You can take an emotional support animal (ESA) into any residential building you currently own or rent, including apartments, condos and houses, college dormitories, and similar residential spaces, even if they prohibit pets. You cannot, however, bring emotional support animals into public areas and businesses that don’t allow animals.
You might be wondering if ESAs can be in places like stores, workplaces, or Airbnb’s. That’s what we’re here to help with. Below, you’ll find the most common questions clients have asked us about where their emotional support animals can go and some ways to work with places that say no but may be flexible. Click any link to skip to that section.
- Can my emotional support animal live with me in a no-pet building?
- Can my emotional support animal be in the common areas?
- Can my emotional support animal live in my university dorm?
- Can my emotional support animal come to class with me?
- Can my emotional support animal board airplanes?
- Can my emotional support animal stay in a hotel or Airbnb?
- Can my emotional support animal come inside a restaurant or store?
- Can my emotional support animal come to work?
- Need more public access rights?
Can my emotional support animal live with me in a no-pet building?
Yes, you can live with your emotional support animal even if your building has a no-pet policy. Fair Housing laws protect people with emotional and/or mental health conditions that need ESAs.
Landlords also cannot charge any extra fees or deposits due to your need for an emotional support animal. ESAs are also exempt from other building restrictions relating to pets, such as those regarding size, weight, breed, or animal species.
Note that landlords are exempt from Fair Housing rules in these four situations: (1) in owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, (2) in single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without using an agent, (3) when the housing is operated by a religious organization, and (4) in private clubs that limit occupancy to members.
Can my emotional support animal be in the common areas?
Yes, emotional support animals in common areas are allowed. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, landlords have to allow tenants with ESAs equal opportunity to use “public and common use spaces.” That means an ESA owner has the right to take their emotional support animal through the lobby, elevator, stairways, and other common areas where other residents are allowed to go.
Can my emotional support animal live in my university dorm?
Yes, emotional support animals can live in university housing. There have been instances where colleges have been penalized for not following FHA guidelines. Students should be aware, however, that universities often have specific requirements when it comes to ESA requests. For more information, you should check with your school for their specific policy regarding emotional support animals in dorms and campus housing.
Can my emotional support animal come to class with me?
Unfortunately no, SAs do not have a legal right to be in classrooms. However, you should check with your school to see if they have any policies regarding emotional support animals on campus. However, most schools will not allow ESAs in a classroom or other school settings, except for housing.
Can my emotional support animal board airplanes?
Unfortunately, due to regulatory changes by the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. airlines no longer recognize emotional support animals.
To fly with your ESA in the cabin, your ESA will have to meet the airline’s restrictions for pets. That usually means your ESA must be able to fit in a small carrier bag. You will also have to pay pet fees. Psychiatric service dogs, on the other hand, can still fly in the cabin free of charge. The passenger will need to submit the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Service Animal Air Transportation Form, which requires self-certification regarding the dog’s service animal status. The passenger must represent that they have a fully trained service dog that assists them with a psychiatric disability. If you’re interested in beginning the process of owning a psychiatric service dog, the licensed healthcare professionals who work with ESA Doctors can help. A licensed professional can determine whether you qualify for a PSD letter. A PSD letter is a signed document from a healthcare professional that states whether you have a qualifying disability for purposes of owning a psychiatric service dog under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Air Carrier Access Act.
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Can my emotional support animal stay in a hotel or Airbnb?
While most hotels and Airbnb do not have a special policy for emotional support animals, many will accept your ESA as a normal pet, sometimes for a fee. Hotels are not covered by ESA Fair Housing rules. Airbnb stays are also not required to allow emotional support animals, but you can always contact them and ask politely. Some hosts allow you to bring an emotional support animal, but you should always check before booking a reservation.
While hotels do not have to accommodate ESAs, they are required to allow psychiatric service dogs.
Can my emotional support animal come inside a restaurant or store?
No, emotional support animals are NOT allowed in stores, restaurants, or other businesses. Emotional support animals do not have the same level of public access as psychiatric service dogs, and each business has the right to accept or deny an ESA. Some businesses allow ESAs and other animals as a courtesy, but it is within their right to refuse to accommodate you.
Can my emotional support animal come to work?
Unfortunately, ESAs do not have workplace rights. There is no federal law that mandates employers to accommodate emotional support animals. Your employer may, however, have a policy that accepts ESAs, if certain conditions are met. It may be worthwhile to discuss what options you have with your manager or supervisor. Fair warning: most employers do not have a policy allowing ESAs during working hours.
Need more public access rights?
If you need to take your dog places that an emotional support animal can’t go, you might consider getting a service dog. Psychiatric service dogs have way more public access rights than ESAs. They can go almost anywhere the public is allowed, including stores, restaurants, and public venues. But just because you want to take your dog everywhere doesn’t mean a service dog is right for you.
To qualify for a service dog, you need more than a mental health disability (which is what it takes to get an emotional support animal). You also need a dog that has been trained to perform a task relating to your disability, like deep pressure therapy to stop panic attacks. Interested in pursuing a service dog? A PSD letter can set you on the right path.
ESAs are Welcome
You should feel confident bringing your emotional support animal into your home if you have submitted an ESA letter to your landlord. ESAs laws are designed to help ESA owners find housing and live with their ESAs without having to pay extra pet fees. If you need an ESA letter, there is no better route than ESA Doctors. We will put you in touch with a licensed professional who can assess your mental and emotional health and issue an ESA letter if you qualify. The entire process is done without office visits and is confidential.
Hello everyone. I do have an ESA letter from my psychiatrist. I am wondering where can I buy a little vest are what ever it is I would need if I do go in public for my dog to wear. About 5 months ago I went online and order this cheap piece of cloth that you put the dog collar in. In other words you put one in of your collar in it and pull it through. It was so cheap it didn’t last a week and you could not even read emotional support that was on the collar cover. Where can I get an inexpensive vest that would look good. I am on social security and cannot afford anything really expensive. if anyone could tell me if they know what would be good for my dog to wear and is made good as well but cheap. Thanks
We can get vests here: ESA Vests
I work in security and I’m in my car most all the time and I was told I couldn’t even keep my ESA with me in my own car at work, I suffer from extreme deep depression and completely shut down that I sleep for 18 hrs or more, I would be willing to go on strike to see that this is changed
I know someone who’s been attacked by a black person. I’m not afraid of black people. A breed is just like a race, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with others’ actions.
I know emotional support dogs are allowed in dorms, but am I allowed to bring her with me to lectures? Should I contact my professors before the start of the semester to meet their individual needs?
Universities are not required to allow emotional support animals in lectures. You can contact your professors in advance and see if they will allow them at your school.
I have a ferret who is an emotional support animal, he helps me with anxiety attacks that are so severe they leave me disoriented for hours, I ran into trouble with him trying to go to lunch with family, my question is what’s the point in having an ESA if they can’t go with you to do there jobs?
Unfortunately, emotional support animals do not have full access rights, unlike service animals. You can only live and travel with emotional support animals.
If I work in a restaurant, can I petition to be able to bring my dog to work?
Your employer is not required to accept your animal in the workplace unless they are a certified service dog. Emotional support animals do not have access to public places such as restaurants.
I work at a restaurant in California and had a girl bring in her bunny that she said was allowed in. The bunny Had ended up pooping on the floor and the staff had to clean it up. What steps can I legally take to make sure this doesn’t happen?
Also we get a lot of dogs come in that bark or try jumping on tables (there is no outdoor seating and the tables are very close together), is there any way we can determine which are service animals and which are ESA?
Service animals can only be dogs and miniature horses. Emotional support animals do not have access rights in restaurants. You can ask a person to leave if their service animal is jumping on tables or otherwise disturbing other customers.
If you think about it all Pet owners have them for companionship or comfort. Any animal owned for reasons other than breading, working,sporting or showing for profit or compitition ect.. are simply owned for the fact that that they make the person feel good.
Yeah and what if the person actually needs the animal for emotional support in the middle of, say, a panic attack? I have a dog currently (she’s not an ESA) and whenever I’m in a panic attack, she comes and comforts me. The warmth and somewhat stability she provides when she lays on my stomach so I can hug her helps calm me down and makes me remember what I need to do to keep the attack under control. Now, tell me, is she a pet, or is she a genuine need in my life? Yes, I’m on medication, but sometimes that’s just not enough. When I go to university and live alone for the first time, what am I going to do? Let it pass and feel exhausted afterwards? Or keep myself calm when it starts? The latter. That’s what an ESA is for. A person with a pet doesn’t need a pet. A person with an ESA needs an ESA.
Thank you Cameron. You separated “pet” from “ESA” perfectly. I recently re-homed my young MiniAussie. Assuming he was a pet, under stress themselves, and annoyed by his occasional barking, my adult son and husband repeatedly “hinted” that I should give him up. I finally did, and now I truly know the meaning of an ESA animal. I might need counseling to learn to resist such pressure in the future, but the only “cure” for the sadness I feel now is to bring another gentle, funny, loving dog into my life.
If you think about it all PET owners have them for companionship or comfort. Any animal that is owned for reason other than breading, sporting, working or showing for profit or competition is owned for the simple fact of it makes that person happy to have it in their life.
I have an esa card for my parrot. I own a cafe in San Francisco and am curious if he is allowed to have a cage in my shop and accompany me at work.
An ESA card or ESA registration does not qualify your parrot to be an official emotional support animal. In order to qualify for an ESA, you must have an ESA letter from a licensed therapist.
if you own the cafe you should be allowed you own it so im not sure why there should be a problem
Hi, allowing your bird into your cafe (if kept in a bird cage) does not require your bird to be an ESA, especially since ESAs aren’t given exceptions to public areas.
I found this from my state’s DHEC website “Retail food establishments, including operations such as a “cat café,” may also apply for a variance to allow for indoor pet friendly dining areas. To be approved, the establishment must provide a plan that details how they will protect food from contamination by the animals and receive approval of the plan from the Department.”
There is likely a similar process in your state.