What's the Difference Between Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, and Emotional Support Animals?
There is controversy surrounding the roles of animals in the lives of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses. A lot of us have observed the posts online about registering your animal as an emotional support animal with a small fee, and being able to keep your animal in a no pets allowed setting. This has led people to question the legitimacy of all service animals and their roles. A feeling of distrust among individuals who don't realize the difference between these animals, and the rights that accompany them, has been emerging as more folks utilize these services.
Service Dogs will be the most protected and trained of the 3 types of dogs. While many people refer to all 3 types as "service animals", the state names because of this type is Service Dog. These dogs are legally considered medical equipment and have a price tag to complement, which range from $10,000- $50,000. They are intensively trained for 1.5-2.5 years, needing to pass various tests to be serviceable including, but not limited to, opening cupboards, retrieving dropped objects, staying calm in public, etc.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Service Dogs are allowed anywhere their handler is, and cannot be turned from an establishment or refused to go to use their handler. DOT's Air Carrier Access Act, and DOJ/HUD Fair Housing Act and Federal Rehabilitation Act cover other circumstances that the ADA doesn't. Since there is a difference between Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals, there exists a gray area for dogs that are used to calm anxiety attacks under ADA rules. Psychiatric Service Dogs are covered under the ADA only when they perform specific action to avoid or lessen an attack. If they are just there for comfort they are believed an Emotional Support Animal.
Look at this website are kind of the contrary side of the same coin as Service Dogs. Instead of offering physical aid to their handlers, they provide psychological or physiological therapy to others and so are along with a handler who doesn't usually need their service. The very best exemplory case of a therapy dog would be dogs that go to children's hospitals to create comfort, or dogs that work in school systems.
These animals, like the Service Dogs, require extensive training. Therapy dogs are also encouraged to be very social and connect to many different people, unlike Service Dogs who need to concentrate on their handler. Therapy dogs could be trained by anyone, but they have to meet standards to be certified. Therapy dogs don't have exactly the same rights as service dogs, though many places allows a therapy dog to accompany their owners, they are not required to for legal reasons.
The last type we are discussing are Emotional Support Animals. This one may be the most vague and open-ended. An Emotional Support Animal does not have to have any special training and most of the time is registered by its owner since it brings comfort. Also, an Emotional Support Animal does not have to be always a dog. These animals are not protected beneath the ADA and cannot accompany their owners in establishments where you can find no animals allowed. Owners with a registered support animals can keep them in housing that otherwise will not allow pets based on the Fair Housing Act.