Find Your Best Support – Emotional Support Animals (Heather)

Should You Consider an Emotional Support Animal?

You probably have heard about emotional support animals, commonly known as ESAs. Unfortunately, you likely have heard stories about people abusing this important support option in order to take their pet into a pet-free area. We will discuss that later, but first, let us consider whether an ESA is for you. 

ESAs can be a wonderful help to people living with either physical or mental disabilities. Not every disability can benefit from an ESA, however, as some people with specific disabilities require special support. 

What exactly is an ESA? Most are dogs or cats, but any animal can be an ESA. Some people have found birds, horses, and even pigs to be the support they require. ESAs provide comfort and stability to their person. Mental health conditions are the most common reason to acquire an ESA, with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress topping the list of conditions an ESA can help. 

Things to consider in deciding if an ESA is a good idea: 

• Do you enjoy the company of animals? Some people are calmed by animals while it makes other people stressed. 

• Are you able to care for an animal? Or is there someone willing to help? Animals must be fed, taken to the veterinarian, cleaned up after, and depending on the type of animal, they must be exercised. 

Laws vary from country to country; for this blog, I will be using United States of America laws and regulations. With that in mind, if you have a doctor who agrees that an ESA is beneficial for you, then the one thing you don’t have to consider is whether your landlord allows pets. Why? Landlords are required to permit ESAs even if there is a no-pets policy. The ESA owner, however, must present an emotional support animal letter from their doctor, provide vaccination records for the animal, and take responsibility for cleaning up after the animal as well as financial responsibility if the animal causes property damage. The landlord cannot require any proof of training as ESAs are not service animals and don’t require special training.

What an ESA Is Not

An emotional support animal is not a service animal, therefore an ESA does not require special training and gets very few special accommodations. ESAs are not permitted into stores, restaurants, transportation, or any other area that is normally off-limits to pets. The exceptions are housing and, in some cases, airplanes. Airlines are too complicated to cover in this short blog. So, in a nutshell, if you and your doctor both believe you could benefit from the comfort of an animal in your home, then an ESA might be the answer.

Should You Consider a Service Animal?

If you have a physical or mental disability, you may wonder if you would benefit from a service animal. Service animals are trained to perform certain tasks. For instance, a seeing-eye dog helps a sight-impaired person get from place to place safely. There are also seizure alerts, allergy detection, diabetic alerts, and many more services and tasks performed by service animals. For this reason, service animals are highly trained. 

The biggest difference between an ESA and a service animal is the extensive training. Service animals work all day, every day, in various environments, and their actions or lack of action could have dire consequences. If you need mobility assistance, hearing or sight assistance, or alerts to seizures, allergens, or a diabetic alert, a service animal might be required. 

Service animals require at least two years of training and are very costly to acquire. Some owners do go through guided training to train their own service animals. While this can be a success, it is very time- and energy-consuming, and results are not guaranteed. There are some programs to help the disabled acquire a trained service animal. The following link discusses options for acquiring a service dog: Where to Get a Service Dog and How to Afford It - US Service Animals

Conclusion: The Benefits of Support and Service Animals

Both ESAs and service animals can greatly improve the lives of those with disabilities. It is important to consider which you could benefit from before beginning the process of acquiring either an ESA or service animal. Work closely with your doctor to obtain any needed letters or documentation.

Here at Letters Against Depression, we are eager to help, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We send letters of hope and support to those who need someone there for them. Feel free to request your letter here: Request A Letter — Letters Against Depression