2026 Hot Pursuit 5K/1-Mile - Great Falls

Animal Participation Guidelines

For health and safety reasons, animals are not allowed at Special Olympics Montana’s (SOMT) trainings, competitive settings, special events, and indoor sponsored events unless they are a trained and working service animal.


Service Animal Definition

Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the person’s disability.


Emotional Support Animal

An emotional support animal does not qualify as a service animal under the ADA because emotional support animals are designed to provide comfort and have not been trained to perform a specific job or task directly related to a person’s disability. For health and safety reasons, pets or emotional support animals are not allowed at SOMT events.