“I wish I could take my dog in public,” is a something that many have been saying because of the increased amount of service animals seen in public places. Some are service animals, others are emotional support animals.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, there is a distinct difference between emotional support animals (ESA’s) and service animals. “The dog must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person with a disability. For example, a person with diabetes may have a dog that is trained to alert him when his blood sugar reaches high or low levels. … Or, a person who has epilepsy may have a dog that is trained to detect the onset of a seizure and then help the person remain safe during the seizure.”
Tori Shisler, a Northern Kentucky University law student and volunteer trainer for the 4 Paws for Ability organization, said that the difference between service animals and emotional support animals is public access.
“I have seen first-hand just how amazing these dogs can be,” Shisler said. “But there is a difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal. Emotional support animals have no public access rights. Only service dogs have access to the public.”
Under the Fair Housing Act, individuals with mental or emotional disabilities can request a reasonable accommodation for their emotional support animals. The Fair Housing Act also applies to individuals with service animals.
Julee Wright, a Louisville resident, has a son with epilepsy and autism. She got a service dog, Leo, for him from the organization 4 Paws for Ability in July 2017. Leo is trained in seizure alert, mobility assistance, tethering, autism assistance, retrieval, and balance work.
When asked how Leo has impacted their family, Julee said: “Leo hasn’t missed any of Conner’s seizures and even tells us around an hour before Conner has his seizure, which gives us time to prepare and have rescue meds ready.”
Service dogs can be impacted by individuals bringing their emotional support animals into public area. Since service animals are task trained for certain medical reasons, they have to be focused on their handler at all times in order to not miss an alert to something that could be life or death.
Emotional support animals do not have any requirements according to the ADA, they can be any pet that provides comfort and relief to the handler. Due to the lack of requirements by law, emotional support animals could have minimal training and socialization.
Not all emotional support animals cause service animals to be distracted, but there have been multiple occurrences where ESA’s have shown aggression towards service dogs.
Ashley Sembach, on-site and long-term volunteer for 4 Paws for Ability, has seen first-hand the disruption in training of a service animal by an emotional support animal.
“I was in Kroger, my service dog in training Theodore and I were walking through just trying to pick up some cookie dough. When we turned the corner to go toward the checkout, a smaller dog started lunging and growling at Theodore,” Sembach said.
Emotional support animals have their purpose, to provide comfort and relief to those who have mental and emotional disabilities, but they do not have public access rights. Service animals have public access rights because of specific medical training and importance to their owners wellbeing.