Top 4 Reasons To Have An Emotional Support Dog Letter.

by Staff October 13, 2016 9 Comments Business Health Opinion Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Mental disorders are more stressful to deal with when there is no family or friend to comfort you during the times that you feel down the most. The cost of the medication and the treatments can take a toll on your overall well-being as well and may even make things more depressing for you.

In the event that you are not at ease in the company of humans, a 2015 research published by Harvard has shown that having an emotional support animal (ESA) can assist a person in alleviating the worries and emotional instability that symptoms of mental health 44black-man-and-dog issues may cause. Dogs typically become humans’ friendly companions. Yet, because a lot of establishments veto the presence of animals within the vicinity, you need to have an emotional support dog letter signed by a medical professional so that you will be
allowed to go anywhere with your pet. It’s important to also pay attention to your own pet’s well-being. To keep your pup calm, you can also feed him calming dog treats every day. They will help keep the stress of everyday life at bay!

Below are the top 4 reasons to have an ESA letter.

Save in Housing Expenditures

Some apartment and condominium complexes nowadays either totally ban pets or ask for a substantial amount before the animal can be permitted in the building. Considering that you already own a dog prior to moving houses, placing it in another person’s care or paying the required pet deposit can be taxing for you. It will be effortless to get out of this situation, however, if only you have an emotional support animal letter to show to the landlord. The reason for this is because ESAs are exempted by the federal regulations from any housing-related fees. With the letter in hand, your dog can roam and live freely in the same residence as you.

Take the Animal in Flights

Emotional support animals are usually recommended by a physician as a vital part of a treatment process. In case you have booked a domestic or international flight and cannot leave without the pet, most airlines honor a service dog letter and let the animal into the aircraft. The difference it will make is that you are going to be excused from the costly charges that people who bring their pets in the plane often reimburse. Air companies are therefore similar to business and housing owners in this sense.

Go To Pet-Free Areas

You can come in restaurants and shops that have the “No Pets Allowed” sign plastered on their doors when you take an emotional support dog letter. This will make the establishment’s personnel knowledgeable of the mere fact that your doctor has technically prescribed the animal for your betterment, and so it is essential for you to be with it constantly.

Keep Your Condition Private

The last thing that an individual suffering from a mental problem needs is a stranger probing for clarifications as to why you have to have an ESA with you at all times. When you provide a letter for emotional support animal, this prohibits them from pushing you to divulge intimate details regarding your condition. Not being necessitated to explain what you are going through to anybody may help in your case.

Dogs, in particular, are the most loyal creatures that you can find in the animal kingdom. Once you have established your relationship with them and earned their trust, they are never going to leave your side until their last breath. Nevertheless, if your healthcare specialist prescribes a service dog to you, be sure to request for an emotional support dog letter.

Staff Writer; Scottie Ford

9 Comments

SD handler says:

October 15, 2016 at 3:18 am

Emotional support animals DO NOT HAVE PUBLIC ACCESS. And they are NOT service animals!

An EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL is a prescribed pet.
You can get one if you are disabled and could use a pet to help you cope with your DISABILITY because of their calming and reassuring presence. They also represent responsibilities and in the case of dogs; need routine; which is great for many people with mental/emotional disabilities.
They are NOT required training because they do NOT go anywhere but in their house.. and occasionally planes. Though for the plane access I’d recommend having a well behaved pet.

A SERVICE DOG is considered medical equipment by law – kind of like a wheelchair.
Countless hours of training, desensitization and work are put into SERVICE dogs to make them safe and reliable in public as they help their DISABLED handler… by using SPECIFICALLY TRAINED behaviors which are called tasks (think: diabetic alert dog alerting his handler to low bg; guide dog assisting a blind person..).
To be a service dog the animal must be TRAINED in a way that DIRECTLY help with the person who is disabled. A dog who can alert to seizures is useless to someone who doesn’t have seizures and does not belong in public. And there are NO certification for those animals.
TASKS are the VERY reason why service dogs have PUBLIC ACCESS.

No task = no public access. No exceptions.
And emotional support is NOT a task.

Spreading misinformation like that is not only wrong on many levels but also PUTS PEOPLE AT RISK. If a service dog misses an important alert; is attacked or otherwise disturbed by a PET in a non-pet public place; things could go very wrong for the Service Dog’s handler. They could potentially die thanks to people believing the lies written on this page.
The pet could also be put down if it bites someone because they are NOT trained to handle the stress of public places.

So leave your ESA.. or should I say PRESCRIBED PET at home!!

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ESA Doctors says:

October 14, 2016 at 1:26 pm

We help provide people looking to qualify for emotional support animals by connecting them with licensed mental health professionals. The process is simple and quick and will allow you to live with your pet and travel with your pet in cabin of airplanes. There has been a lot of negative stories in the news recently about emotional support pets, but we believe that ESA’s truly help their owners in numerous ways. Thank you for increasing awareness for this unconventional treatment.

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Monica says:

October 14, 2016 at 1:15 pm

Do NOT get an ESA letter just so you can get away with not paying a pet fee for your housing situation.

Do NOT get an ESA letter just so you can take your animal on flights with you. And by the way, international flights do NOT qualify for ESAs depending on the country you are flying to. And Hawaii does not allow ESAs without going through the same procedures any normal pet would go through.

Do NOT get an ESA letter just so you can bring your precious animal into restaurants and shops that have “No Pets Allowed”. ESAs do NOT have public rights access; they cannot go into no pet places just because you have a letter saying you need an ESA.

Do NOT get an ESA letter because your healthcare specialist prescribes you a service dog. Service dogs are special because they perform tasks pertinent to their handler’s specific DISABILTY. A service dog is allowed to accompany their handler in public because they assist with a DISABLING DISABILITY. An ESA does NOT have the same rights as a service dog so do not fake your precious pet as a service dog or ESA that has public access rights.

I have a SERIOUS NEED for a service dog. I cannot physically get through the day without my service dog. She alerts to me when I am about to have problems with my sleep disorder. She prevents me from hurting myself during the night. She does so much more than that but she is NOT with me just because “I want to bring my dog with me when it is convenient”. She is with me because I NEED to bring her with me. I cannot just decide when it is convenient to bring her because I want to. Please educate yourself. The writer of this article is encouraging people to break the law. This also makes it more difficult for legitimate service dog teams when a particular store/place/person has had a bad experience(s) with an untrained animal claiming to be a service dog.

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Michele Andree says:

October 14, 2016 at 11:49 am

An ESA handler does NOT have public access rights. They are allowed in non pets housing as a reasonable accommodation under HUD and on airlines under the ACAA. Please see the ADA FAQ sheet. Specifically questions 1 thru 4 address this issue. https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html . In some states a person even errantly bringing their dog can be up against fines and possible jail time.

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Shebahvonleigha says:

October 14, 2016 at 4:33 am

I have an ESA Dog, and it makes me mad that so many people think that a Dr note allows them to bring their dog to public places. I know the difference and law and my dog stays in the car or at home when I go to public places. I see so many people with dogs at wal mart thinking they can bring their untrained Dog in legally. It’s wrong. The Dr note is for your landlord, so you can have your ESA with you to help you at home. People are going to ruin it for the ones who really need a ESA/SERVICE Dog in their life. Read the federal law it will explain the difference.

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Kelly Morris says:

October 14, 2016 at 3:27 am

No, you can’t take an emotional support animal into no pets areas. Only service dogs, which are trained to perform tasks that mitigate a handler’s disability, are allow in no pets areas like restaurants. They are not the same as emotional support animals. Please stop encouraging people to break the law by taking untrained pets into no pets areas.

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LearntheLaws says:

October 14, 2016 at 2:09 am

I’m sorry to tell you, but you are incorrect. ESAs are not allowed public access with or without a letter from a doctor. ESAs are only covered by laws to be allowed in no pet housing (The Fair Housing Act) and in cabin on airolanes(The Air Carriers Access Act)… and that’s just for now. It’s very possible laws to have ESAs onboard planes could be changed in the near future because so many people are abusing this right granted to disabled people! It’s just the first step in the disabled community losing rights due to FAKERS and people cheating the system to take their pets everywhere with them. Ya know, like you are recommending people do with this article.

The ADA specifically states that ESAs are not covered, therefore, they a disabled person does NOT have the legal right to bring an ESA into any business that is not pet friendly. Service dogs go through extensive training to be allowed under ADA laws. Please actually read the laws and educate yourself correctly so that you are not giving your readers bad information and advice which could result sigh them being charged with a crime. Yes.. A crime. Many states now have laws against misrepresenting your pet as a service animal, which is what you are doing when you try to bring an ESA into a business that does not allow pets.

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Service Dog Handler says:

October 14, 2016 at 1:43 am

ESAs are NOT allowed in restaurants, stores, and other places pets cannot go. They are specifically excluded from the ADA law. One must have a mental disability and the dog must directly help that disability in order for it to be considered an ESA. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as seeing, hearing, walking, caring for self, etc.

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D says:

October 14, 2016 at 1:36 am

What the fuck dude. As someone with a disability (a REQUIREMENT to having an ESA) who has a service dog, I am fucking appalled that you would not even fact check this crap against FEDERAL LAW. An ESA is a pet who’s presence comforts a mentally/emotionally disabled individual. They have no training and ARE NOT granted public access rights-you can’t bring them into any store/hospital/etc.! SERVICE DOGS are individually trained to assist disabled individuals, they have public access rights and there is NO CERTIFICATION. Advocating for someone to obtain an “ESA letter” while providing incredibly inaccurate information is tantamount to advocating someone to pretend to be disabled to get “benefits” these laws are in place to help DISABLED PEOPLE. Please, remove this wildly inaccurate article, re-research this topic, and write something with actual facts. This reads like an advertisement for a scam service dog registry.

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