In our modern society, animals play diverse roles in our lives, from beloved companions to invaluable assistants for those with disabilities.
Some people use the terms “pet,” “emotional support animal,” and “service animal” interchangeably. Especially emotional support animal, when they seek to bring it places a per may not normally be allowed.
However, there are important differences. Each category carries its own unique set of responsibilities and, in some cases, legal protections.
This is why many people get upset regarding emotional support animals. Because one group will see them as necessary to function in public, while another will see the classification as an excuse to bring your pet anywhere they go.
Let’s review these differences so we can all be on the same page.
The Beloved Pets
Let’s start with the furry friends we all know and love, our pets.
These animals are welcomed into our homes purely for companionship and enjoyment. Whether it’s a playful pup, a cuddly cat, or a colorful bird, pets bring joy and laughter into our lives with no specific training or legal protections.
Sure, we might send our young puppy to obedience school. They may even have their own diploma, but that’s not recognized by anyone for legal purposes.
Because of this, outside our house, their presence may be restricted. Seemingly public places like restaurants, stores, or work places are actually private establishments. Some apartments, homeowners associations, etc, may limit, or place rules upon them, such as no pets over a certain size. Some places may be required by law, or preference, to limit your pets access with a simple “no pets” policy.
Many fur parents feel a close connection to their pet and often think of them as one of the family. You wouldn’t leave a child home alone, so why it is OK to be leaving their beloved pet home.
Some people rely on them for emotional support to get through the day. A pet that loves them unconditionally, provides this support. As such, they feel they should be able to go everywhere with them, to ensure they can make it through the tough parts of the day.
However, without proper documentation or training, you may need to plan to leave your pet at home, or with a friend. If you want to ensure they can be taken elsewhere, we’ll need to view them as a different type of animal. That leads us to…
Emotional Support Animals: Providing Comfort and Solace
Emotional support animals (ESAs) serve a vital role in providing therapeutic benefits and emotional support. They will often support individuals with mental or emotional disabilities, such as anxiety, depression, autism, or even PTSD.
ESAs do not require any specific training, but their owners must have a letter from a licensed mental health professional prescribing the animal’s presence. This means you cannot self designate your “fur-baby” as an ESA.
ESAs are protected under the Fair Housing Act, allowing them to live in housing that typically prohibits pets. However, their public access rights are more limited than service animals. So places like restaurants, shopping locations, and more, may prohibit their entry, or limit where they can go to an outside portion of their establishment like a patio.
While ESAs must be permitted in housing and on airplanes, they require proper documentation to do so.
While many ESAs are a small dog, they are not necessarily so. For example, people have tried to use alligators, large birds, and more, as a support animal. This can cause issues, especially around other support animals, or even service animals.
Since they are not trained to not interact with other animals, but instead might resort back to instinct. We’ve seen both friendly pets and emotional support animals, have issues in crowded spaces or when another animal gets into “their territory”.
Service Animals: Highly Trained Assistants
Finally, we have service animals, the highly trained assistants that play a crucial role in the lives of individuals with disabilities. These animals are not pets, but instead can be thought of as trained, skilled workers.
These animals, typically dogs because that is the only animal type the ADA recognizes as a service animal, undergo extensive training to perform specific tasks directly related to their handler’s disability. The animal will undergo training lasting months, or even years, to assist their human companion. Depending upon the type of training they get, it can cost between $15,000 and $50,000 to train a service animal.
Service animals can provide support for physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or even mental disabilities. The type of dog will vary based upon the task it is to perform.
For many years, the guiding of the blind was the most common task (a seeing-eye dog). However, dogs can now be trained for many more tasks. Service animal training may be for alerting the deaf, pulling wheelchairs, detecting seizures or allergens, providing psychiatric support, and calming and supporting people with autism.
Please note that while there are both service animals and emotional support animals that deal with calming and supporting a person with autism, not all of them are trained to work with people who have autism, and how they work with their human will vary.
How do service animals get their training?
A service animal is first trained in a training facility to perform their basic tasks. Then they are trained on how to behave in multiple environments, such as out at a store, in a park, etc. All of this training typically will take 1-2 years.
After all that training for the animal, they are then paired with an individual. The human, might go through their own training on how to work with their service animal.
Service animals start their training early in life while they are still a puppy. Therefore they will not have previously lived with the individual – that would be an emotional support animal.
Because of their specialized training, service animals are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and must be allowed in all public places, including restaurants, stores, workplaces, and on airplanes with their handlers.
However, unlike ESAs, no certification or documentation is legally required for service animals under the ADA. (https://adata.org/legal_brief/legal-brief-service-animals-and-individuals-disabilities-under-americans-disabilities) However, the animal must be trained to perform a specific task related to the handler’s disability. If a service animal is seen doing certain things, such as not responding to commands from its owner, or attacking another animal, it can lose its protections.
Why Some People/Places Don’t Allow All Animals
There are multiple reasons someone might want to limit animals where they live, work, or visit. Here are some of the most common reasons.
Attacking/Scaring Others
Some places will prohibit non-service animals, because of their lack of training. I’ve heard stories of service animals not even fighting to protect themselves as they work to serve/protect their human.
On the other hand, I’ve seen instances where two ESAs have attacked one another in a public place. Both sets of owners talked (yelled) at the other about how their animal was so gentle. They both said the vicious animal attacked them.
In one case my wife saw an owner trying to protect their service animal, because they knew their service animal wouldn’t fight back. Unfortunately, the owner was bit by the other dog.
As ESAs and pets become more common, especially after the pandemic, my wife and I have witnessed several occasions where an ESA has tried to attack a Service Animal.
One occasion was inside a grocery store, which previously allowed ESAs and Service Animals. She was walking inside with our son and an owner with the ESA on voice control came around the corner. Because our son has a fear of dogs, she turned to go another way. There a man with his Service Animal was coming from the other direction.
The ESA started growling at the Service Animal. The Service Animal moved to block its owner and stood still. The two owners started yelling at each other until the manager came over to intervene. Now that store only allows Service Animals, as do most of the stores and restaurants in our area since there have been several incidents over the past year.
Because of instances like this a private entity, might fear that they may be sued for things outside of their control. Their insurance may not even cover this type of situation. This is why many places will only allow service animals.
Fear of Animals
As the parent of special needs children, I know that they sometimes have severe fears. Like many of their sensory inputs, it seems like their fears are cranked to eleven. A fear of different, or certain, animals is a common fear.
Our eldest is scared to death of dogs. It doesn’t matter the size or type. When ever we are out, we often have to look out for dogs and reroute him. This is especially true when we are out hiking, which he loves to do.
My wife and I have actually developed a language and gestures to communicate with one another to keep our son in the dark so that he will not be spooked by a dog.
Allergies
And finally, some people and places will limit animals due to people having allergies. People can be allergic to all different types animals, not just cats and dogs. While some allergies result in minor irritations, it is important to realize that people can also have severe allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing.
Just because you haven’t seen one doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen. Because you cannot know every person you come in contact with, while out in public, and their medical history.
Conclusion
While pets bring joy and companionship, emotional support animals provide comfort and solace. Service animals offer invaluable help to those with disabilities.
By understanding the differences between these categories, we can better appreciate the vital roles animals play in our society and ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can enjoy the companionship and support these remarkable creatures offer.
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