Is there a difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal? I've heard people describe their dogs both ways.
"Service animals" and "emotional support animals" are used by people who have a physical or psychological need for help from an animal, but the key difference is that assistance from one is covered by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and Arkansas law and the other isn't.
Federal and state law define service animals as dogs (although the American Disabilities Act definition has included miniature horses since 2011). At ADA.gov, the website that explains the federal law, a service animal is described as a dog that is trained to do specific tasks related to an individual's disability.
While most people are familiar with guide dogs assisting the visually impaired, service animals also include dogs that alert deaf people to alarms, pick up objects for people who use wheelchairs and protect people with epilepsy during seizures. Then there are service dogs that flip light switches, open refrigerators or empty clothes dryers. The list of possible tasks for service animals goes on and on, but the takeaway is that the dog must be trained to take action to help his owner.
On the flip side, the ADA says an "emotional support animal" isn't trained for a specific job, although its presence might comfort or emotionally support his owner. A person who has anxiety or depression can get a health care professional to write a letter saying that his dog is necessary to calm or ease his anxiety. But possessing such a letter doesn't mean the dog will be covered by the disabilities act, which allows service animals to go anywhere the public is allowed to go, including restaurants, restrooms, churches, libraries, hospitals and schools.
While the ADA doesn't cover emotional support animals, there are laws that give their owners some of the same rights as those with service animals. The federal Air Carrier Access Act allows a person to take his emotional support animal (which might be a cat or a guinea pig instead of a dog) on an airplane, while the Fair Housing Act requires landlords to accept tenants with emotional support animals even in "no pets" buildings.
Arkansas law limits the service animal designation to dogs trained in specific tasks, but the issue can be a little confusing, says Justin Nickels, spokesman for Disability Rights Arkansas.
"An emotional support dog isn't the same as a service animal, but a service animal could be an emotional support dog," he says.
A dog that helps a person with post-traumatic stress disorder, for instance, fits the emotional support category, but also is a service animal because the dog is trained to perform a task such as determining an area's safety before allowing his owner to enter.
Sometimes confusion about service dogs arises because anyone can call their dog a service animal without having to present proof of certification or training. Employees of a public establishment, Nickels says, can only ask the visitor or customer accompanied by a service animal two questions: "Is this a service animal?" and "What service does it provide?"
Still, he says, there's a simple way for the average person to tell the difference between a true service animal and an emotional support animal: Trained service dogs are identifiable by their conduct and deportment. They don't lick, bark or otherwise engage with people other than the people they serve. When they go into a public building, they're quiet, well-behaved and on task. They aren't merely accompanying a person, but are working. They're focused on their owner and their job. Most wear vests that have a label on it asking people not to pet the animal because it is working.
For more detailed information about service animals, you can check out the Americans with Disabilities Act at tinyurl.com/ovj3nys.
Family on 08/05/2015