{"id":111320,"date":"2025-06-24T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uitac.com\/inthenewsblog\/?p=111320"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:07:46","slug":"service-animals-vs-esas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uitac.com\/inthenewsblog\/service-animals-vs-esas\/","title":{"rendered":"Service Versus Emotional Support Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fear, trauma, anxiety, and depression. It\u2019s no lie that the rates of mental illness have been rising, especially when looking at current events like growing rates of divorce, political environments, natural disasters, and economic hardships \u2014 it seems the list never ends. A report by the <\/span>American Psychological Associatio<\/span><\/a>n (APA)<\/span> has indicated an increase in chronic mental illnesses from 18 to 44 years of age.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps when seeing the increase in these numbers we can make an inference as to why service, emotional support, and therapy animal numbers have also been increasing. <\/span>As<\/span> an <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> by <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> stated, the National Service Animal Registry in 2011 had 2,400 registered service and emotional support animals, and now the number has jumped to over 200,000. Let\u2019s discuss what the difference between service, emotional support, and therapy animals and look into why the usage of emotional support animals has risen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Service Animals<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"AA history of service animals has been recorded in various places throughout time. From guide dogs depicted in paintings in <\/span>Pompeii<\/span><\/a> recorded in 1516 in <\/span>China<\/span><\/a>, as well as in 1785 in <\/span>France<\/span><\/a> for a school for the blind, service animals have seemingly been present throughout history. Despite the presence of service dogs throughout time, it seems that the mass training of service animals began after World War I. This training started with one <\/span>doctor<\/span><\/a>, Gerhard Stalling, working with soldiers who were blinded by gas on the front lines<\/span>. The doctor happened to leave his dog with an injured patient and was able to see the immediate effects on the patient seeing them interact with each other. <\/span>Service animal training centers continued to spread from Europe to the U.S.<\/span> and even further, each center dedicated to providing the best service animals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The definition of a service animal by the <\/span>Americans with Disabilities Act<\/span><\/a> (ADA) passed in the 1990s. It is any dog<\/span> 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. Service animals are not required to be <\/span>certified<\/span><\/a> on a specific program, do not need an ID that identifies the dog as a service animal, and are not an emotional support animal as emotional support is not related to a disability. Though some service animals are not required to <\/span>wear<\/span><\/a> special gear, programs train animals with vests to alert the dog that it is \u201cwork time.\u201d Even if you see a cute dog out in public with a service vest, respect their workspace and allow them to do their job. They are an important facet of an individual’s life that needs full concentration on their assigned tasks.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AService animals are protected under a variety of areas with the <\/span>ADA<\/span><\/a>. From being allowed accommodations and entrance into public facilities to being with their handler at their workplace, service animals cannot be deferred from any type of housing, can be with their handler in K\u201312 educational settings, and cannot be denied access to transportation, including air travel. It is important to remember that though service animals <\/span>provide <\/span><\/a>companionship,<\/span> they are more than just a dog; they are workers who further provide freedom even life-saving interventions to those who need it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotional Support Animal (ESA) and Therapy Animals<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Emotional Support Animal<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

According to the <\/span>U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development<\/span><\/a> (HUD), an emotional support animal (ESA) is any animal that provides emotional support, alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. Unlike service animals who preform specific tasks, there is <\/span>no required training<\/span><\/a> for ESAs. <\/span>P<\/span><\/a>sychiatric service animals<\/span><\/a> are specifically trained to pick up on signals from anxiety attacks <\/span>before <\/span><\/i>they start. While ESAs are helpful, they ultimately do the tasks dogs were instinctively born to do: be a companion, show loyalty to their owners, or perhaps, even cuddle on demand.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ESAs are <\/span>prescribed<\/span><\/a> with an official document called an emotional support letter by a mental health professional as part of a treatment plan for an individual to support emotional, mental, and physical parts of everyday life. This prescription is recognized by federal law and gives the individual\u2019s ESA official recognition as a need for their particular condition. ESAs are also protected under some laws like service animals that require employers or landlords to accept ESAs and make some other accommodations for individuals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therapy Animals<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The <\/span>definition<\/span><\/a> according to the ADA is animals who provide people with healing contact, typically in an institutional or clinical setting, to improve their physical, social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. According to <\/span>Medical News Today<\/span><\/a>, doctors use animals in treatment plans of certain individuals to help provide comfort or increase movement and motor skills, develop social and behavior skills, and increase motivation. Some major <\/span>examples<\/span><\/a> of therapy animals in action include<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n