Find answers to your questions about service dog and ESA registration.
FAQs
A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people with disabilities such as visual impairments, hearing impairments, mental illnesses, seizures, mobility impairments, and diabetes.
Service dogs can perform a variety of tasks, including guiding the blind, alerting the deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with PTSD during an anxiety attack, and many other tasks.
An emotional support animal (ESA) provides comfort and support in forms of affection and companionship for an individual suffering from various mental and emotional conditions. Unlike service dogs, ESAs do not need specific training for tasks.
Service dogs are protected by federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They are allowed to accompany their owners in public places, including restaurants, hotels, and airplanes, without any additional fees.
No, emotional support animals do not have the same rights as service dogs. They are allowed in housing units that forbid pets and on airplanes, although airline policies are changing. As of January 2021, airlines are no longer required to accommodate ESAs, but many still do.
Covered conditions for a service dog include mobility problems, paralysis, diabetes, asthma, autism, depression, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), speech problems, social anxiety, epilepsy, blindness, and deafness.
Covered conditions for an emotional support animal include anxiety disorders, panic attacks, social phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
You can register your service dog or ESA on our website by filling out the registration form and choosing the type of certificate and optional vest you want.
Yes, to qualify for an emotional support animal, you generally need a prescription or letter from a licensed mental health professional stating that you have a mental or emotional disability and that the animal provides support that alleviates at least one of the identified symptoms or effects of the existing disability.
Yes, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service dogs are allowed to accompany their handlers in all areas where the public is allowed to go. This includes restaurants, hotels, stores, and public transportation.
Yes, any breed of dog can be a service dog as long as they are trained to perform specific tasks that assist a person with a disability. There are no breed restrictions for service dogs under the ADA.
No, the ADA does not require service dogs to wear a vest, ID tag, or specific harness. However, many handlers choose to have their service dogs wear a vest for identification purposes.
Training a service dog involves teaching the dog to perform specific tasks that assist with your disability. This can be done through professional training programs, or you can train the dog yourself. The dog must also be well-behaved and under control in public.
A service dog is trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a disability, while a therapy dog provides comfort and support to people in hospitals, schools, and nursing homes. Therapy dogs do not have the same legal protections as service dogs.
Yes, emotional support animals can be any type of animal, including dogs, cats, birds, and even miniature horses. The most common type of ESA is a dog. The key requirement is that the animal provides comfort and support to the individual with a disability.