate certification.^[7]

Therapy dogs are trained to provide numerous benefits, both physically and mentally, to those who interact with them.^[8]These benefits include lowering anxiety, providing comfort and relaxation, lowering blood pressure, and diminishing physical pain.^[9]  Thus, by allowing therapy dogs in Maryland public schools, students would be afforded with all the benefits therapy dogs can provide.  For many students, school can be a very stressful environment and can lead to them experiencing issues with their mental health.^[10]    The dogs could not only provide students with emotional support, but also with scholastic support like helping students, who are nervous to read, relax.^[11]  The addition of therapy dogs to Maryland public schools could help improve students’ mental health in turn improving their scholastic learning as well.

Maryland, currently, does not have any law permitting therapy dogs in schools^[12], so the law in HB 713 and SB 409 could have been the first of its kind in the state.  It is unclear how the law would have been implemented across the state, since each county’s board of education would have had the authority to determine implementation in their respective counties.^[13]  However, that is something that could be discussed during the legislative session with a task force even being created to focus on the law’s implementation across the state.

Therapy dogs would provide students in public schools with a copious amount of benefits that could improve students’ mental health and scholastic achievements.  If the state were to pass legislation like HB 713 and SB 409, it would show students that the state cares about their mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, if this legislation is introduced again in the next legislative session, the General Assembly should seriously consider passing legislation allowing therapy dogs in public schools throughout Maryland.

Nina Clay is a third-year student at the University of Baltimore, School of Law and a Staff Editor for Law Forum.  Nina received a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminology from Saint Vincent College in 2019.  Over the past five years she has worked part-time in a small estate planning law firm.  During the Fall 2021 semester, she worked as a student attorney in the Bob Parsons Veterans Advocacy Clinic. She currently serves as a Research Assistant to Professor Angela Vallario.

[1] Tom Hindle, Maryland Bill Would Allow Therapy Dogs in Schools, Associated Press (Feb. 9, 2021), https://apnews.com/article/legislature-education-animals-maryland-state-legislature-6ad54cf6cc8543712f42932ad741e7d1.

[2] HB0713, Maryland General Assembly (last updated June 4, 2021, 12:13 PM), http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0713?ys=2021RS.

[3] Id.; Hindle, supra note 1.

[4] Maryland Delegate Pushing Bill That Would Require State Schools to Allow Therapy Dogs, Fox5 (Mar. 10, 2020), https://www.fox5dc.com/news/maryland-delegate-pushing-bill-that-would-require-state-schools-to-allow-therapy-dogs.

[5] Jen Karetnick, How to Train a Therapy Dog, American Kennel Club (Dec. 2, 2019), https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-train-a-therapy-dog/. (A service dog is a dog that provides a service to an individual with special needs.)

[6] Id.

[7] Therapy Dog Training and Certification: What You Need to Know, Petco (last visited Sept. 12, 2021), https://www.petco.com/content/petco/PetcoStore/en_US/pet-services/resource-center/behavior-training/Learn-about-Pet-Therapy-Certification-for-Your-Dog.html.

[8] See Karetnick, supra note 5.

[9] Animal-Assisted Therapy Research, UCLA Health (last visited Sept. 12, 2021), https://www.uclahealth.org/pac/animal-assisted-therapy.

[10] See Christine Caron, Teens Are Advocating for Mental Health Days Off School, NY Times (Aug. 23, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/well/mind/mental-health-day-laws-kids.html; Meg Anderson and Kavitha Cardoza, Mental Health in Schools: A Hidden Crisis Affecting Millions of Students, NPR (Aug. 31, 2016), https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/08/31/464727159/mental-health-in-schools-a-hidden-crisis-affecting-millions-of-students.

[11] Hindle, supra note 1.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.