Emotional support animals (ESAs) help thousands of individuals in Colorado improve their mental health. ESA ownership is a well-documented, drug-free treatment for mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Because emotional support animals have helped so many people suffering from a mental disability, laws have been enacted to provide protection to Colorado residents who benefit from their support. Although their protections mainly come from federal laws, it is important to know the emotional support laws in Colorado.
If you are thinking of acquiring an emotional support animal, it’s important that you know what rights and responsibilities are afforded to these animals. This article covers everything about the laws around an ESA Colorado residents should know. Read on to get your ultimate guide to emotional support animal laws in Colorado, including how you can get an ESA letter in Colorado.
Colorado ESA Laws: Summary of Legal Protections
Colorado emotional support laws cover different aspects of life with an emotional support animal to protect these animals. It includes housing, employment, and travel, which may vary from one state to another, further highlighting the importance of knowing your state’s own emotional support animal laws.
Below, we summarize the legal protections of emotional support animals for Colorado residents interested in having one of these animals as part of their treatment.
Emotional Support Animal Colorado Regulations: ESA Laws in Colorado
Here are the emotional support animal laws in Colorado for housing, employment, travel, and flying.
Colorado ESA Housing Laws
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) is a federal law that aims to prevent discrimination based on disability. Since emotional support animals are needed for a mental disability, these animals are protected under the FHA. Tenants are also covered by the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which reinforces the legal right to live with your ESA under most rental conditions.
A tenant living in Colorado can use their valid ESA letter (we cover in detail how to get one below) to request accommodation for their emotional support animal from their landlord. Unless the animal’s presence would cause undue hardship for the landlord or a safety/health risk to the environment, the landlord generally needs to accommodate the animal, even if there’s a no-pet policy.
Colorado ESA Employment Laws
Colorado doesn’t grant additional protections to emotional support animals when it comes to allowing them in the workplace. Unlike service animals, which can accompany their handler at work, unless the animal’s presence would interfere with the employer’s operations, emotional support animals don’t get the same pass.
Therefore, emotional support animals aren’t protected in employment settings in Colorado. Employers aren’t legally required to accommodate them, but some workplaces might be willing to allow emotional support animals even though there isn’t a requirement.
Colorado ESA Travel Laws
The emotional support animal travel laws in Colorado are pretty straightforward. Given that emotional support animals don’t fit the description of a service animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act, they don’t have the same freedom of movement when it comes to travel using public transportation.
Without state-specific laws for an ESA, Colorado residents wishing to use public transportation, like buses and trains, must follow the pet rules. If your ESA can’t travel due to these restrictions, the last option is to contact transit providers to ask if they make an exception for emotional support animals.
Colorado ESA Travel and Flying Laws
When it comes to air travel, ESAs are also not allowed. Emotional support animals were once allowed to fly in the cabin of airplanes thanks to the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA); however, the Act has since been modified so that only service animals are offered protection.
The reason for this change is that emotional support animals don’t fit the description of a service animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, if your ESA is small enough, you might be permitted to bring them in an airline-approved carrier as your carry-on item, which will be stowed under your seat.
How to Get an ESA Letter in Colorado: ESA Letter Colorado Requirements
Getting the emotional support animal letter Colorado residents need for their support animals is pretty straightforward. There is no need to go through a government agency or complete a registration process to qualify for the protections outlined in the previous section.
The only requirement is that patients receive an ESA letter from their doctor or mental health professional licensed in Colorado. There’s also a requirement for mental health professionals writing an ESA letter; they must have sufficient evidence of the diagnosed disability in order to write an ESA letter.
When writing this letter, the mental health professional will include a brief outline of the conditions your animal provides support for. They will also indicate how spending time with your animal has a positive effect on your treatment. This letter can be delivered electronically, but it must be written on their letterhead.
As the demand for emotional support animals has grown, many mental health professionals licensed in Colorado have switched to providing therapy and documents like ESA letters electronically. If you’re wondering about how you can get a Colorado ESA letter, check out our ESA letter guide to learn about the entire process.
Do You Need an ESA Letter in Colorado?
An ESA letter is a requirement for Colorado residents who wish to have a legally recognized animal that has all the legal protections, such as housing protections under the Fair Housing Act. Without this document, an animal will be treated as a pet, even if the owner experiences immense therapeutic benefits.
Emotional Support Animal Letter Colorado Process: Getting a Legally Valid ESA Letter
To get a legally valid ESA letter in Colorado, patients must speak to a mental health professional licensed in the state. This visit can be done in-person or virtual; it doesn’t matter as long as they can listen to your symptoms.
Once diagnosed with a qualifying disability and the LMHP decides that an emotional support animal is an ideal treatment option for the patient, they will write an ESA letter, which the patient can then share with their landlord to get housing protections.
Who Can Write an ESA Letter in Colorado?
Therapists and psychologists are the most popular mental health professionals for getting an ESA letter, but they aren’t the only ones who can write an ESA letter for Colorado folks. Any licensed psychiatrist, clinical social worker, professional counselor, or clinical mental health nurse practitioner can legally write an ESA letter.
The only requirement for these mental health professionals, as per Colorado ESA laws, is having sufficient evidence of the diagnosed disability.
ESA Colorado Registration: ESA Certification in Colorado
Registering an emotional support animal in Colorado isn’t a legal requirement. In fact, registering an emotional support animal in any of the 50 states is a requirement for owners. However, it can have its own benefits, as getting a certification for your emotional support animal can help you reinforce your rights by giving you additional documentation on top of your ESA letter.
For example, by getting ESA certification for your emotional support animal through our website, you will have a unique registration number that you can give to anyone questioning the validity of your animal without showing your actual ESA letter. It can also serve as additional proof to landlords and certify that you’ve worked with a legitimate ESA letter provider to get it.
Get an ESA Letter in Cities Across Colorado
While the process of getting an ESA letter in Colorado is generally the same, we also have guides for Colorado residents in different cities.
Below, we overview ESA laws in the most popular cities in Colorado; to find out more, including how to get a legally valid ESA letter in these cities, click on the linked heading for the city you’re curious about.
Denver
Denver is perhaps the easiest city to get an ESA letter in Colorado, as the city is home to a long list of mental health professionals who can write this document, making it accessible for the residents. While getting an ESA letter in Denver is a fairly straightforward process, be prepared for the process by learning more about getting an ESA letter in Denver.
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is the second biggest city in Colorado. With a high population that’s pet-friendly, it’s a great city to live with an ESA. Especially if you have a dog that enjoys nature escapes and dog-friendly attractions, which you will find plenty of in the city.
Aurora
Getting an ESA letter in Aurora is also fairly straightforward. The city has plenty of mental health professionals you can book a session with to start the process of obtaining your ESA letter. Many also conduct sessions online, so if your condition makes you unable to drive to their location, this makes it easy to work with a mental health professional who’s local to Aurora.
Fort Collins
Fort Collins is still a fairly populated city, but finding a mental health professional who specializes in your condition might be a hit or miss. Still, you will find that it is generally easy to connect with a mental health professional who can write you an ESA letter in Fort Collins. In case you have difficulties, you can always start the process online through US Service Animals.
Thornton
Thornton might be a lot smaller than the cities mentioned above, but it is a good candidate to be the best city to have an emotional support animal in Colorado. It has a wide range of pet-friendly attractions that make life easier for those who need an emotional support animal. As for the process of obtaining an ESA letter, Thornton residents won’t find anything specific, so everything we’ve covered applies to this city in Colorado as well.
ESAs vs Psychiatric Service Dogs in Colorado
Emotional support animals and psychiatric service dogs (PSDs) are completely different under Colorado laws. While emotional support animals provide comfort through companionship, psychiatric service dogs are highly trained dogs that perform disability-related tasks to benefit the handler in their daily lives.
Due to this, psychiatric service dogs have public access rights granted to them by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which allows them to accompany their handler in public spaces – a privilege that emotional support animals don’t have.
If you want to learn more about psychiatric service dogs, check out our PSD guide. It covers everything about psychiatric service dogs, including the additional protections they get.
How to Get a Psychiatric Service Dog in Colorado
Generally, as someone who has a mental disability, there are two main ways to get a psychiatric service dog in Colorado. The first option is to buy a PSD that’s trained for the tasks you need. This, however, is the costliest option, which can be up to $20,000 or more, depending on the dog’s training.
The second option is to train a dog yourself to make them your psychiatric service dog, which you can do by using a dedicated psychiatric service dog training course, such as the one we provide at US Service Animals. It walks you through every step of the way for training a psychiatric service dog, with easy-to-follow instructions. Complete our PSD consultation form to get started.
FAQs About Colorado Emotional Support Animal Laws
Below are answers to the commonly asked questions about emotional support animal laws. Getting the answers for these will further help you understand the ESA laws Colorado residents should know.
Does Colorado Recognize Emotional Support Animals?
Although Colorado doesn’t have state-specific emotional support animal laws, these animals are recognized by the state, mainly thanks to the Fair Housing Act. The protections granted to these animals under this law apply to Colorado. The state also requires mental health professionals to have sufficient evidence of their patients’ diagnosis before writing an ESA letter.
How Fast Can I Get an ESA Letter in Colorado?
Colorado doesn’t require mental health professionals to have a 30-day client-provider relationship, so it is possible to get an ESA letter the same day. However, it all comes down to your mental health professional, as they need to have sufficient evidence of your diagnosis to be able to write you an ESA letter. Therefore, your symptoms and condition impact whether you can get an ESA letter the same day.
Are Online Consultations for ESA Letters Legal In Colorado?
Colorado doesn’t require mental health professionals to issue ESA letters only in person. As we’ve covered above, an online consultation is completely valid for your mental health worker to write you an ESA letter.
Can a Landlord Deny an ESA Letter in Colorado?
Landlords can deny an emotional support animal only under specific situations in Colorado, like when the animal’s presence would cause undue hardship for the landlord or lead to financial burden. Besides these, a landlord cannot deny an ESA simply because they have a no-pet policy. Learn more about when a landlord can legally deny an ESA.
Can A Landlord Charge a Pet Deposit for an Emotional Support Animal In Colorado?
Under the Fair Housing Act, a Colorado landlord cannot charge an emotional support pet fee, pet rent, or deposits. Because these animals are a medical need, not pets, they are exempt from such extra fees.
Are Emotional Support Animals Allowed in Hotels in Colorado?
A Colorado ESA letter only applies to the owner’s primary residence. Since emotional support animals don’t have the same public access rights as psychiatric service dogs and other types of service animals, it is up to the hotel management to decide if they allow emotional support animals. Nonetheless, given the rising number of pet-friendly hotels in Colorado, you likely will find one that allows emotional support animals, though they may charge you a pet fee.