Emotional support dogs, like other emotional support animals, assist their owners in a variety of ways to help them cope with the challenges of a mental disability. Whether a dog, cat, bird, or even a lizard, emotional support animals provide a daily routine and structure in addition to the companionship they provide, making them an irreplaceable part of their owners’ lives.
However, for an animal to be an emotional support animal, there are certain requirements that every animal and owner must meet. If these requirements aren’t met, the animal won’t be considered an emotional support dog, leaving them out of the protections given by the Fair Housing Act.
In this article, we will cover all the emotional support dog requirements you need to know. We will also touch on commonly asked questions around this topic to ensure our readers have a complete understanding of the requirements.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is a type of support animal that’s recommended by a licensed mental health professional. These animals are there as part of the treatment plan of an individual with a psychiatric disability. They provide comfort through companionship, which is proven to have therapeutic benefits to ease the symptoms of a mental disability. While the most common emotional support animals are cats and dogs, birds, chickens, lizards, snakes, hamsters, guinea pigs, or nearly any other animal, can also be equally well emotional support animals. It all comes down to which animal the owner finds comfort in.
Emotional Support Dog vs. Service Dog: Their Differences
Let’s first review the differences between emotional support dogs and service dogs to avoid any confusion.
The biggest difference is that while emotional support animals can be any animal, provided that the animal is legal to own in the owner’s state, service animals must be dogs or miniature horses. These dogs and miniature horses must be trained for a disability-related task, meaning they must perform tasks like guiding someone who’s visually impaired or retrieving objects from the ground for someone who uses a wheelchair.
Miniature horses, however, have certain requirements in addition to training. They must be fully housebroken, under the handler’s control, fit in the facility, and pose no safety or health risks.
Since service dogs are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, they have public access rights in addition to the same housing protections given by the Fair Housing Act. This means service animals can accompany their handlers in public spaces, such as restaurants and government buildings, as well as other places that serve the general public, while emotional support animals cannot.
Service animals are also protected under the Air Carrier Access Act, which once also protected emotional support dogs in the past. The final changes in December 2020 ruled out that only service animals are allowed to fly in the passenger cabin of an aircraft without being subject to airline pet travel restrictions.
Overall, an emotional support animal can be any animal an individual can legally have in their state, whereas service animals must be dogs or miniature horses. Emotional support dogs are also covered only under the Fair Housing Act; service animals have added protections on top of the FHA granted to them by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Air Carrier Access Act.
What Are Emotional Support Dog Requirements?
While the above explains some of the emotional support dog requirements and laws governing these animals, here’s everything future owners must have in order to meet the requirements, and thus, for their dog to be considered an emotional support dog.
A Valid ESA Letter
First and foremost, emotional support dogs require a valid ESA letter written by a licensed mental health professional. This is a formal document that confirms that the individual has a qualifying mental disability and that their mental health provider recommends an emotional support dog as part of their treatment.
However, ESA letters also have certain requirements that must be met for one to be valid. It must include the mental health professional’s details, such as their name, license number, state, professional title, and contact information, as well as the patient’s details, like their name and date of birth for identification.
The exact diagnosis of the person who’s receiving it, however, isn’t required for an ESA letter to be valid. In fact, almost all ESA letters don’t contain this detail for privacy reasons. Lastly, it must have the date of issue and the signature of the mental health professional.
When it comes to using an ESA letter for requesting accommodation for an emotional support dog, the date issued also matters. If the ESA letter is several years old, the landlord could request a more recent one to ensure the tenant still needs an emotional support animal.
Therefore, another requirement for an emotional support dog is having a recent ESA letter, preferably one dated within the last year.
A Qualifying Animal
As mentioned above, when outlining the differences between an emotional support animal and a service animal, only an animal that the owner can legally own in their state can become an emotional support animal.
This isn’t as much of a concern if you’re choosing to have an emotional support dog versus another animal that’s illegal to own in some states, like a primate or something similar. If you’re looking to have an emotional support animal in addition to your emotional support dog, you may want to check your state laws to determine whether or not your animal meets the emotional support animal requirements. Even if you somehow receive an ESA letter for an animal that is illegal to own, it won’t override any state or local animal ownership laws.
Something to keep in mind when choosing an emotional support dog, though, is whether your place of residence can handle the size of the breed. For example, you almost certainly can’t have a breed like a Great Dane in a studio apartment. Trying to have a very large breed in a small living space does give your landlord a legal reason to deny your ESA letter, even if your ESA letter is valid.
If you live in an apartment or another residence with common areas and other tenants around, you should also make sure your dog isn’t destructive or aggressive. Landlords can legally revoke permission for your emotional support dog to stay with you if the dog causes property destruction or proves to be aggressive.
What About Emotional Support Dog Certification and Registration?
Emotional support animal certification and registration aren’t legal requirements. It is entirely up to the owner whether to register their animal on an ESA registry. However, although registering an emotional support dog isn’t a requirement, it can have its own benefits.
For example, our emotional support dog certification offers an Animal ID Card with your dog’s information and a unique registration number. You can present it to anyone who questions the validity of your ESA, which they can then use to verify your dog on our online database. You will also have access to our in-house legal support team in case you need help establishing your ESA rights.
While certification isn’t legally required, these benefits can help reduce your stress by mitigating conflicts with your landlord or any suspicious neighbors; oftentimes, having visual ‘proof’ that your ESA was certified through a legitimate provider can be enough for them to accept your ESA’s rights and not ask additional questions.
FAQs About Emotional Support Dog Requirements
Below are answers to some of the commonly asked questions about emotional support dog requirements.
What Counts as an Emotional Support Dog?
Emotional support dogs are emotional support animals at the end of the day. Therefore, the only requirement for an emotional support dog is having a valid ESA letter. Unlike service dogs, emotional support dogs don’t have any training requirements. They don’t have to perform a disability-related task to be legally considered an emotional support dog. As long as the owner has an ESA letter for the dog, they will have everything needed to be an emotional support dog.
Does Anxiety Qualify for an Emotional Support Dog?
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health disorders, affecting over 40 million people in the US alone. Since it is listed under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it is a psychiatric disability that qualifies for an emotional support animal. In fact, ESAs for anxiety are among the most popular types of emotional support animals.
What Is the Rarest Emotional Support Animal?
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly which animals are the rarest emotional support animals. While dogs and cats are the most common, chickens, donkeys, peacocks, pigs, pigeons, tarantulas, and turtles are among the rarest. Generally, the rarest pets are a good reference for determining which animals are the rarest emotional support animals.
Understanding Emotional Support Dog Requirements
To summarize everything we’ve covered throughout this article, there are only two requirements for emotional support animals: you must have a valid ESA letter written by a licensed mental health professional and an animal that you can legally keep in your state. If you meet these two emotional support animal requirements, you will have everything needed for having a valid ESA.