I don't talk about ESAs (Emotional Support Animals) very much because I don't have or need one. But ESAs do cross some of the boundaries of service dogs.
So, let's talk about the rights and needs and differences between ESAs and service dogs.
We'll start, as usual, with definitions.
ESA - Emotional Support Animal. It can be any animal at all - a pig, a boa, a macaw, an iguana, a rabbit, a ferret... It requires no training, but does require a letter from a doctor. It performs therapeutic support functions for the human owner/handler and family members. It does not have full service dog access.
Therapy Animal - Usually a dog, but may be a cat, or some other animal. It must be trained, must be socialized, must be certified (usually by the Delta Society). It performs services for people other than the owner/handler. It does not have service dog access at all.
Psychiatric Support Dog - A dog trained to recognize and intervene in psychiatric episodes such as paranoia, hallucinations, dizziness, and more. It has full service dog access. Also called a Mental Health Dog. PTSD dogs, Autism Dogs, OCD dogs, Anxiety Disorder dogs, Panic Disorder dogs, Agoraphobia dogs, Schizophrenia dogs, and Mood Disorder dogs are all qualified as full service dogs. These handlers may require a doctor's letter as the disability is invisible.
Owner/Handler - The person who needs and uses the assistance animal. They are the owner if they a) trained the animal themselves, b) were given the trained animal from an agency with no recall or replace rights, or c) had their own animal trained by someone else for them specifically. Everyone teamed with an assistance animal is considered a handler. In some cases, the agency retains ownership of the assistance animal and can recall or replace it at any time and for any reason.
We are not going to be discussing Therapy or Psychiatric Support dogs. We're talking ESA, which inhabit a gray area between service and therapy.
According to ADA regulations only dogs and seeing eye ponies have full and complete access to accompany their owner/handler wherever the human partner is allowed to go.
Therapy animals may go to specific locations (nursing homes, convalescent centers, senior centers, etc.) by invitation of the agency, and may be denied access by the agency. Therapy dogs can accompany their owners only to approved locations at approved times. They do not have ADA access protection and are not covered under the Air Carrier Access Act or the Fair Housing Act.
ESAs are covered under the Air Carrier Access Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, which means the owner/handler can bring the animal on board air craft and may have the animal in residences where pets are otherwise forbidden, including college dorms and pet-free apartments, condos, and rental properties. In residences where pets are allowed with a fee, those fees must be waived for an ESA (although the owner must pay damages, they don't have to pay a deposit or fees).
ESAs may be granted access by businesses, but businesses are not required to grant access to ESAs. These businesses include hospitals, shops, theaters, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, and government buildings. They may also include public parks, zoos, and outdoor concerts, fairs, and festivals. It is entirely up to the business management if an ESA will be granted access. Hotels may charge a pet fee for an ESA, where they aren't allowed to charge a pet fee for a service dog.
ESAs still have some protections under the ADA, but they are greatly reduced. This is because enough people petitioned the Department of Justice to restrict the types of animals that could be service animals with full access rights. America has become a rather heartless society, and this is one aspect of that heartlessness. Before 2011, any animal that provided assistance for a disability, including emotional disabilities that weren't task-oriented disabilities, were covered under ADA protection. After 2011, only service dogs and seeing eye ponies have full legal protection and access.
As with service dogs, ESAs must comply with behavioral standards - no inappropriate toileting, no excess noise (barking, mewing, yowling, screeching), no inappropriate behaviors (attention-seeking, begging for food, stealing food, climbing up on tables, fighting with other animals, aggressive behaviors, etc.). Handlers with animals exhibiting those breaches of behavior may be asked to remove the animal - relocate it to a cargo area, to a holding area, to a kennel or a crate, leave it in the car, or take it home and return.
In residences, the animal must also comply with behavioral standards (no excess noise, no inappropriate toileting, no displays of aggression) or there can be restrictions placed on the animal (kept crated, kept leashed, specific times to allow it to access outdoor toileting...). If the animal cannot be brought into compliance, the resident handler may be asked to remove the animal from the premises, may be asked to move, or be evicted.
It is therefore critical that ESAs receive high quality basic behavior training. A Canine Good Citizen is usually sufficient for dogs and other animals must receive something equivalent or be under the owner's control at all times when out in public.
Also, the owner/handler needs to make sure their ESA is properly toileted - scrupulously clean litter boxes, bedding, cages, crates, and scooping poop for outdoor toileting. If the ESA is a cat, it must be an indoor cat, not one that roams the neighborhood freely. When outdoors or in public, the cat must be leash-trained and under the complete control of the owner/handler at all times. Other ESAs should also be leash-trained and under the control of the owner/handler when out in public. While there are no restrictions on the distance an ESA must maintain with its owner/handler in public as there are with service dogs (3 feet, with some exceptions), it doesn't hurt to comply with the service dog restrictions when out in public.
Like service dogs, ESAs need regular vet visits to maintain their health. If there are vaccines available for the animal, it must be fully vaccinated and you must carry proof of vaccination with you along with the doctor's letter. Rabies is the bare minimum for those ESAs that could carry rabies, but I highly recommend all the possible vaccinations. Your ESA will be exposed to a great many conditions out in public, and you want to protect your ESA so it can provide you with a long life of assistance.
If there are parasites that could infest the ESA, the owner/handler must make sure the ESA is parasite-free. That means flea and tick prevention, heart worm prevention, hookworm, round worm, and ring worm, mange, ear mites, etc., whatever the ESA may carry.
An ESA requires no training at all because its mere presence is sufficient to provide what its human partner needs: affection, companionship, devotion, motivation. An ESA can be for one member of a household or for multiple members of the household. An ESA is a slightly upgraded pet with protected privileges. The upgrade comes from that doctor's letter.
The difference between an ESA and a psychiatric service dog is that the psychiatric service dog must perform specific trained tasks for their owner/handler:
Some tasks Psychiatric Service Dogs are trained to perform:
*Assist handler within their home.
*Assist handler in places of public accommodation (e.g. grocery stores, shopping malls, public transportation, and etc.).
*Remind their handler to take medication.
*Wake handler for school or work.
*Assist in coping with emotional overload by bringing handler into the “here and now.”
*Provide a buffer or a shield for the handler in crowded areas by creating a physical boundary.
*Extinguish flashbacks by bringing handler into the here and now.
*Orient during panic/anxiety attack.
*Stand behind handler to increase feelings of safety, reduce hyper-vigilance, and decrease the likelihood of the handler being startled by another person coming up behind them.
*Search dwelling before handler enters
*Turn on lights
*Provide balance during disorientation/dizziness
*Provide a focus or focal point that is neutral for the handler
What an ESA is trained to do:
*Love the handler
*Cuddle with the handler
*Offer unconditional devotion to the handler
*Basic Canine Good Citizen training
Without a prescription/letter from your doctor/mental health professional/therapist for you to have an ESA, your pet is just a pet.
ESAs can wear service animal tags, a service vest, and may have a service ID identifying them as an ESA. The state of California registers service animals and ESAs through each county's animal enforcement agency. As far as I know, no other state requires service animals and ESAs to be registered.
Any animal that can be a pet can be an ESA: duck, pig, cat, ferret, parrot, iguana, chicken, rabbit, dog, flying squirrel, chinchilla, guinea pig, rat... There are no restrictions on the species as there are for service animals (dog or seeing eye pony). If you can keep it as a pet and bond with it, and you are in need of an emotional support animal to the point where a doctor/mental health professional/therapist will write you a letter saying you need one, then it can have some of the protections of a service animal, but not all of them.