Fall 2025 - Vol. 22, Issue 4

Animals bring humans great joy and beautifully enrich our lives. They can also endanger us, sometimes leaving us traumatized and scarred, even dead. For disabled people, animals can be especially vital as they help us deal with tasks non-

disabled take for granted and cope with our special problems. Because animals are especially important to disabled people, it is vital to clarify the differences between service animals, emotional support animals, therapy animals, and pets.

The Specialness of Service Animals

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines Service Animals (SA) “as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” Note that SAs are limited to dogs (of any breed or mixture). However, there is one exception described in the next section. Some state and local laws define SAs more expansively than the ADA does; information about those laws can be requested from a State Attorney’s office.

The requirement for getting an SA is having a disability diagnosed from a licensed healthcare provider.

Training an SA receives must be specific to the person’s disability. Examples include guiding someone blind, alerting someone deaf, pulling a wheelchair. SAs must also undergo behavioral training so they will interact safely with the public.

SAs are working animals, not pets, which is why people are asked not to pet them.

SAs enjoy legal access privileges not accorded other animals. The ADA: “State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow service animals to accompany people with

disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is allowed to go.” They can be kept out of areas when their presence would jeopardize safety. The ADA continues: “For example, in a hospital it usually would be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms. However, it may be appropriate to exclude a service animal from operating rooms or burn units where the animal’s presence may compromise a sterile environment.”

The ADA specifies that an SA must be controlled by its handler. They must be leashed, harnessed, or tethered unless the handler’s disability prevents using such devices or they interfere with task performance. In such cases, handlers must control the SA through voice, signal, or similar methods.

It is not always obvious that a dog is an SA. Legally, staff may ask only these two questions: 1) Is this animal required due to a disability?; 2) What work or task has it been trained to perform? It is illegal to ask what the person’s disability is, demand to see medical proof of a disability, require evidence of the animal’s training, or ask that the SA demonstrate its ability to perform its service.

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for disabled people with SAs even in pet-restricted buildings and forbids charging pet fees for SAs.

Miniature Horse SAs

A miniature horse is usually 24-34 inches measured to the shoulders and weighs 70-100 pounds. Entities covered by ADA must accommodate an SA miniature horse whenever reasonable. ADA rules list four factors defining “reasonable”: 1) If the horse is housebroken; 2) Under handler control; 3) If the place can accommodate the animal given its type, size, and weight; 4) If the horse’s presence will not negatively impact safety.

How SAs Improve Lives

Nicole Roy, who has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair to get around, says her service dog, Olive, “alerts me when my blood pressure spikes. She helps with nerve spasms by lying on my legs.” Olive will “assist with tasks like opening doors and picking up things I drop.”

Shanta Favors, Ms. Wheelchair Michigan 2024, praises her service dog: “With him by my side, I feel a renewed sense of independence that allows me to conquer life’s hurdles with confidence.” What are some of his tasks and how do they assist Favors? “From expertly helping me with my compression socks to retrieving items I can’t reach, he eases muscle spasms and seeks help when I need it most,” the pageant winner states.

Edie, who has both physical and psychiatric disabilities, believes her service dog, Storm, is a true partner. “She helps me to balance, helping me transition from using a walker,” Edie reveals on her blog. Storm also intervenes “in moments of anxiety and panic attacks.”

Perhaps no SA is more generally familiar than the guide dog. National Federation of the Blind of Texas member Ogulcan Kalkanli got his guide dog, Deputy, from America’s oldest guide dog school The Seeing Eye (founded in 1929). Blind human and sighted dog learned together, Kalkanli writes, to navigate “complex routes that involved various sidewalks, crossing multiple streets, and walking in areas with uneven layouts. My confidence grew each day because I had a partner to trust. As I directed him on where to go, he would lead the way. Being able to gain trust is such a powerful feeling to experience because I know I have something to rely on.”

Kalkanli finds a cane and a guide dog complement each other in helping him get around with confidence. “A cane is a very useful tool in identifying my surroundings such as buildings, sidewalks, stairs, tactile landmarks, and other obstacles,” he writes. Having Deputy is important “because if I tell my dog to go forward, he does not obey this command when he feels it is not safe to do so. Similarly, his assistance really comes into play when he guides me around objects, and I do not worry about bumping into them.” The pair have a close working and affectionate relationship that Kalkanli says he will always “treasure.”

Benefits of a Service Miniature Horse

Miniature horses make fine service animals for several reasons. They are intelligent, easily trainable, and possess good eyesight. Their strength means they can help with balance and mobility.

Some disabled individuals prefer a miniature horse to a dog due to the horse’s greater longevity and resulting longer service life. A dog can serve 8 to 11 years while a miniature horse can serve as long as 20 years. Some people are allergic to dogs. Others have cultural and religious problems working with dogs.

Jessica Wellman has an autoimmune disease affecting her mobility. Miniature horse Honey is her SA. “Honey will pick up dropped objects, open doors and cupboards, help me get up if I fall over, and help me sit down if I need to,” Wellman explains. Sometimes when Wellman is “teetering,” she relates, “I will catch myself on her.” If Wellman falls, Honey helps her stand.

Service Animal Fraud

The ADA does not have an SA registration nor do most states. Websites online claiming to offer licenses or registrations for SAs are fraudulent. Vests are sold with the words “Service Dog” but putting such a garment across a pet does not magically transform your pooch pal into a genuine SA although it can inform people that an SA is a working animal.

Emotional Support Animals

Unlike SAs, Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), sometimes called

Emotional Assistance Animals (EAAs) are not limited as to species. ADA states: “An emotional support animal is any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability.” The ADA website continues, “Emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities.”

In an educational video, psychiatrist Dr. Tracey Marks comments, “Anyone can derive benefit from interacting with an animal but there are certain protections and accommodations allowed by law if you have an emotional support animal.” The primary “right” that someone gets with an ESA rather than just a cherished pet is that they and the ESA cannot be turned away from apartment and condos with “no pets” policies.

To qualify for an ESA, someone must have been diagnosed by a licensed mental health professional as having a mental or emotional disorder. They should also get a letter from such a professional stating the need for an ESA and keep a copy.

Although not limited by species, it should come as no surprise that dogs are the most popular ESAs just as they are the most popular pets. The second is cats, followed by guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, hamsters, miniature horses, and pigs. It is possible for fish, amphibians, and reptiles to be prescribed by mental health professionals as ESAs for some mentally and emotionally disabled individuals. Basically, any animal that can be a pet can also be an ESA if its handler has been diagnosed by a licensed mental health professional with a mental/emotional disorder and such a professional has determined the animal is important to the person’s treatment.

Air Carrier Access Act

The ADA does not cover airplane travel. This is addressed by the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) which states “a service animal means a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” (No provision is made for miniature horses.) The ACAA requires airlines to recognize dog SAs and “accept them for transport on flights to, within and from the United States.” Whether they accept other animals or not is up to the discretion of the airline.

The ACAA allows airlines to require: 1) U.S. Department of Transportation Air Transportation Form attesting to the SA’s health, behavior, and training and 2) a similar form attesting that the animal can be trusted to either not relieve itself or to relieve itself in a sanitary manner if it will be on a flight lasting 8 or more hours.

Under some circumstances the ACAA allows airlines to deny transport even to a service dog. Those circumstances include a dog too big or heavy to be accommodated in the cabin, one posing a threat to health or safety, one causing a disruption, one violating safety requirements.

“Before 2020, if you went to your therapist or doctor and got a letter saying that you need an animal for emotional support, you could fly on an airplane with your pet without paying an extra fee,” Dr. Tracey Marks explains. “If the pet was small enough, it could get a seat in main cabin with you..” Online services popped up giving automatic approval to people claiming their pets were ESAs. Airlines became frustrated with ESA requests. An airline ejected Dexter the “Emotional Support Peacock.” Dr. Marks continues that an airline was upset by passengers who complained of “Stanley, the pot-bellied pig, who oinked and squealed all through the flight when his poor eardrums popped. So in December 2020, the Department of Transportation ruled that airlines were no longer required to treat Emotional Support Animals as Service Animals and were not required to provide accommodations for them.” Most major airlines stopped allowing ESAs on planes.

Therapy Animals

Therapy animals are trained to provide comfort and calming attention to patients in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and sometimes to senior citizens in retirement homes or youngsters in schools. Some schools bring such animals in for “student wellness events” or employ them to aid distressed students. For a troubled kid, the therapy dog can be as helpful as the school nurse.

Their training is not as specific or task-oriented as that of SAs. They are not covered under ADA and are not allowed into animal-restricted places.

Most therapy animals are dogs although they can be other species like cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and horses. People in care facilities are often anxious and depressed. Therapy animals can be just the ticket to lift those feelings and improve mood.

There are three basic types of animal therapy. In the most popular type, therapeutic visitation, pet owners take their animals on visits to health care facilities. Another type is animal-assisted therapy which means that specially trained animals help physical and occupational therapy patients: stroking an animal’s coat, engaging in a game of fetch, and just caring for an animal can improve limb mobility and motor skills as well as brighten the emotional state. Still another sort of animal therapy is facility therapy pets by which animals reside at a care center where they are trained to engage with patients who have mental illnesses or neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s.

Summation

Animals, including pets, can be lots of fun. But there are always safety issues. It is vital to select animals with mild dispositions for SA, ESA, and therapy roles. A feisty dog or cat can jump on someone and accidentally cause harm. To an already sick individual, even a small scratch or bite can mean severe physical or emotional consequences.

Good and conscientious training is vital — not only for the animals but for their human handlers. Even with such training, it must always be remembered that animals — like humans! — are not completely predictable. Accidents have occurred even with well-trained SAs just as horrifying crimes have been committed by people believed to be upstanding citizens. Life holds few guarantees.

However, the good done by SAs, ESAs, and therapy animals make their contributions to the disabled community vitally important.

References

“ADA Requirements Service Animals.” ADA.gov. U.S. Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division. Feb. 28, 2020. https://www.ada.gov/resources/service-

animals-2010-requirements/

Allen, Jeffrey M. “Differentiating Among Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and Pets.” American Bar Association. Oct. 23, 2024. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/senior_lawyers/resources/voice-of-experience/2024-october/differentiating-among-service-animals-emotional-support-animals-and-pets/

“How a Service Dog Changed My Life.” EdieLovesMath. Dec. 22, 2024. https://edielovesmath.blog/2024/12/22/my-journey-with-a-service-dog/

Kalkanli, Ogulcan. “On the Road to Independence: How My Seeing Eye Dog allowed me to Gain a New Perspective on Life.” Braille Monitor. Nov. 2022. https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm22/bm2210/bm221013.htm

“Know the Differences: Service Dogs, Emotional Support Animals and More.” Canine Companions. https://canine.org/service-dogs/service-dog-month/service-

dog-differences/

Llera, BSc, DVM, Ryan; Buzhardt, Lynn, DVM. “Therapy Pets.” VCA Animal Hospitals. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/therapy-pets

“Manson member Patricia Krenwinkel trains ‘Prison Pups’ for disabled.” Aaron Olson. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=phzGBVO1kDs

“Miniature Horses as Service Animals.” Northeast ADA Center. https://northeastada.org/resource/miniature-horses-as-service-animals

“Miniature Service Horse Part 1: ADA Animated School Series (Audio Described).” Northeast ADA Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm0- BRH_Qjg

“The mini horse has a big job helping disabled veteran.” CNN. https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/11/29/iraq-war-veteran-service-animal-wxmi-pkg-vpx.cnn

“My service dog has transformed my life in ways I could never have imagined.” United Spinal Association. Mar. 5, 2025. https://unitedspinal.org/my-service-dog-has-transformed-my-life-in-ways-i-could-never-have-imagined

“Service Animals” U.S. Department of Transportation. https://

www.transportation.gov/resources/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/service-animals

“Service Animal Basics.” ADA National Network Information, Guidance, and

Training on the Americans with Disabilities Act. https://adata.org/service-animal-resource-hub-basics

“Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal: What’s the Difference?” ADA National Network Information, Guidance, and Training on the Americans with Disabilities Act. https://adata.org/service-animal-resource-hub-differences

Van Heeckeren DVM, Anna M. “Emotional Support vs. Service Animals.” Northeast Ohio Thrive After 55. https://www.northeastohiothrive.com/whats-the-

difference-between-an-emotional-support-vs-a-service-animal/

“What Does an Emotional Support Animal Really Do?” Dr. Tracey Marks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJbp9XqdKzk