Blog entry by Malessa Maghen

Anyone in the world

Humans and animals play an important role in each other’s lives because they both provide for one another. Humans care for them by working for their better environment, whereas animals are the rich source of food and the largest resource for mankind. This codependent relation goes tens of thousands of years back and humans have used animals for the construction of their habitats, getting food from them, and making clothes for themselves from their furs and skins. The entire livelihood of humans depends on the animals, therefore, there is a rich history present between humans and animals that led to the establishment of cordial relations between them.

At realesaletter.com, we believe that everyone should be aware of the laws and policies surrounding emotional support animals. We provide a comprehensive guide on the laws and policies that everyone should know. Our team of professionals will help you understand your rights and responsibilities as an ESA owner.

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         From ancient times till today, humans have kept animals with them for domestic purposes. Furthermore, most of the time, they have kept pets with them such as parrots, nightingales, cats, dogs, hamsters, and horses. When we talk about animals, we certainly do not mean carnivores. Now that we have that out of the way, one needs to realize that pets play an important role in providing emotional support to their owners.

         What is an emotional support animal? It is a good question and as the nature of the question suggests, it is an animal that helps in maintaining the emotional level of its owner by providing them with sentimental support. It is an evident fact that the human mind is prone to negative thoughts that lead to distress and surged anxiety levels. This disables them from engaging in their daily life activities, and if not disabled, then it mitigates their attention from important matters of the day.

         Emotional support animals play a vital role in the life of their owner because they help in mitigating their negative thoughts and direct attention toward themselves. People who suffer from such calamity must have emotional support animals with them and for that purpose, they should have an ESA letter that would enable them to take their emotional animals with them anywhere they want.

         Having a healthy mental state is necessary if one needs to function effectively; however, there is no humiliation in accepting the fact that people do get depressed or suffer from anxiety during some time in their whole day or during some phase in their life. Emotional support animals come in handy during this time because they are capable of driving the frustration of their owners away by negating the negative attention of their owners from their thoughts.

         Emotional upheavals usually happen due to cognitive distortions that are the direct result of some triggers. These triggers are the external stimuli that start the chain of thoughts within a person’s mind. These thoughts are the hidden manifestation of some belief that our mind has perceived in a wrong way or from a negative angle. Nonetheless, researchers state that people who suffer from mental disorders must have emotional support animals with them because in this case, these emotional animals act as external stimuli for their owners and help them in nullifying their negative thoughts. For this purpose and reason, owners must have a realesaletter for housing to keep their animals in apartments.

         Keeping an emotional support animal is important for mentally disabled people or people who suffer from anxiety episodes because this helps them in feeling good. Emotional support animals are often trained to help patients with such issues so that they can gather their strength to cope. Therefore, to know the importance of emotional support animals, one must know all the relevant laws and policies regarding them. This blog was written with the sole purpose of highlighting some of the common laws that should be known by everyone.

         Following are some of the important laws related to emotional support animals:

  1. Fair Housing Act: The Federal fair housing act also known as (FHA) is a common policy that should be known by everyone. This policy was revised in mid-2020 and reinstated that landowners should not restrict people from having animals in their homes. The revised policies, clearly state that there are two types of animals.

    • Service animals that help in assisting their owners due to some disability

    • Animals are used for helping their owners in some tasks or working for them or providing therapeutic treatment. Those animals that are solely used for soothing emotional difficulties are not considered pets, therefore, landowners are not allowed to impose any kind of ban on such pets. All complaints are directly reported to Housing Urban Development (HUD) against such landowners who impose fines on people due to such reasons.

  2. Air Carrier Access Act: Also known as ACAA, this law was revised in early 2021 and according to the newly revised policies, emotional support animals are no longer considered flight animals by airlines, therefore, to travel with them, one has to pay the cost according to the weight of the animal. However, before 11 January 2021, emotional support animals were recognized as flight animals free of cost.

  3. Local Area Access: This policy is inculcated by the local marts and shops around the areas. This allows owners to take their pets into shops, however, this is only eligible for service and emotional support animals. For this purpose, it is a must for the owners to have an emotional support animal letter to prove that their pet has been recommended by their doctor. Other pets are strictly banned from entering shops. 

Useful resources:

5 best ESA dog breeds

How to Know If an ESA Letter is Legit?

Which emotional support animal is the best for stress and anxiety?

Fishes Are The Best ESA For The People With Allergies

ESA animal registration: Facts, Myths, and More