Emotional Support
Animal Vests: An Increasing Sight and Comfort to Many
Emotional support animals provide important therapeutic benefits to their
owner’s through companionship, emotional support and psychological comfort.
Typically an individual will opt for the services of an emotional support
animal, or ESA if they need such animals to help with psychiatric disabilities
or other mental impairments. In fact, many people who rely on emotional
support animals would miss out on many aspects of daily life that others may
take for granted. For example, an ESA can help an individual with severe
anxiety move through public places by providing emotional reassurance.
A dog wearing a service dog vest
and accompanying its owner in a grocery store is a common sight. However,
we’re starting to see other animals serving as emotional support animals—to
varying degrees of success.
If It Has an Emotional Support Animal Vest, It’s an ESA—Right?
Non-traditional alternatives to emotional support dogs have
raised issues (and eyebrows) wherever they are encountered. Some truly unique, and
sometimes surprising, animals have served in emotional support roles, including
pigs, rabbits, snakes, and alligators Source: Boston Globe)
The issue is that emotional support animals, while
beneficial to those who are comforted by them, are not supported by the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Dogs are often seen in this capacity;
however, the presence of these other animals might cause more anxiety and
unrest than they intended.
How Do Emotional Support Animals Help People?
Many often confuse emotional support animal laws with
service animal laws. There is a distinct difference between the two. Service
dogs, including seeing-eye dogs and dogs that aid with disabilities, are
supported by the ADA.
However, emotional support dogs are typically used to ease
anxiety and do not assist with disabilities. They let their handlers feel a
sense of comfort in public spaces such as stores, restaurants, and even
airplanes. But not everyone is a “dog-person,” and so they’ve turned to the
aforementioned pigs, rabbits, and reptiles to serve as their emotional support
animals.
Unfortunately, when it comes to having animals in public
places, not everyone is on the same page. The differences between ESA and
service animals and vague ESA laws only complicates things.
Worried? Get an Emotional Support Animal Vest
Emotional support animal vests help avoid confusion and
conflict. They allow the general public to accept ESAs of all kinds. So long as
your animal is well-behaved and providing support for you, few would object to
its presence.
No matter what animal you have, it can provide you with emotional
assistance. But without a clear visual indicator such as a vest, you could be
in for some anxiety-inducing confrontations. An emotional support animal vest helps
you avoid this.
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