Emotional Support Animals: is change coming?

[Nathan Gesner]

If you've been alive and paying attention the last ten years, you know Emotional Support Animals are increasingly seen in airplanes and in rentals. Ten years ago, I didn't have a single one in a rental. Today I have almost 50 and the requests are increasing. Either we have an amazing number if mentally ill people or the system is rampant with fraud.

Today, the Transportation Department admitted it is primarily fraud and they're putting a stop to it. An ESA has to fly in the cargo hold for a hefty fee, just like pets. I bet you dollars to donuts we will see a major drop in the number of animals traveling because it was fraud the whole time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

So the question is, will HUD come to the same conclusion and realize people are fraudulently abusing the system just to get their pet into a rental?

I don't know, but this is a positive sign!

[Lynnette E.]

Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

Originally posted by @Karl Schmidt:

it is hard as you cant prove they dont need the pet. but...

I actually think it would be pretty easy if we were sensible about the disability claim.

Handicap parking is typically only valid for up to two years. It has to be regularly renewed by a doctor to verify the need still exists. If it's a temporary disability, like a broken leg, then the parking permit may only be valid for up to six months. Why? Because there is an expectation the person may get better through treatment!

People suffering from anxiety, depression, or other mental illnesses are assigned an ESA with no expiration, no treatment plan, and no expectation of improving. Why is that? Isn't anxiety treatable? Depression?

If someone's mental health is so bad they can't handle living in their own apartment, flying on a plane, or shopping for groceries, then should be seeking regular treatment by a licensed practitioner! What does it say about the mental health profession when we have an increasing number of people claiming depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other issues with no attempts to help them heal? If they're truly unwell, should we hand them a letter approving a dog and then walk away? Or should the dog be a temporary treatment for the symptoms while we treat the underlying cause?

Personally the emotional support part is just so they can have a pet to hold, I think that they should be given a stuffed animal instead.  Or maybe they could develop a relationship with a person to help fill the emotional need.  

I would have never thought that so many people want to say "I am sooo messed up I cannot function with out a pet to hold onto."  I get the dogs for the blind, and have a blind cousin who has had several in her lifetime.  Without the dogs she would have had a much lower quality of life.   Service dogs are fine.  Its the support ones that are a scam.

These folks that can not go to the store without an emotional support dog.  Wow!  They need some real therapy or medication, which they are not getting.  A dog will not solve their underlying issues.  The current law will never make these people better, its a band aid on a serious wound for those who truly have a need, and a easily scammed law for the others.