An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) Letter is issued by a Licensed Therapist. The ESA Letter establishes that the individual has a mental health disability and confirms a legitimate need for the support that the individual’s companion animal provides. The ESA Letter will be provided on the Licensed Therapist's official letterhead, signed, and dated. It will also include the therapist's licensing and contact details, enabling your landlord to verify their credentials. The letter will contain everything legally required for an ESA prescription within the body of the letter. Our ESA Letter ensures that you live worry free with your pet knowing you are legally protected!

Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) and their owners have certain protections under federal and state laws. Under the law, ESAs are recognized as assistance animals, granting them exemptions from pet-related regulations. ESAs are entitled to reside in residential buildings that ordinarily prohibit pets or have certain pet restrictions (breed, size, and weight restrictions will not be applied to an ESA). Landlords and other housing providers must allow tenants to live with their ESAs free of charge. The ESA Letter serves as proof of your mental or emotional disability, protecting you under the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

To have a recognized Emotional Support Animal, it is necessary to have an ESA Letter that has been prescribed by a Licensed Therapist. This letter confirms your mental health disability (anxiety, panic attacks, depression, PTSD, or many others) and the fact that having an Emotional Support Animal helps alleviate symptoms of that disability. According to federal law, this is the sole valid method to qualify an animal as an Emotional Support Animal.

The ESA Letter is the only necessary and valid documentation to qualify and verify your Emotional Support Animal status. Your ESA does not require a certificate, license, ID card, special harness, or vest. Housing providers cannot require certificates, registrations, licenses, or IDs for your ESA, as these items do not hold any legal significance for an ESA. While some ESA owners use them as visual indicators, they are neither mandatory nor valid forms of proof that an animal is an ESA. Only a Licensed Therapist can issue a legitimate ESA Letter, and that is the only thing you will need!

No! Registration is not required for your ESA. Registering your ESA in a database or registry is unnecessary. There is no legally recognized registry for ESAs in the United States. While many fraudulent sites claim that an ESA will need a registration number to validate its status, this isn’t the case and is simply the rhetoric of typical ESA scams or trying to upsell you on items you do not need to qualify your pet as an Emotional Support Animal. Any paperwork or documentation from these so-called registries or any type of certificates is worth absolutely nothing in the eyes of the law. These documents do not convey any rights under federal laws. All that’s required to confirm that an animal is an ESA is a legitimate ESA Letter signed by a Licensed Therapist.

A diverse range of animals can serve as Emotional Support Animals. While dogs and cats are the most common type, ESAs can also include animals such as rabbits, hamsters, birds, mice, ferrets, turtles, and more. Essentially, any domesticated animal that is typically kept at home for companionship rather than commercial purposes can serve as an ESA.

A Psychiatric Service Dog (PSD) is a trained dog that performs tasks that can help alleviate the individual’s mental health disability (anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, phobias, depression, and many others). A PSD is a recognized type of Service Dog, protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), American with Disabilities Act (ADA), and in accordance with the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA).

The key distinction between a PSD and an ESA lies in the training. According to the ADA, “People with disabilities have the right to train the dog themselves and are not required to use a professional service dog training program.” An example of a trained task may be “Therapeutic and Tactile Distraction” which means your dog is trained to sense when you’re feeling anxious and place pressure on your body to encourage emotional regulation and bring you to a calm state of mind where you can cope with your daily activities. Many owners obtain PSD Letters to establish eligibility and prevent any complications with the airline or the establishment personnel. Our PSD Letter ensures that you travel with ease knowing you and your pet are protected!

Yes! Under regulations issued by The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), carriers must permit a Psychiatric Service Dog (PSD) to accompany a passenger with a mental health disability. A PSD is allowed to accompany the passenger in the cabin of planes, and airlines cannot impose any extra charges for their presence. Our PSD Letter ensures that you travel with ease knowing you and your pet are protected!

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Under the ADA, State and local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that serve the public generally must allow Psychiatric Service Dogs to accompany individuals with mental health disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is allowed to go. 

Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSD) carry many more rights than Emotional Support Animals (ESA) in terms of travel; but just like ESAs, PSDs are entitled to reside in residential buildings that ordinarily prohibit pets. Under the law, PSDs are recognized as service animals, granting them exemptions from pet-related regulations, such as pet rent, fees, and deposits. Additionally, PSD are not subject to restrictions based on breed, size, or weight. PSDs must be accommodated in most housing settings, including rental apartments, condos, co-ops, and HOAs.

We truly understand the power of Animal-Assisted Intervention and recognize the strong impact a pet’s love can have on your mental well-being. We are proud ESA and PSD owners ourselves and know what it feels like to need your animal by your side, wherever you go! We bring transparency and accessibility to the ESA and PSD Process. We believe every pet owner in need of an ESA or PSD should have easy and affordable access to the support they need. We’re here to advocate for improved access to mental health care and support individuals with mental health conditions. We know the power of Animal-Assisted Treatment Plans and want to help our clients use it to its fullest potential. We are on your side and want to help you navigate the ESA/PSD process as easily as possible.