A Service Animal is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. According to HUD Service animals are: Dogs; Any breed and any size of dog; Trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability.
Per HUD service animals are:
- Are not required to be certified or go through a professional training program
- Are not required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog
- Are not emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability
An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is an animal that provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified effects of a person’s disability. An ESA is not a pet.
A Therapy Animal is, according to the American Veterinary Association, any animal species which participates in a range of animal-assisted interventions (i.e., activities or therapy). Typically registered with/certified by an animal-assisted intervention organization after successful training, behavioral, and veterinary evaluation. Therapy Animals are not protected by HUD and are considered to be pets. Therapy Animals can be confused with Emotional Support Animals.
Do property owners have to accept these animals?
Per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:
“Housing providers cannot refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability the equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”
Property management companies/landlords are not legally able to ask for documentation for service animals (https://www.ada.gov/topics/service-animals/) They are only allowed to ask two questions:
- Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
- What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
In cases of Emotional Support Animals, housing providers are required by law to provide a reasonable accommodation to applicants who provide a letter of reasonable accommodation from a licensed medical professional (https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/assistance_animals).