b'LEGISLATIVE REPORTLEGISLATIVE No Legal Obligation to Accommodate Emotional Support AnimalED WELCH // PVA LEGISLATIVE DIRECTORL ast month, a news article described aty is accompanied by a genuine service animalvice dogs. So, whats the difference between gentlemaninYorkHaven,Pennsyl- (which can only be a dog, or in rare instances,the two? AKC explains, The key difference be-vania, who obtains comfort from hisa miniature horse). But an emotional supporttween a service dog and an emotional support emotional support animalan alligator. Heanimal is not the same as a service animal, anddog is whether the animal has been trained to sleeps with the 70-pound, five-and-a-half-foota PVA vessel operator is in no way required toperform a specific task or job directly related gator, named Wally. The owner says Wallyaccommodate an emotional support animal. to the persons disability. Behaviors such as is super sweet-natured. He takes Wally tocuddling on cue, although comforting, do not public venues, but says he asks ahead of timeThe U.S. Department of Justice on its ada.govqualify. The tasks need to be specifically trained for permission. website flatly states: Service animals are nottomitigateaparticulardisability,notsome-emotional support or comfort dogs, becausething instinctive the dog would do anyway.Youmaynothaveencounteredawould-beproviding emotional support or comfort is not customer with an emotional support alligator,a task related to a persons disability. Further-but plenty of PVA vessel operators have had tomore, says the Justice Department, if the dogsService animals are contend with the thorny situation of a passen- mere presence provides comfort, it is not a ser-ger who insists on bringing aboard an allegedvice animal under the ADA. But if the dog isnot emotional support emotional support dog. What is to be done intrained to perform a task related to a persons that situation? disability, it is a service animal under the ADA.or comfort dogs.For example, if the dog has been trained to sense The short answer: the federal Americans withthat an anxiety attack is about to happen andU.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICEDisabilities Act (ADA) creates no right to any- take a specific action to help avoid the attack or one to access a public accommodation (a passen- lessen its impact, the dog is a service animal. ger vessel is a public accommodation) accompa- The Justice Department has posted frequentlySome persons have a mental illness that qual-nied by an emotional support animal (ESA). asked questions about service animals here.ifies as a disability under the ADA. It may be that such a person can be assisted by a true The ADA does establish obligations for a publicThe American Kennel Club (AKC) says thatservice dog. The AKC elaborates, There are accommodation when a person with a disabili- emotional support dogs are pets and not ser- service dogs, known as psychiatric service dogs that require extensive training to work specif-ically with people whose disability is due to mental illness. These dogs detect the beginning of psychiatric episodes and help ease their ef-fects. Although this sounds similar to the role of an ESA, the difference between a psychiat-ric service dog and an ESA is again in the tasks performed by the dog and the training received to perform these tasks. Psychiatric service dogs (recognized by the ADA as service dogs) have been trained to do certain jobs that help the handler cope with a mental illness. For exam-ple, the dog might remind a person to take pre-scribed medications, keep a disoriented person in a dissociative episode from wandering into a hazardous situation such as traffic, or perform room searches for a person with post-traumat-ic stress disorder. If it is simply the dogs pres-ence that helps the person cope, then the dog does not qualify as a psychiatric service dog. See more information here.Recognizing that the law generally requires a public accommodation to accept a genuine ser-vice dog but imposes no such duty with respect FOGHORN 20'