Emotional support animals are becoming commonplace all around the world. People approach medical experts and facilities in order to adopt a companion that can help them through their stressful times. These animals are specially trained to help you cope with any mental difficulties or physical disabilities. They can help you calm down if you are having an anxiety attack or push your wheelchair if you are going for a walk in the park.

Different types of animals can be considered as emotional support animals such as dogs, cats, hedgehogs, rabbits, and snakes and you can keep them with yourself in your house or apartment once you receive the real esa letter for housing.

People usually confuse emotional support animals with service animals. Even though both of them are there to provide you with some kind of help, there is a considerable difference between service animals and emotional support animals. Proceeding with the article we shall discuss the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal.

Service Animals

Service animals are animals that have been trained to do help in tasks for people with physical disabilities. For instance, they can help a blind person when they go out on their own or push the wheelchair of a paralyzed person.

Emotional Support Animals

An emotional support animal is an animal that provides emotional support to the suffering individuals and helps in relieving the effects of a person's mental or physical disability. These animals can help you keep your sanity and calm you down in situations that trigger your trauma or phobia. For instance, they can calm you down if you are having a panic attack, provide you relief when you are suffering from chronic pain, or reduce your stress.

The Difference

Service animals help you when you are unable to perform any physical task. In order to get a service animal for yourself, you are required to identify your need, and then you can have a medical professional prescribe it to you. Service animals are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Therefore, the person who wants to get a service animal has to have a disability that is listed in the ADA act to be eligible.

The service animals are not already trained for specific tasks. It is up to the owner or handler who has to train them however they want, and they do not have to use any special program to train them. Also, ADA does not provide the service animal owners with any professional documentation that classifies them as service animals, which means that the owners are not allowed to ask for a certain letter to prove the animal is there to help with the disability. Also, they do not require any certain indicators to show that they are service animals.

You are allowed to take your service animal anywhere with you according to the laws except for the places that do not observe the ADA act. Unless your animal behaves aggressively or differently from what it has been taught, no one can ask you to take the animal away even if there is a certain policy. Dogs are usually the only animals that serve as service animals. However, you can choose a miniature horse, who has been trained appropriately, as well.

Emotional support animals help reduce any psychological or physical effects of a certain disability. To get an ESA for yourself, you are required to visit a professional and let them know about your situation to see if you are eligible for an ESA. If yes, then you will be asked to adopt an emotional support animal for yourself. Emotional support animals are not protected under the ADA but by the Fair Housing Act. According to this act, people with disabilities cannot be discriminated against when they want to obtain a house, and there are no no-pet policies when it comes to this act.

Emotional support animals are there to provide you comfort and affection when you’re going through tough times. They can help reduce loneliness and the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Under the fair housing act, every owner of an emotional support animal receives an ESA Letter, which identifies that their animal is an ESA.

You are legally allowed to take your emotional support animals wherever you want, and you would not be having any problems with your landlord to keep your animals with yourself. All you need is an realesaletter, and you can bring your animal to restricted places like the airlines as well. There are many animals, already stated above, that you can adopt as your emotional support animal.

Therefore now you can know why there is an increasing demand for both these types of animals around the world. They can help you with physical as well as psychological issues by being great companions. Service animals are there to help with your physical problems, whereas emotional support animals are there to provide you emotional relief. However, as the owners, make sure to take care of them if you want them to be active and healthy when they help you. You can take them for regular check-ups, let them join you in your exercise sessions, and provide them with healthy treats so that they can be happy and provide you with the same affection that you provide them with.

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