There has been quite a bit of confusion over what an Emotional Support Animal vs a Service Dog is lately, what they do, and where they can legally go. Let me be very clear right now. While there are important distinctions between the two, both *must* be providing a function for a person with a DISABILITY.

Another point I hope to make clear is that all three of the Federal laws and the states individual laws exist for protecting the PERSON from discrimination, not the animal. This is important because everyone needs to understand that no matter how much service a dog provides, if it is acting like an out of control idiot dog, businesses, landlords, and air transportation carriers can and should ask you to remove the dog. Not you. Just the dog. Obviously if you don’t have someone with you to remove them for you, you’re probably going with the dog. But the fact remains that it’s not about protecting the dog, it’s about protecting the person with a disability from being discriminated against. If the dog doesn’t meet a minimum standard of expectations it doesn’t have extra protections to keep it from being removed from the situation.

What the heck is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) anyway? It is an animal that someone with a disability has that just by the very nature of the animal existing in the persons life makes their life better. Essentially, a comfort that helps mitigate their disability. Majority of the time an ESA is a dog, but can be a different kind of animal, that a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health practitioner has prescribed as part of the persons treatment plan. A person with a disability with a prescribed ESA is protected under the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), as well as the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) along with other various laws that vary from state to state. They are NOT covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

ESAs are different from Service Animals, specifically defined as dogs or miniature horses by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The difference being that an ESA only provides emotional support without any specific task training, where as a Service Dog is trained with a task or work that specifically mitigates a persons disability. A person with an ESA has no public access rights with their animal, while a person with a Service Dog must have a trained dog that will remain focused on the handler and not be any kind of nuisance while in public. Thus a person with a Service Dog has public access rights under the ADA.

There is also no registry. Let me say that again. There is NO registry. Some may not agree with that but once again, the laws are in place for the person with the disability. A registry under a law protecting the person from discrimination would be asking the person to register their disability. Yeah, that’s discrimination. People with diabetes do not need to register in a national database in order to carry their insulin. The other reason there is no registry is because Service Dogs can be owner trained. That’s important because trained Service Dogs through a service can be astronomically expensive- talking in the tens of thousands of dollars level. Owner training and no registration or permit fees allow for access to this kind of treatment and service to anyone with a disability regardless of income level.

Does this openness allow for fraud? Sure. We’ve even seen cases of fraud in the news lately. Remember the infamous Support Peacock denied from flying awhile back? *Insert giant eyeroll here* But I remain firm in my stance that the laws need to continue holding space for protecting against discrimination of persons with disabilities, and not make it even harder for someone to have access to this kind of life changing care. Fraud would still exist if a registry was present and less people with disabilities would be able to utilize dogs to mitigate their disabilities. Again, this is why I point out that if a dog is behaving badly, it can and should be removed from the premises.

Here’s where I’m going to get snarky. If your animal is not trained to behave well in public, you have a responsibility not to take that freakin animal in public okay? I was very frustrated at one of my previous jobs over a gentleman claiming his German Shepherd was a Service Dog. This dog was a certifiable asshole (probably picked it up from his owner…not a super nice guy) He wouldn’t sit still in the office, he sniffed everything in sight, he lunged at people and growled at other dogs, he pulled so much against his handlers leash I had to assume he was an Iditorod dog champion in his former life. The German Shepherd, not the handler of course. Frankly, this dog even as a pet was a safety risk, let alone as a Service Dog. No one felt like they could say much because his owner said he’s a Service Dog and could threaten to sue for discrimination. A few weeks later that same German Shepherd bit a part of a smaller dogs jaw off at the dog park and the gentleman was still claiming it was a Service Dog! Here’s the thing, this dog could have been trained to do a task that saved his persons life. Maybe saved their life everyday. But if it’s a public safety hazard, it doesn’t get to go out in public with its owner under public access laws! Period. People really need more training on the laws and to be empowered to say no, this animal is a safety risk, it needs to leave. And on the flip side to just leave a well behaved team alone.

Here’s where I am going to extend this to Emotional Support Animals even at home but especially if you plan on taking your dog on an airplane. The dog needs to have basic training. Really I will argue that even a pet needs basic training because it will make the pet happier and less neurotic, thus less of a nuissance and less potentially dangerous. I 100% understand how effective having an ESA in your life is. I have one. In fact when I first met this amazingly sweet little guy, he had a really bad bolting problem. If he even had a spidey sense that a door was opening somewhere he would run out of it and down the block like a shock of lightning. With the doors closed he was an amazing emotional support. He would sit on my lap like his life totally depended on it, and there are times where it feels like my life does depend on it. He crawls into my children’s arms when they are bawling their eyes out. Artie is always within arms reach and always has kisses ready. However, he caused an immense amount of anxiety by being a bolter. So guess what I did? I spent some cash and time training him to not do that. He doesn’t do me any good if ultimately he’s *causing* me anxiety. That is counter productive to his job as an ESA. Now, he can come with me to take out the trash and follow me right back inside, all off leash.

ESAs are wonderful, but they must be at least trained in the basics of manners and respect. If you’ve got a dog that is fearful of people or can’t stand small children or other dogs and you have to lock them up its probably not a good ESA. And you are doing a huge disservice to the dog if you take one without at least strong leash skills and manners to somewhere extremely stressful for both you and the dog, like the airport. It’s going to stress you out, and potentially put others and your dog in danger.

And fraudsters? You are making it harder for people with disabilities to not be discriminated against. Stop claiming you love your dog so much you just can’t possibly fathom leaving home without them. If you actually cared for your pet, you wouldn’t put them into situations that could have them be taken away from you or worse get them put down if they act out in fear and bite someone. Which is what fearful dogs do.