what is an esa

An ESA stands for an Emotional Support Animal. It is an animal that provides therapeutic benefits such as emotional support, comfort, and companionship to a person with a mental health or psychiatric disability. ESAs are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and are not trained to perform specific tasks. Instead, the presence of the animal is what relieves the symptoms associated with a persons serious mental health condition. ESAs may be any type of pet, and they are prescribed by mental health professionals under the law. Individuals who use ESAs are provided certain accommodations under federal law in the areas of housing and air travel. For example, the Fair Housing Act includes ESAs in its definition of assistance animals, and rules such as pet bans or restrictions are waived for people who have a prescription for an ESA. To legally have an emotional support animal, the owner must be considered to have a qualifying mental health or psychiatric disability by a licensed mental health professional, which is documented by a properly formatted prescription letter. However, the rise of ESAs over the past decade has sparked controversy since animal owners receive ESA certifications from internet sites with little or no psychiatric evaluation, fueling fraudulent ESA claims by airline passengers and tenants.