What Is An Emotional Support Dog (ESA)?
An emotional support animal (ESA) is a different from a service dog. Unlike a service dog, an emotional support animal does not need specialized training to handle a task. Instead, Emotional Support Animals provide healing to their owner through affection and companionship.
However, they still have special rights. Read on to understand the basics of registering your dog as an Emotional Support Animal.
Who Can Register Their Dog As An Emotional Support Animal?
An Emotional Support Animal is a pet or animal prescribed by a licensed therapist to provide a health benefit for those that suffer from an emotional or mental disability such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, General Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, a Learning Disorder, Depression or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are no animal type, breed, or size restrictions for emotional support animals.
What Do I Need To Have An Emotional Support Animal?
In order to have an Emotional Support Animal, the law requires you obtain a letter written by a mental health professional stating that the ESA provides therapeutic value. This ESA Letter can be obtained via an evaluation from one of our licensed therapists or through a local physician or therapist that you regularly see.
When Can I Register My Emotional Support Dog?
You may do so at any time, however we do recommend obtaining a valid ESA letter first. Remember ESA letters are legally valid for one year from the time of issue.
Why Should I Register My Emotional Support Dog?
Many people benefit from their emotional support dogs in a way that is not immediately obvious to the public. For example, people may not realize that someone with a severe anxiety disorder is benefiting from their emotional support animal. That is why many emotional support animal handlers choose to purchase identifying accessories like ID cards, tags, and vests, even though they are not required for your dog to legally be considered an emotional support animal. Having identifying ID cards, tags, vests, and other accessories that show that your dog is an emotional support animal allows others to recognize from a distance that your dog is an emotional support animal and not just a pet.
How Can I Qualify My Emotional Support Dog?
To have your dog qualify as an Emotional Support Dog, a licensed mental health professional must determine the animal provides therapeutic value. If you do not have a therapist, you can be evaluated by one of our licensed therapists in your area. Click here for more information.
Where Is My Emotional Support Dog Allowed To Go With Me?
Your emotional support dog does not have the same access rights as a service dog. A service dog is individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, and the ADA gives that handler the right to bring the dog into stores, restaurants, hotels and other places open to the public. Emotional support animals are not service animals under the ADA, so that public access right does not apply. Where you do have rights, they come from other laws. Here is where you stand, place by place.
Housing. This is where emotional support animals have the strongest footing. The Fair Housing Act lets you ask your landlord for a reasonable accommodation, usually a waiver of a no-pets policy or a pet deposit, and your ESA letter is the documentation you provide with that request.
Air travel. Airlines are not required to accommodate emotional support animals. The Department of Transportation changed its rule in January 2021, and airlines may treat an ESA as a pet, which means pet fees, carrier requirements and size limits. Policies vary, so check your airline before you book.
Work. The ADA's employment provisions are separate from its public access rules. An employee with a disability can request a reasonable accommodation, and that can include having an animal at work. Your employer decides case by case, so it is not automatic.
Stores, restaurants, hotels and other public places. No access right. A business can ask you to leave your dog outside and it is within its rights to do so. Many businesses are pet friendly and will welcome your dog anyway, but that is a courtesy, not a legal obligation.
Public transit, taxis and rideshare. Generally treated as pets and subject to each operator's own pet policy.
Your state or city may give you more. Several states extend protections beyond federal law, and a few restrict how ESA letters can be issued. See our state law guides.
Vests, ID cards and tags help people recognize that your dog is working for you rather than being a pet, and many handlers find they prevent questions. They do not create access rights, and no registration or certification is required for your dog to be an emotional support animal.
What else do I need to know?
Misrepresenting a pet as an emotional support dog or service dog is a crime in many states, including California. Identifying vests, leashes, and ID cards are like the "uniform" for your working service dog or emotional support animal, but they do not magically turn a pet into an ESA or service dog - they are still expected to be well-behaved and trained.