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The health benefits of owning pets have been realized for years. The companionship, affection and unconditional love they provide can make owners happier and less stressed. A 2015 study in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, reported that owning a pet could “decrease stress, blood pressure, anxiety levels and depression symptoms.”
When someone has an animal that helps alleviate symptoms of their mental illness, it’s referred to as an emotional support animal.
“Emotional support animals provide comfort and companionship to a person with a mental disability,” explains Julie Morrissette, a training consultant at Service Dog Training School International, an online service dog training school.
Find The Best Pet Insurance Companies Of 2023 What Is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA)?
An emotional support animal (ESA) is any domesticated animal that provides a psychological and/or emotional benefit to its owner.
“If a person is about to spiral or head into a bad feeling, sometimes just holding the animal can calm them down,” Morrissette says. “Having that animal beside them can prevent them from going to a worse [mental] place.”
The capabilities of your ESA depend on how much you train them to better serve you. Many ESAs haven’t been trained at all—their mere presence is enough for someone to reap the psychological benefits.
What’s an ESA Letter?
An ESA letter is the only legally accepted way to prove that your pet is an emotional support animal. You must retrieve the letter from a physician or licensed mental health professional, including a therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist. The letter confirms that you’re dealing with a diagnosed mental illness and that your pet is providing you with mental and/or emotional benefits.
However, there are several places where ESA letters aren’t accepted. This is because, unlike service dogs, emotional support animals aren’t protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It’s up to each individual business, such as restaurants and retail stores, to accept or deny your ESA.
How To Get an Emotional Support Animal
If you already live with an animal that benefits your mental health and are seeing a licensed mental health professional, you can ask them to write you an ESA letter to prove that it’s crucial to your well-being.
The process differs if you don’t currently have an animal and are looking to get one. You’ll want to select an animal that best suits your mental and emotional needs; most people select dogs. The next step will be to obtain an ESA letter from your licensed mental health professional.
Eligibility for ESA Animals
To qualify for an emotional support animal, you must be suffering from a diagnosed mental illness or disability, such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. Your licensed mental health professional or doctor must recognize that your ESA provides you with a psychological and/or emotional benefit.
ESA Dogs vs. Service Dogs vs. Therapy Dogs
Emotional support animals and service animals are not technically considered pets. An ESA mostly offers comfort and companionship. According to the ADA, service animals must be dogs and are always trained to complete specific tasks that help their owners with their day-to-day activities.
“Service dogs are almost like medicine with four legs and a tail because they’re needed to function daily,” explains Morrissette.
While emotional support dogs require an ESA letter for certain permissions, service dogs don’t have to be certified. It’s against the law for someone working at a business or government facility to ask for a service dog’s documentation. Service dogs are allowed almost anywhere, while entry for ESAs is up to the discretion of the establishment.
Therapy dogs are used for companionship and comfort just like ESAs, except they have undergone extensive training and socialization for this purpose. You may see them used in senior centers, schools, libraries and hospitals.
“A therapy dog has to have a very calm temperament…It needs to be well-trained, well-behaved, socialized and able to listen to instructions very well,” explains Morrissette.
Can Emotional Support Dogs Fly on Airlines?
Prior to 2021, emotional support animals were able to fly on airlines for free with their owner. But due to a change in the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), airlines are no longer required to accept ESAs. Emotional support dogs are only allowed in the cabin on most airlines if they meet the size requirements and the owner pays the pet fee..
If your ESA doesn’t meet the size requirements, it may have to fly in the plane’s cargo hold or it may not be allowed to fly at all.
Mental Health Benefits of Emotional Support Animals
There are myriad mental health benefits when it comes to emotional support animals.
Here are some of the ways ESA dogs can benefit your mental health:
- Ease anxiety. “Just by looking at or petting [an ESA], it can bring you back to, ‘Alright, things are OK now.’ They can change your whole mindset emotionally when you get into a bad place,” explains Morrissette.
- Alleviate symptoms of depression. “Someone can be depressed and then they walk through their door and there’s their dog looking at them. That can change their whole day,” Morrissette says.
- Provide support for those with PTSD. Trauma can cause people to feel on edge, anxious and hypervigilant. A dog’s comfort can help relax these symptoms.
- Offer companionship to those suffering from loneliness or grief. Someone who suffers from loneliness or is dealing with grief may benefit from having companionship through an ESA.
- Reduce stress levels. Having a dog by your side can help you to let go of stress. In fact, dogs have been found to reduce physical symptoms of stress such as high blood pressure and an accelerated heart rate.
Suitable Pets for Emotional Support Animal Designation
Any domesticated animal can be an emotional support animal; however, the most popular by far is dogs. Some popular dog breeds for ESAs include golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, Cavalier King Charles spaniels, poodles and Yorkshire terriers.
Other common ESA animals include cats, pigs, birds, rabbits and miniature horses.
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Understanding the Legal Aspects of Emotional Support Dogs
The only legally accepted document that can prove you have an emotional support animal is an ESA letter.
Landlords will be unable to deny you your right of living with your ESA, even if the home is listed as “no pets allowed.” Your right to live with your emotional support animal is protected under the Fair Housing Act. If your request is denied, you can have your claim investigated by filing a discrimination complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Emotional support animals are not protected under the ADAor the ACAA. This means they are not considered essential service dogs and can be denied entry into any business or airline.
Pet Insurance for Emotional Support Pets
There is no special pet insurance for emotional support animals, but you’ll want to have your ESA equipped with the best pet insurance. Making sure that it’s covered will provide you peace of mind for both your ESA and your wallet.
Virginia Beach Man Who Won A Case To Keep An Emotional Support Emu Now Running For Office
Nicholas Olenik has battled mental health challenges throughout his life.
As a sometimes anxious child, it took longer for him to process emotions. Four years ago, the 41-year-old fell into a depression when his brother died from a heart attack. The dark days of the pandemic, and his father’s battle with — and later death from — cancer in 2021 only made things worse.
So last year, after a buddy told him about emus and how they can be a great emotional support companion, Olenik decided to give it a try.
That’s right, emus — the large flightless birds from Australia that typically stand about 5-foot-7 and weigh more than 100 pounds.
Olenik purchased an emu egg locally, watched over it until the chick hatched in December, and bottle-fed her as she grew. He and wife Sarah named the chick Nimbus and allowed it to roam freely through the house they share with their teenage daughter and Olenik’s aunt in the Kempsville area. While they all watched with delight as Nimbus cuddled with them and their other pets, it was clear her closest bond was with Olenik, whom she followed throughout the house and yard.
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“I came back to life because of that emu,” Olenik said during an interview at their home. “You can’t be sad when you’re with an emu. They’re the cutest damned things ever.”
All that joy came to a halt earlier this year when a neighbor complained to Virginia Beach Animal Control, and Olenik was cited for having livestock in an area not designated for it. In March, a District Court judge found him guilty and ordered him to pay a $50 fine. Because Olenik planned to appeal, the judge held off on ordering him to get rid of Nimbus.
Olenik got the news he’d been hoping for when Virginia Beach Circuit Judge Kevin Duffan issued a 2-page opinion finding Olenik not guilty of the charge and ruling he can keep his beloved pet at his home. The judge also dismissed the matter with prejudice, meaning the city can’t refile the case.
Nicholas Olenik’s wife, Sarah, shows a photo of her husband with his emotional support emu, Nimbus, at their home in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on July 28, 2023. (Peter Chielka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)
According to Duffan’s opinion, the legal definitions of “companion animal” and “livestock” — and how Nimbus fit into those definitions — weighed heavily in his decision.
At the new trial, Olenik’s attorney, Alexander H. Bell, presented the judge with photos showing Nimbus roaming in Olenik’s house and cuddling on the floor with the family’s golden retriever, as well as a letter from Olenik’s psychologist, confirming the emu was an emotional support animal. Olenik testified Nimbus spent most of her time indoors and wore a harness and leash when she left the property.
“What is a trial court to do when presented with evidence that an animal clearly defined as livestock is also defined as a companion animal,” Duffan wrote in his opinion.
The judge noted that while city code prevents livestock from being in areas not designated for it, there are exceptions when the animals are kept as household pets. He also pointed to case law that defined livestock as animals “raised for food or fiber.”
“The record is clear that Nimbus is treated like family,” Duffan wrote. “There is no question that the Defendant is not raising Nimbus for ‘food or fiber’… While it is highly unusual that someone would keep an emu as a pet — or as a companion animal — while residing in the heart of suburbia, Defendant has shown to the court that it is not impossible.”
The news, however, came a little too late for Olenik to have a happy ending with Nimbus.
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As the case kept getting continued in the spring, he said prosecutors would only agree to a another continuance if Nimbus were removed from the home until it was resolved. So he decided to take her to stay with the friend in Tennessee who’d told him about emus and also runs an animal rescue and wildlife rehab center. In June, Olenik drove 16 hours there in a minivan with his mother, a friend and Nimbus.
“I cried all the way home,” he said. “It was so hard.”
While in Tennessee, Nimbus fell for a male emu on the property, Olenik said. She and her mate seem so happy that Olenik has decided to leave Nimbus there. But he hasn’t given up on emus, he said, and plans to get another to add to the family’s now extensive collection of birds.
After they got Nimbus, Olenik and his wife added six hens, three ducks, and a turkey that all live outside. Emus like watching over other birds, Olenik said, and he wanted to give Nimbus something to do when she was outside. The family’s indoor pets include three dogs and two cats.
