A Quick Guide to Emotional Support Animal and Service Animal Federal & State Laws

As an emotional support or service animal owner, keeping track of all the rules surrounding service animals can be extremely confusing. There are federal laws, state laws, airline rules, housing rules, and on the list goes. You just want to be able to have your ESA or SA by your side without causing unnecessary hassle. Here is a quick guide to the laws governing emotional support and service animals.

Federal Laws

As an emotional support or service animal owner, keeping track of all the rules surrounding service animals can be extremely confusing. There are federal laws, state laws, airline rules, housing rules, and on the list goes. You just want to be able to have your ESA or SA by your side without causing unnecessary hassle. Here is a quick guide to the laws governing emotional support and service animals.

On the other hand, an emotional support animal is an animal which brings comfort and relief from symptoms of depression and anxiety just through its presence. Emotional support animals have a lot more limitations on where they can and cannot go. Usually, you must ask permission to bring it with you. However, you can live with an ESA free of charge under the Fair Housing Act.

State Laws

State laws occasionally have minor variants of the federal laws above. Specifically, California and New York have more rules regarding service animals in the workplace versus public places. For more information on your specific state, you can find a list of all the state laws here. Just find your state and click on it for more information.

Airlines

Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a new rule limiting the types of animals that can fly for free. This means that emotional support animals will no longer be considered service animals and will not be allowed on airlines. Emotional service animals can fly for free and are honored by airlines provided you have the proper paperwork and requirements in place, contact us at United Support Animals for this.

When you are traveling, make sure to contact the airline in advance and double check all of their rules and guidelines to avoid difficulty at the airport. Also, your emotional support animal could qualify as a psychiatric service dog, which are allowed on airlines.

Individual Business Rules

If you have a certified service dog, you are allowed to take into public with you, as long as it is well behaved and does not cause damage to persons or property. If it causes a major disruption or is ill-behaved, the business owner has the right to ask you to leave. However, emotional support animals are not allowed in public places, unless you have asked the business owner’s permission in advance.

Hopefully, this quick guide to federal and state laws, as well as the rules surrounding airlines and individual businesses was helpful. You can now venture out with your emotional support animal or service animal without worry. Just make sure to have an emotional support animal letter of certification or have service dog certification. That way, if anyone asks you, you will be able to prove to them the need for your ESA or SA. Your emotional support animal may also qualify as a psychiatric service dog. A psychiatric service dog is defined as dog that is trained to assist their handler with a psychiatric disability or a mental disability, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Find out if your support animal qualifies to be psychiatric service dog by contacting our staff here at United Support Animal. Here at United Support Animal, we can help you get a letter of certification in no time. Get in contact with our friendly staff today!