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Aurora Mcvey

Professor Reynolds

English 1201

21 March 2021

How effective are emotional support animals?

In our world today, there are many people who struggle with anxiety and depression.

Many people go to a therapist or get prescribed medication to help them cope, to go about

their day to day business. There are other ways to cope, such as having a friend by your side.

Ever heard of emotional support animals? When other treatments don’t work, emotional

support animals are recommended. The question is, do they actually help people feel better?

When it comes to certifying an emotional support animal, there isn’t a whole bunch to

it. The steps to take are large steps but there aren’t many. If a person wants to qualify for an

ESA they must have one of the following disabilities, depression, phobias, PTSD, anxiety, and/or

panic attacks. The person must see a licensed therapist or licensed health care provider to

determine whether or not you have any of the previous disabilities. If the person is then

diagnosed with one of the disabilities they can have whoever diagnosed them sign an ESA letter

approving that the person can have an emotional support animal. Step 1, recognize your need

for an ESA. Step 2, connect with a therapist/doctor. Step 3, demonstrate why you have a need

for an ESA. Step 4, get documents signed. That’s all!

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Although, some seem to be confused on the difference between service and therapy

and emotional support animals. A service animal is trained to help with disabilities such as

visual impairments, mental illnesses, seizure disorders, diabetes. A therapy animal is trained to

provide comfort and affection to people in a hospice, disaster areas, retirement homes, nursing

homes, and even schools. An emotional support animal is there to provide their owners with

therapeutic benefits through companionship. Both service animals and therapy animals have to

go through specific training to be able to do what they do. An emotional support animal doesn’t

need such training.

When it comes to the benefits of where you can take your emotional support animal, it

tends to be a bit limited compared to a service animal due to the lack of training required.

Service animals are allowed just about everywhere with the proper documents. Emotional

support animals are not. The ESA letter provides them to fly on most flights if the airlines allow

it and the letter provides free living for your pet to live with you without any additional cost for

pets and also allows them to be in “no-pet” housing. ESA’s aren’t just pets, they do have a job

to do. Unfortunately, many places will not allow them in with the owner. ESA’s are allowed in

any store other than major businesses, such as target and walmart that will accept ESA’s but all

stores still have the right to reject ESA’s in their store.

There are about 200,000 people who have an emotional support animal in the United

States today. When people think about emotional support animals, they typically like to go to

the idea of dogs or even sometimes cats. Cats and Dogs aren’t even the half of what people

own as emotional support animals. Some others would include hedgehogs, parrots, ferrets,

bunnies, monkeys, hamsters, and guinea pigs. These are some of the less exotic emotional
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support animals people may have, although there have been a few who have had an alligator or

a pig as an emotional support animal. There are many animals to choose from when trying to

get an emotional support animal. It could be helpful to think about what your budget is like, do

you have room for that animal, will you need an energetic or calm animal, and also the more

exotic the emotional support animal the more restrictions on where they are allowed.

Emotional support animals seem to be very popular throughout the world and they

must be effective otherwise therapists wouldn’t suggest them. I do believe that if emotional

support animals had the option to undergo training to make them an elite emotional support

dog in a way than they would be even more popular. If I was to have an emotional support

animal and not be able to take them to the store with me where my anxiety spikes, it wouldn’t

be worth it. I feel ESA’s could be a bit different but they are effective for people now, especially

considering over 200,000 people in the U.S have one. I believe emotional support will grow

more and more over the years to come.

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Works cited

9, Maria March, et al. “How to Certify an Emotional Support Dog.” ESA Doctors, 21 Mar. 2021,
esadoctors.com/how-to-certify-an-emotional-support-dog/.

Alt, By:Kimberly. “Service Dog vs Therapy Dog vs Emotional Support Dogs.” CanineJournal.com,
17 Feb. 2021, www.caninejournal.com/service-dog-vs-therapy-dog-vs-emotional-
support-dogs/.

“Are Emotional Support Animals Allowed in Restaurants?” CertaPet, 23 Dec. 2020,

www.certapet.com/are-emotional-support-animals-allowed-in-restaurants/.

“Emotional Support Animal Registration Guide - ESA Certification.” US Service Animals Blog, 17
Oct. 2019, usserviceanimals.org/blog/ultimate-guide-to-emotional-support-animals/.

Stephanie Gibeault, MSc. “Everything You Need to Know About Emotional Support Animals.”
American Kennel Club, American Kennel Club, 24 Feb. 2021, www.akc.org/expert-
advice/news/everything-about-emotional-support-animals/.