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In recent years, the therapeutic benefits of pets have been promoted by scientists and mental health professionals. For example, the presence of a friendly dog or cat can be very calming, reducing blood pressure and improving mental well-being. For these reasons, pet therapy programs are increasingly being integrated into senior living communities and hospitals.

Emotional support animals (ESAs) provide comfort to those with psychological or emotional conditions such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Emotional support animals’ official qualifications are that they reduce negative symptoms of a diagnosed psychiatric disorder,” said Garrett Wilk, a therapist with Shoreside Therapies in Whitefish Bay.

Animals with calm, patient demeanors that are easily trainable, including miniature horses and dog breeds such as Labrador and golden retrievers, beagles, and corgis, tend to make the best emotional support animals. However, animals of many species, including cats, pigs, ferrets, rabbits, snakes, chickens, rats, guinea pigs and even monkeys, have served as ESAs.

Unlike service or therapy animals, which are typically trained to help individuals perform certain tasks, no certification is needed for an animal to be designated as an ESA. An individual “simply needs a letter from a licensed mental health professional, prescribing that the individual’s pet is an emotional support animal,” said Wilk.

It’s the Law

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) grants protections to those with emotional support animals. In 2017, Wis. Act 317 was passed to expand “the scope of the state’s open housing law to specifically prohibit discrimination against persons with disability-related needs for assistance animals,” according to a May 2018 newsletter by the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA).

Under Wis. Stat. 106.50 (2r)(br), “if an individual has a disability and a disability-related need for an emotional support animal, it is discrimination for a person to refuse to rent or sell housing to the individual, cause the eviction of the individual from housing, require extra compensation from the individual as a condition of continued residence in housing or engage in the harassment of the individual because he or she keeps such an animal.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that public places, including state and local government agencies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, reasonably accommodate service animals (places of worship are exempt). However, these protections do not apply to ESAs. According to www.disabilityrightswi.org, “emotional support animals are specifically not covered under the ADA.” Moreover, Wisconsin workplaces are not required to make modifications for employees with ESAs.

As the law does not require ESA owners to undergo training or a certification process for their pets, Wilk feels that many people view the effectiveness of ESAs with skepticism, as some owners claim ESA status for their pets as a matter of convenience—for example, to avoid paying pet deposits and fees to landlords.

“I worry that people who legitimately have strong therapeutic reasons to have an animal and specially trained animals may be judged or delegitimized if people simply use the ESA label for convenience to thwart rules and regulations. I have had people, who didn’t want to do evidence-based therapy, reach out to me simply to get an ESA letter. I would not write an ESA letter for someone I am not currently seeing for a reasonable period of time,” he said. “The evidence on whether emotional support animals are effective is mixed, and requires more research to help clinicians understand how support is being given, and who might be a good fit for an emotional support animal. I would love to see more research on how and when animals can be used therapeutically.”