If you struggle in life with certain emotional challenges, you can legally qualify for an ESA, an emotional support animal. Though ESAs can be anything from a duck to a hedgehog to a peacock, the great majority of ESAs are dogs. Here in our final segment of, “Can I bring my dog?” Reporter Heather Clisby clarifies with Part Three: Emotional Support Dogs…
If you suffer with a diagnosed emotional disability, an emotional service dog may be preferable to taking more pills. To qualify, a pet owner must be certified as “emotionally disabled” by a psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist or other mental health professional.
ESAs can help those with Attention Deficit Disorder, autism, gender identity, PTSD, mental retardation, and disorders relating to learning, tics, sexuality, motor skills, bipolar, cognitive abilities and substance abuse.
While ESAs provide comfort, they require no special training and thus, unlike service dogs, are not protected by Federal law. However, tenants do have more leeway with keeping ESAs at home, even in a unit with a “no pets” policy.
But again, fakery persists. The National Service Animal Registry, just one of several for-profit companies that peddle official-looking vests and easily-obtained certificates, had 2,400 registered animals in 2011. Today, they have 200,000. Currently, 24 states have passed laws to confront the problem of fraudulent ESAs.
Bottom line, most humans struggle with emotional challenges, and any animal can be an ESA, but owners might consider the anxiety of others before trotting out the fake vest.
