What is the difference between a therapy animal a service animal and an emotional support animal?

Answer 1

A therapy animal is one that is trained, tested, certified, and insured to visit people in hospitals and nursing homes. A person with a therapy animal has no particular right under the ADA to take their animal anywhere pets are not permitted. If the owner wishes to visit a facility like a hospital or nursing home, they must first seek out and receive the permission of administrators at the facility they wish to visit.

A psychiatric service animal is individually trained to perform tasks that the owner cannot perform because of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Psychiatric service animals, like all other service animals, assist their disabled handlers by performing these tasks.

An emotional support animal is not required to have any training beyond the ordinary manners expected of pet dogs. Emotional support animals assist their owners by providing emotional support, comfort, companionship, and unconditional love.

Unlike a person with a service animal, a person with an emotional support animal does not have a right under the ADA to take them to any place where pets are not permitted. Under the Fair Housing Amendments Act, a qualified person with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation in the form of a modification of rules against the keeping of pets in order to keep an emotional support animal.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act, has issued this explanation of the differences between service animals and emotional support animals:

"The Department is proposing new regulatory text in § 35.104 to formalize its position on emotional support or comfort animals, which is that ''[a]nimals whose sole function is to provide emotional support, comfort, therapy, companionship, therapeutic benefits, or promote emotional wellbeing are not service animals.'' The Department wishes to underscore that the exclusion of emotional support animals from ADA coverage does not mean that persons with psychiatric, cognitive, or mental disabilities cannot use service animals. The Department proposes specific regulatory text in § 35.104 to make this clear: ''[t]he term service animal includes individually trained animals that do work or perform tasks for the benefit of individuals with disabilities, including psychiatric, cognitive, and mental disabilities.'' This language simply clarifies the Department's longstanding position."

Answer 2

Therapy animals, service animals, and emotional support animals (ESAs) all serve different roles in supporting people, and they have different legal protections under the law.

A therapy animal is a trained animal that provides comfort and support to people in group settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and libraries. They typically have a calm and friendly temperament and are trained to interact with a variety of people. Therapy animals are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and do not have the same legal protections as service animals.

A service animal is a trained animal that performs specific tasks for a person with a disability. These tasks can include things like guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, or retrieving objects for people with mobility impairments. Service animals are protected under the ADA, which allows them to accompany their owners in public places such as restaurants, stores, and airplanes.

An emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides emotional support and comfort to a person with a mental health condition or disability. ESAs are not trained to perform specific tasks, but they provide companionship and alleviate symptoms of the owner's mental health condition. ESAs are not considered service animals under the ADA and do not have the same legal protections as service animals. However, they are protected under the Fair Housing Act, which allows them to live with their owners in housing that would otherwise prohibit pets.