Guide on the registration of an ESA dog

What is ESA?

ESA (Emotional Support Animal) is a special status of the pet that acts as emotional support for the patient with psychological or mental disorders. Whether the animal is suitable for emotional support or not depends not on the training but on the efficiency of the patient’s contact with the animal in the context of the positive trend in facilitating psycho-emotional disorder. Meanwhile, any animal can act as ESA.

In contrast to the service animals, which are required to undergo special training, Emotional Support Animals, intended solely for the emotional support of people, don’t require special training, and their only function is to provide psychological comfort to the patient and relieve the course of pathological conditions. However, dogs are most often used for these purposes, since they are emotionally stable and undemanding animals, which can provide full emotional support to the person who needs it. An optimal choice is a little puppy or a young sterilized dog.

How to register ESA dog

If you have a systemic psycho-emotional disorder, which doesn’t respond to traditional treatment, ESA can be a very effective alternative therapy. A small furry friend will relieve your pathological condition and help you deal with any destructive psychological states. The benefit of ESA is that the animal with this status can stay with you anywhere without restrictions.

This privilege is available to the patients, diagnosed with one of the listed pathologies:

• Sociophobia;
• Stress problems
• Autism;
• Bipolar disorder;
• Fear of breaking up;
• Attention Deficit Disorder;
• Depression;
• Dyslexia;
• Panic attacks;
• Post-traumatic stress disorder;
• Emotional exhaustion;
• Age-related cognitive decline;
• Increased anxiety;
• Any psychiatric condition;

The procedure of obtaining the ESA status for your pet is incredibly simple, and the letter confirming the right for an emotional support animal is issued the same day as the application (subject to a personal visit to a doctor). This letter acts as the main paper, giving the right for air transportation and keeping animals on a rental property on privileged terms.

To give your dog ESA status, you need to contact a licensed healthcare professional, who will confirm in writing the need for therapy involving an emotional support animal. An interview with a doctor, namely a psychiatrist or psychologist, registered or practicing nurse, can be carried out by a person himself or remotely. In both cases, if the interview detects one of the above pathologies, the patient will be provided with a letter on a letterhead indicating the information about the doctor’s license and a need for the involvement of ESA in the patient’s treatment.

Legal rights

The main privilege, which concerns the stay of an ESA animal in a rented apartment, is that the pet’s owner doesn’t have to pay a deposit for the animal at the time of signing the lease. However, if the conditions for the maintenance of property indicate special rules for pets, the property owner has the right to refuse to rent an apartment to the patient with ESA.

If the property is standard and has no special rules for staying with pets, the owner of an apartment or a house has no right to demand bail for the animal from the tenant. This privilege is provided to the patients with the psycho-emotional disorder to avoid the discrimination of the right for adequate treatment.

Registration of ESA dogs for flights

The possibility of free flights together with a dog in the cabin is one of the most important privileges given by the ESA status. None American airline has the right to refuse a patient with the psycho-emotional disorder to have his pet near him/her during the flight. Meanwhile, the rules for flights with an ESA are as follows:

• Only one emotional support animal per passenger;
• The dog must be clean, vaccinated and make no danger to other passengers;
• During the flight, the dog must be at your feet, on your knees or under the seat;
• The dog can’t block the passages or take the seats of other passengers.

When flying with an emotional support animal, the passenger isn’t charged with a pet travel fee. Additional registration of an animal onboard isn’t required – it is enough to present a letter from your doctor.