Emotional support animals (ESAs) are becoming more popular with the increasing numbers of Americans that suffer from depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues. The rise in popularity of ESAs is largely due to the various benefits they provide to their owners.
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The ESA can be defined as a pet that provides emotional support and comfort to the owner. The ESA must be an “assistance animal” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order for the owner to receive certain benefits under the law.
The Benefits of an ESA
An emotional support animal provides the owner with a sense of comfort and emotional support that is hard to find in other forms of therapy. One such animal may provide some form of relief from stress, anxiety, and depression by providing companionship and love. This can be beneficial for the owner’s mental health and overall well-being.
Someone who experiences panic attacks often on a daily basis, for example, may benefit from having an ESA that can help them relax and quickly overcome any sudden attacks. An ESA may also help someone who suffers from anxiety to feel less stressed and more grounded, especially if the owner is around other people.
Do You Need to Register Your ESA?
If you are an aspiring ESA owner, you may be wondering if you need to register your ESA with the ADA. The ADA is a federal law that protects the rights of disabled individuals, and does not give any person the right to discriminate against others who are also disabled. This involves the ownership of assistance animals, including emotional support animals.
Still, contrary to popular belief, registration is not necessary for ESAs to do, and any sites that claim otherwise are simply trying to make a quick buck. In fact, registration is more beneficial for service animals, which are different from ESAs.
We help people get the proper documentation to make their pet an official Emotional Support Animal. Online approval in minutes - Housing & Travel letters.
Service animals are trained to perform specific tasks, such as guiding the blind or alerting the deaf. These tasks cannot be performed by any regular pet, and thus, require specialized training and licensing. Emotional support animals, however, do not require the same.
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Ask a Vet Live NowDo You Need to Get Your ESA Certified?
Aside from registering your ESA with the ADA, you may also be wondering if you need to get your ESA certified. In short, the answer is no. This is not required by the ADA and you do not need to get your ESA certified to own one.
Service animals are trained and licensed, whereas ESAs are simply a pet that provides emotional support and comfort to their owner. So, certification is not a mandatory thing for your emotional support animal.
Is Having Your ESA on a Database Important?
There are many sites out there which claim to be a database of emotional support animals. These sites are usually found on the internet and many of them even claim to be official websites of the ADA. Some of these sites will even ask you to register your ESA with them before they can list it on their database.
But this is not obligatory. It’s true that you can have your emotional support animal on the database if you wish to do so. However, this simply makes it easier for landlords or other people to check the status of your ESA.
Kyoko
Kyoko is from a family of 3 and moved to New York with her parents and siblings when she was 13. Kyoko is fond of spending a great amount of time with pets, specifically her beagle Luna and cat Missy. Her boyfriend often complains that she spends too much time giving attention to their animals. Kyoko has written dozens of articles concerning pets and is aiming at owning a pet shop one day!
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