Emotional support animal
An emotional support animal (ESA) is a US legal term for a pet which provides therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship and affection. Emotional support animals are not specially trained to ameliorate disability as psychiatric service dogs are. They require only as much training as an ordinary pet requires in order to live peacefully among humans without being a nuisance or a danger to others.
In the U.S., two federal laws grant special rights to some owners of emotional support animals.
The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (42 USC 3601, et seq.) establishes a procedure for modifying "no pets" policies in most types of housing to permit a person with a disability to keep a pet for emotional support.[1][2] In housing that allows pets but charges supplemental rent or deposits for them, these fees must be waived. The ESA's owner can be charged for actual damage done by the animal, but they may not require the applicant to pay a fee or a security deposit in order to keep the animal.[3]
The Air Carrier Access Act establishes a procedure for modifying pet policies on aircraft to permit a person with a disability to travel with a prescribed emotional support animal so long as they have appropriate documentation and the animal is not a danger to others and does not interfere with others (through unwanted attention, barking, inappropriate toileting, etc.).[1][4]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b Service Dog Central--Emotional Support Animals Retrieved on December 27, 2007.
- ^ Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law: Right to Emotional Support Animal in "No Pets" Housing Retrieved on February 17,009.
- ^ "Joint Statement on Reasonable Accommodations - Civil Rights Division Home Page". http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/jointstatement_ra.php.
- ^ Aviation Consumer Protection Home Page Retrieved on December 27, 2007.
