An emotional support animal is more than a pet as it provides mental and emotional support to its owner. People suffering from some form of mental and emotional disability need support to normalize their lives. These assistance animals provide this to their owners and help them live a normal life.
Want to learn more about what is an emotional support animal?
Continue reading to know more and how to get a genuine ESA letter to live and travel with your animal.
What is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is prescribed by a mental health professional. It provides emotional support to the mentally and emotionally disabled people through their presence.
Emotional support animals or ESAs do not need to be individually trained to do some specific tasks. All they need is to be disciplined and safe to have around. They help their owners to deal with depression and anxiety by providing companionship only.
Types of Animals as ESA
Cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits, birds, hedgehogs, ferrets, etc. are animals that can qualify as ESAs. Such animals could be of any age. They are not specially trained to do or perform a certain task.
You can have any animal as your emotional support, but you should know how to control them in public places. Make sure your ESA does not pose a threat to others in public as well as at home.
Benefits of Emotional Support Animals
Why would a person choose to have an emotional support animal? An emotional support animal offers a number of advantages to their owners. Below are some of the key benefits of having an ESA.
- Petting an animal is proved to be soothing and therapeutic. People dealing with anxiety and depression can treat their condition by getting an ESA.
- ESAs provide comfort in stressful situations, which includes dealing with post-traumatic stress and anxiety.
- Research has found these animals help normalize blood pressure, heart rate, and enhance the immune system.
- ESA provides companionship, which is essential for individuals living alone and experiencing depression and anxiety symptoms.
- They are also capable of treating mental and emotional disabilities naturally.
- ESA helps to develop social and personal connections and treat social isolation.
- Your emotional support animal will also help to provide you a sense of personal security.
- Federal laws have allowed people with disabilities to bring along his ESA in workplaces and educational institutes to reduce anxiety.
Who can Apply for an ESA?
People suffering from various mental and emotional instabilities are eligible to get an animal for their emotional support. Depression, anxiety, and social isolation are common symptoms now, and the main reasons we see a lot of people having an emotional support cat or a dog now.
Usually, people suffering from the below mental illnesses get an ESA for their help and support.
- Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Social Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- Emotional Trauma
- Multiple types of Phobias (fear from height, blood, water, etc.)
- General Anxiety Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Suicidal Tendency
- Learning Problems
- Insomnia Disorder
People suffering from such conditions can benefit a lot from ESAs that provide emotional support to them by being their companions and helpers. All you need is a prescription from your doctor stating your mental and emotional health and how an ESA will help you get better.
Emotional Support Animal Laws
Some laws provide legal privileges to emotional support animals and their owners.
Fair Housing Act (FHA)
According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and FHA, landlords must make appropriate arrangements for the ESAs. It allows disabled persons to keep an ESA at home with them even in a no-pet housing facility.
Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords are legally prohibited to do the following things.
- Charge any additional pet deposit for ESAs
- Enquire about the detailed medical records of the disability
- Refuse to accept the emotional support animal
- Ask for a specialized animal training
- Use any identification collar that provides harm to the animal
Though an ESA is not trained to perform tasks, ESA owners are responsible if their animals cause any damage to people or property.
Should an ESA wear an emotional support animal vest? The federal law does not force the ESAs to wear a vest or collars, but we suggest you make your animal look as official as possible in any public place to identify them.
Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA)
Similar to FHA, the Air Carrier Access Act allows companion animals and ESAs in an aircraft to accompany their handlers. But in some cases, airlines may require documentation explaining that the person has a disability and why the animal has to fly with them.
Moreover, you should inform the airline beforehand when traveling with your animal so that they can make the needed arrangements.
How to Get an Emotional Support Animal?
Following are the steps to qualify for an ESA:
Check Whether you Meet the Criteria for an ESA
An individual must have to meet the criteria for qualifying for an ESA. People suffering from psychological issues like depression, anxiety, panic attacks, traumatic stress, and emotional disability can get the support of an animal.
The first step in the process involves filling out a questionnaire and form. After this, one of our licensed mental health professionals will contact and consult you accordingly.
Get a Licensed Practitioner's ESA Letter
The next thing is to obtain a prescription stating the need for an animal’s support. Once you complete the form and qualify for it, our therapist will help you. Having an ESA letter means you have the legal right to live and travel with your pet. You can read more about keeping some essential things in mind before traveling with your dog or any other ESA.
Getting an ESA letter also means enjoying some unique perks. It is important to keep in mind that, you can get your ESA letter only from a licensed therapist. Just getting in touch with our mental health professional is all you have to do. He will assess your situation and see if you qualify for an emotional support dog or any other animal.
What is an Emotional Support Animal Letter?
An ESA letter is a prescription issued by a verified mental health doctor. The purpose is to inform that the individual has a certain emotional and psychological disorder. Therefore, an animal’s support is necessary and useful in treating the symptoms and conditions.
As discussed earlier, these emotional support animals do not just offer unconditional love, companionship, and warmth but they are also extremely helpful in managing different symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression.
However, to live and travel with your ESA, having a genuine ESA letter is necessary.
What is Emotional Support Animal Registration?
There is nothing like an emotional support animal or ESA registration. Many online sources and websites claim to register your animal as an ESA, which is wrong. The only thing that you need is a genuine and real ESA letter that is written by a professional mental health professional.
How to Ask the Doctor for an Emotional Support Animal Prescription?
Instead of asking the doctor directly to write the prescription for you, talk to him about how you came to know about the idea. Many times, people try to trick the therapist into writing the letter to use it to waive the pet fee off. This is why your therapist may be skeptical about it.
Explain how you came to know about the idea and how you have witnessed people get better by having an ESA. Show the testimonies and research that shows how animals affect the mental and emotional conditions and manage them better.
If you already have a pet then you can talk to the doctor about how your pet makes you feel and function better. This way it will not seem as if you are trying to force it and will show your genuine need for the ESA.
How Long it Takes to Get an ESA Letter?
If you feel that a companion animal can be beneficial for you in dealing with stress and anxiety, then you can contact a mental health therapist. After assessing your need for it, he can provide you an ESA letter.
The time depends on the process and how fast your physician could write and process your letter. This is the more common path to get the letter. However, you can also get the letter online.
How to Get an ESA Letter Online?
To get the letter online, Google, and see what companies are offering these services. But it is vital to check the credibility of these letters to prevent yourself from getting scammed. Before getting the letter, check free emotional support animal letter available online.
Moreover, you should be aware of the companies that are offering immediate letter services and pet registry at a low cost. Such ESA letter certificates may not be legitimate. Note that letters offering lifetime validity are also a fraud because a 100% certified ESA letter has one-year validity.
A fake ESA letter can be a risk for you. An airline or a landlord can approach a mental health therapist to cross-check your letter and if it is not certified you are in a pickle. In addition to that, faking an ESA letter is a federal offense.
You can end up in prison or can be charged with a heavy fine if caught with a fake letter.
A genuine and legitimate ESA letter has complete details about you, the therapist, the animal, and the letter’s validity. To get the letter. Fill the questionnaire with all the details.
Once we review and analyze your responses and find you qualified for the letter our therapist will write the letter for you. You will get the letter within 24 hours, which means that you can start living with your animal as soon as possible.
The letter will be valid for an entire year and you will have to renew it every year. With a genuine letter, you will be able to live and travel with your animal without paying any extra fee.
See if you qualify and get your letter.