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SERVICE ANIMAL -- EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL: HUGE LEGAL
DIFFERENCE!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
July 29, 2016
It seems that many people have a hard
time understanding the difference between a SERVICE ANIMAL
and an EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL.
Maybe these explanations I copied from
WIKIPEDIA, will help you better understand the
difference. Believe me: Legally there is a huge difference:
Service Animals
are animals that have been trained to perform tasks that
assist people with disabilities. Service animals may also be
referred to as assistance animals, assist animals, support
animals, or helper animals depending on the country and the
animal's function.
Dogs are the most common service animals, assisting people in
many different ways since at least 1927. Other animals such as
monkeys, birds, and horses have also been documented. In places
of public accommodation in the United States, only dogs (and in
some cases miniature horses) are legally considered service
animals. It is legal in certain states to have service
"animals". There is a broader definition for assistance animals
under the US Fair Housing Act as well as a broader definition
for service animals under the US Air Carrier Access Act. In the
United States, prior to a revision of the Americans with
Disabilities Act going into effect March 15, 2011 types of
animals other than service dogs and miniature horses were
protected at least on the Federal level.
An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is a companion
animal which provides therapeutic benefit, such as alleviating
or mitigating some symptoms of the disability, to an individual
with a mental or psychiatric disability. Emotional support
animals are typically dogs and cats, but may include other
animals. In order to be prescribed an emotional support animal
by a physician or other medical professional, the person seeking
such an animal must have a verifiable disability. To be afforded
protection under United States federal law, a person must meet
the federal definition of disability and must have a note from a
physician or other medical professional stating that the person
has that disability and that the emotional support animal
provides a benefit for the individual with the disability. An
animal does not need specific training to become an emotional
support animal.
In recent years we have seen lots of
very expensive lawsuits dealing with Emotional Support Animals
in so-called No-Pet-Communities. Remember, quite a lot of people
chose to buy into No-Pet-Communities: They have serious
allergies!
That’s why you see these very
emotional lawsuits all over Florida. If you feel that you need
an Emotional Support Animal and live in a No-Pet-Community,
please make sure that you follow procedure, file a proper
application with the association and add all necessary documents
to your application.
If you don’t, you may have a very
serious, costly problem on your hands. There are normally quite
a lot of neighbors who will strongly oppose your application.
If it comes to a lawsuit, it’s more or
less up to the judge to rule, if the help an Emotional Support
Animal will give you should supersede the rights of the owners
who moved into such No-Pet-Communities because of their serious
allergies.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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