Where Can You Take Your Emotional Support Animal?

Emotional support animals are animals that provide therapeutic support to a person with a mental disability. They can be dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs or any other type of pet. These animals provide unconditional love, affection and companionship and provide their owners with a sense of purpose. Many people with disabilities like depression and anxiety disorders benefit from emotional support animals.

Housing

The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities. As the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law explains, courts typically interpret that to mean that, in addition to other accommodations, landlords must allow tenants to have emotional support animals even if they typically do not allow pets if tenants are disabled and health care professionals recommend emotional support animals as part of their treatment. Tenants may be required to provide a letter from their treating physician saying they are disabled and that an emotional support animal is recommended.

Emotional support animals must be reasonably well-behaved and kept under control by their owners; they can’t damage property or disturb other tenants. Landlords cannot charge additional fees to tenants that need emotional support animals, but tenants are responsible for paying for any damage done to the property by their animals.

Flying

Airline regulations require airlines to permit people with mental health-related disabilities to fly with an emotional support animal in the cabin of the airplane if they have the appropriate documentation from their treating physician. A letter from the treating physician must state that the person in question has a mental health-related disability that is included in the DSM-IV (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used to diagnose mental illnesses), that the disability significantly limits one or more major life activity (things like seeing, hearing, walking, communicating and thinking), and that an emotional support animal is recommended as part of the person’s treatment.

Emotional support animals flying in the cabin of a plane must be well-behaved and not disturb other passengers or airline staff. Certain types of animals, including ferrets and reptiles, are usually not permitted to fly in the cabin even when designated as emotional support animals because they are considered a safety risk.

Businesses

There are no laws that permit emotional support animals to accompany their owners into businesses where pets are not normally permitted. Federal law allows people with disabilities that use service dogs to take their dogs into most public places, including stores and restaurants, but emotional support animals are not the same as service dogs. Service dogs have been trained to perform specific tasks that mitigate a handler’s disability. If you want to take your emotional support animal into a store or other business that does not normally allow pets, you can ask the manager or business owner for permission. They are not required to allow you to bring your pet, however, and emotional support animals are generally considered to be pets.

Are Emotional Support Animals Tax Deductible?

I get asked a lot if service dogs are tax deductible and sometimes I get asked if emotional support animals are, as well.

The answer is that service dogs can be tax deductible, if you itemize and deduct medical expenses.  You can read more about that here, in an article written by my accountant.

Emotional support animals are not tax deductible under the current IRS rules.  The IRS basically uses the ADA definition of a service dog, and that does not include emotional support animals.

Whiskers the Emotional Support Cat

I am finding Whiskers is really good at providing emotional support.  The biggest thing is, she sleeps with me! 

Isaac does not like to sleep with me.  While he is super friendly and social, he isn't exactly snuggly.  He will snuggle for brief periods, but at night, he far prefers sleeping without me. 

For a while, I thought it was that he just liked lots of room and didn't like sleeping with anyone.  Then one night, I had a house guest and Isaac opted to sleep with my guest.  Apparently it's not anyone, it's just me.  He does not like to sleep with me.

I am guessing it's because I am very restless at night, due to my PTSD.  At times I kick and hit and scream and stuff.  Not as much these days as I used to, but I think I still do it sometimes.

But maybe not enough to bother Whiskers.  At last not so far.  Plus, she is still kitten-ish.  She gets up in the middle of the night to play.  Isaac does not.  Isaac likes his sleep.

So Whiskers sleeps with me and is snuggly and friendly and really comforting.  I'm finding her really helpful.

Where Can You Take Your Emotional Support Animal?

Emotional support animals are animals that provide therapeutic support to a person with a mental disability. They can be dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs or any other type of pet. These animals provide unconditional love, affection and companionship and provide their owners with a sense of purpose. Many people with disabilities like depression and anxiety disorders benefit from emotional support animals.

 

Housing

The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities. As the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law explains, courts typically interpret that to mean that, in addition to other accommodations, landlords must allow tenants to have emotional support animals even if they typically do not allow pets if tenants are disabled and health care professionals recommend emotional support animals as part of their treatment. Tenants may be required to provide a letter from their treating physician saying they are disabled and that an emotional support animal is recommended.  

Emotional support animals must be reasonably well-behaved and kept under control by their owners; they can’t damage property or disturb other tenants. Landlords cannot charge additional fees to tenants that need emotional support animals, but tenants are responsible for paying for any damage done to the property by their animals.

Flying

Airline regulations require airlines to permit people with mental health-related disabilities to fly with an emotional support animal in the cabin of the airplane if they have the appropriate documentation from their treating physician. A letter from the treating physician must state that the person in question has a mental health-related disability that is included in the DSM-V (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used to diagnose mental illnesses), that the disability significantly limits one or more major life activity (things like seeing, hearing, walking, communicating and thinking), and that an emotional support animal is recommended as part of the person’s treatment.

Emotional support animals flying in the cabin of a plane must be well-behaved and not disturb other passengers or airline staff. Certain types of animals, including ferrets and reptiles, are usually not permitted to fly in the cabin even when designated as emotional support animals because they are considered a safety risk.

Businesses

There are no laws that permit emotional support animals to accompany their owners into businesses where pets are not normally permitted. Federal law allows people with disabilities that use service dogs to take their dogs into most public places, including stores and restaurants, but emotional support animals are not the same as service dogs. Service dogs have been trained to perform specific tasks that mitigate a handler’s disability. If you want to take your emotional support animal into a store or other business that does not normally allow pets, you can ask the manager or business owner for permission. They are not required to allow you to bring your pet, however, and emotional support animals are generally considered to be pets.

Emotional Support Cat

Today I saw my psychiatrist and needed him to sign a form designating Whiskers as an emotional support cat for my housing. There is a box on the form to check if the assistance animal is individually trained to assist a person with a disability, and I checked no and explained that she is for emotional support and no training is required (because an emotional support animal is different than a service dog).

The office manager was looking at the form and asked, "So a cat doesn't have to be trained?"

I was like, "Um, it's a cat. Have you ever tried to train a cat?"

She looked kind of confused so I asked, "Have you ever had a cat?"

Whiskers says she is pretty well on the way to having me trained but I have not yet trained her to do a thing.

If you want to read more about  emotional support animals and housing, check out this post.

It Might Be Easier to Just Find a Landlord That Allows Pets

I was speaking to a woman today in the waiting room of my psychiatrist's office. She was asking me about my service dog, and then she said her son was going to call his cat an emotional support animal because his landlord didn't allow pets. I said great, all he needs is a letter from his doctor stating he has a disabling mental illness and needs the cat as part of his treatment! The lady said oh. I said, it might be easier to just find a landlord that allows cats, than to convince a doctor that he has a serious mental illness. She said good point, she'd suggest that to him. Duh!

Flying with an Emotional Support Animal

Emotional support animals are pets belonging to people with mental disabilities, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, which are recommended as part of their treatment plan by their mental health professionals. Emotional support animals can be any type of pet, including cats, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, birds, rabbits and reptiles.

Air Carriers Access Act

The Air Carriers Access Act allows people with mental disabilities to fly with their emotional support animals in the cabin of a plane, as long as the emotional support animal doesn’t present a danger to other passengers. Most emotional support animals do not have to be kept in a carrier during the flight. The airline cannot charge an extra fee for people flying with emotional support animals. Emotional support animals should be kept on a leash during the flight. They must be housebroken (unless they are animals that typically live in a cage, like hamsters or guinea pigs) and well-behaved.  

Letter from Your Health Care Provider

In order to fly with an emotional support animal, you must provide to the airline a letter from your health care provider. The letter from your health care provider must say three things. It must say that you have a disability that is included in the DSM-V, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used to diagnosis psychiatric conditions; it must say that your disability substantially limits you with regard to at least one major life activity (major life activities include basic things like walking, talking, breathing, seeing, hearing and thinking); and it must say that he or she recommends an emotional support animal as a component of your treatment. The letter does not need to state what disability you have or how it limits you with regard to major life activities. The letter should include the name of the health care professional writing it, the type of license she holds and her license number. It must be written on letterhead within the past year.

Communicating with the Airline

You must notify the airline at least 48 hours before your flight that you plan to fly with an emotional support animal. You must provide the letter by your health care provider at that time. If you don’t give the airline 48 hours notice, they do not have to let you fly with your emotional support animal.

Making the Trip

Limit the amount of food and water you give your emotional support animal for several hours before your flight. Offer only small amounts of water during that time. Give your emotional support animal a chance to go potty before entering the airport.  Keep your emotional support animal on a leash while in the airport. You will be able to board the plane early if you want. Your emotional support animal must sit in your lap or on the floor at your feet. Make sure your emotional support animal does not block the aisle.

Can a Therapist Write a Letter, Making Your Pet a Service Dog?

I have a friend, not a close friend but a friend, who is a therapist.  A couple days ago she asked me a question.  She said she sometimes has clients that ask her to please write them a letter saying they need their pet to be a service dog so they can take their dog into public places.  They say their dog  helps their depression or anxiety, so they want their dog to be a service dog.  She was wondering if a dog is really a service dog if it just makes someone feel better or feel less anxious or less depressed.

It's a great question.  The answer is no, if all the dog does is provide comfort or emotional support, it's not a service dog.  It might be an emotional support animal, but it's not a service dog.

A service dog must be trained to perform specific tasks that mitigate a person's disability.  And the person must be disabled in order to have a service dog.  Not everyone that suffers from anxiety, depression or other psychological problems is disabled by their condition.

An emotional support animal is a pet (doesn't have to be a dog) belonging to a person with a psychiatric disability (like anxiety or depression) that is recommended by their doctor, therapist or other healthcare provider as part of their treatment plan.  Again, the person must be disabled, and not everyone with anxiety or depression is disabled by their condition.

Service dogs have to be trained to perform specific tasks to mitigate a person's disability but emotional support animals don't need any special training.

Service dogs are allowed to go most places with their handlers, including restaurants and stores.  Emotional support animals are not.  In most cases, landlords must allow people to have emotional support animals, even if they do not normally allow pets (some landlords are exempt from this law, however), and people are allowed to fly within the U.S. with an emotional support animal in the cabin of the plane.  Same goes with service dogs.  You cannot take an emotional support animal to a restaurant, grocery store, hotel that does not allow pets, doctor's office, movie theater, etc. though, unless you get permission from the manager (and in some cases, the manager cannot legally give permission; health codes prevent them from allowing an emotional support animal in a restaurant, for instance).

You don't need a letter from your therapist to take your service dog into public places.  In fact, it is illegal for business owners to ask to see such a letter.  If you are disabled and your dog is trained to perform tasks that mitigate your disability, then you are allowed to take your service dog with you.

If you are not disabled, though, or if your dog is not trained to perform actual tasks that mitigate your disability, even if you have a letter from your therapist, you are not legally allowed to take your dog into public places where pets are not permitted.  A letter from your therapist does not override the law.

If you have an emotional support animal, you may be required to provide a letter from your therapist or other healthcare provider in order to fly with your emotional support animal or in order to live in no pets housing with your emotional support animal.

Here are links to some articles with more information about emotional support animals:

Where Can You Take Your Emotional Support Animal?

Keeping an Emotional Support Animal in an Apartment that Doesn't Allow Pets

Flying with an Emotional Support Animal

Faking a Service Dog in Order to Fly with a Pet

Take a look at this video posted on Youtube: Airplane Dog.

Initially, the poster explained that she bought her boyfriend's dog a service dog vest (you can see the vest clearly says "Service Dog" on it) so that he could fly with her from LA to London in the cabin of the plane.  It's illegal and unethical to claim your dog is a service dog when it's not in order to do this.

When a number of people called her on it, posting in the comments that she was breaking the law and doing something wrong, she then changed her statement to say the dog was her emotional support animal.  She states that she has a disability and that she had a letter from her doctor saying the dog was an emotional support animal and that she needed the dog with her on the flight.  I have no idea if she really is disabled or not.  She probably did have a letter, although I'm guessing it said the dog was a service dog since that's what the dog's vest says, I don't know that for sure, either.

But the fact remains that the dog isn't even hers.  He belongs to her boyfriend.  She was delivering the dog to him in London.  If the dog is not hers, then the dog cannot be her emotional support dog.  She should not have had him on the plane.  She was breaking the law and behaving unethically.  And putting a vest that says "Service Dog" on him, if he was an emotional support animal, is misleading and unethical.

A number of people previously commented on her video, pointing out that what she was doing was wrong, but she has since deleted all those comments.  If you have a moment, though, you might want to go ahead and send her a message, letting her know you disapprove of her dishonest and illegal behavior.  You might also want to report the video to Youtube, suggesting they remove it since it's encouraging others to commit an illegal act by following her example.

Emotional Support Animals in No Pet Housing

An emotional support animal is any pet belonging to a person with a mental health-related disability that provides therapeutic support, companionship and affection. Emotional support animals are often cats or dogs but can also be ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds or other animals. Having an emotional support animal is pretty much the same as having a pet, except in a few circumstances. One such circumstance is that the Fair Housing Amendments Act requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, and allowing those with mental health-related disabilities to have an emotional support animal is generally considered a reasonable accommodation.

Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHA)

As explained by the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, courts have repeatedly interpreted the Fair Housing Amendments Act to require landlords to allow emotional support animals in housing even if they normally do not allow pets, provided tenants can show that they have a mental health-related disability and a health care provider states that the tenant needs an emotional support animal as part of his treatment. Landlords cannot charge additional deposits or rent for tenants that need emotional support animals, but tenants can be held responsible for any property damage done by their pets.

Emotional support animals must be reasonably well-behaved. For instance, dogs cannot bark excessively or behave aggressively towards other tenants; if they do, landlords can refuse to allow those dogs to live there. Dogs must be kept on leashes and tenants must pick up after their dogs.  

In most cases, the ability to have one emotional support animal is considered a reasonable accommodation; landlords are not usually required to allow disabled tenants to keep multiple emotional support animals. However, in some cases it might be considered reasonable to allow two animals. For instance, experts recommend that some animals be kept in pairs for the benefit of the animals, and in these cases the ability to keep two emotional support animals would be a reasonable accommodation.

Written Documentation from a Health Care Provider

Landlords may require written documentation from a health care provider verifying that a tenant has a mental health-related disability that significantly limits one or more major life activities and that an emotional support animal is a recommended component of treatment. Health care providers do not need to disclose the specific disability a tenant has, and tenants are not required to provide this information, either. It should be noted, however, that the tenant needs to have a disability that significantly limits major life activities, which include things like hearing, seeing, walking, communicating and thinking. A person may be diagnosed with something like depression or anxiety but not be disabled by his condition.