11/21/2021
Understanding the Difference Between Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Animals, and Service Animals
The lines are often blurred between the roles and characterizations of the various types of assistance and ‘working’ animals. Fine legal distinctions are upheld however between emotional support, therapy, and service animals. It is therefore imperative that we clarify the differences.
Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)
Emotional support animals, simply put, are all about providing companionship, comfort, security, and love. They help people suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, or a mental or emotional disability. They live with their human and are usually constant companions.
Their presence assures relief from the symptoms of the emotional or mental disability. Emotional support animals do not require any special training. However, training an emotional support dog in basic obedience is always a good idea!
Many suitable pets are assigned as emotional support animals, and your dog may be one. Only a very few ESAs are however acceptable according to the ADA rules for housing.
While dogs are the most common type of ESAs, since they help with reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental or emotional disabilities, cats also make good emotional support animals too.
Therapy Animals
Therapy Animls do not live with the people they assist. These animals are brought into public places like assisted living, medical establishments, and schools, to work with patients or residents as required.
Therapy animals are working animals, whose owners volunteer their time in whichever facilities will benefit from their company, attention, and love. Cats read human body language remarkably well and know when people need extra love.
Therapy animals are therefore categorized into:
Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT): Dogs in therapy programs assist people undergoing physical therapy after surgery or accidents, or while regaining fine motor control skills in their limbs. Simply holding or petting a dog can play an important role in the rehabilitation process. This form of therapy includes interactions with the cat as part of a structured treatment plan.
Animal-Assisted Activities Therapy (AAAT): This refers to any instance where a therapy dog supports patients, whether in an assisted-living facility or nursing homes. Trained handlers or psychologists on-site use the therapy dogs as a reassuring presence for the residents and to provide comfort and support where needed.
Therapeutic visitation is the most common means of animal therapy. Pets “visit” people under the supervision of their handlers at rehabilitation centers, hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, schools, or even prisons!
Therapy animals are allowed in certain facilities only with the permission and upon invitation. They do not enjoy additional rights regarding air travel, no-pet housing, or establishments that are not pet-friendly.
Service Animals
Service animals are defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.
Other species of animals, (with the exceptions of the occasional miniature horse) whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered service animals. This definition immediately rules out cats. Only dogs and miniature horses are recognized as service animals.
What comes to mind first when thinking about service animals are guide dogs for the visually impaired. A psychiatric service dog is however also among the types of service dogs. These dogs receive specialized training in order to assist their handler with a specific mental illness or psychiatric disability, for example, schizophrenia, autism, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
These dogs help with specific tasks to mitigate their handler’s disabilities. Service animals have to be well behaved and socialized and may accompany their owners to all public areas and private businesses.
Who Needs Service Animal Registration When You Can Get an ESA Letter?
Not everyone in need of support for emotional disabilities requires a fully trained service animal. Excellent emotional support and companionship are provided by any pet who fulfills the role of an ESA.
Bear in mind that it is never the animal who is registered as an ESA, but rather the person who is diagnosed and prescribed the ESA.
The Type of Service Animals Recognized by the ADA
The ADA is a very important piece of legislation that protects the rights of individuals with disabilities. The Act allows people with service dogs, including psychiatric service dogs, to bring them into public places despite there being a no-pet policy in place. Considering the important job these dogs have, it’s important that they constantly accompany their human.
The ADA does not protect emotional support animals or therapy animals. Remember, service dogs have received specific training and are therefore expected to know how to behave in public and of course, always be alert and focused on the job at hand.
Emotional Support Animals, Service Animals, et cetera are also protected under the Fair Housing Act.
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