Advocating Emotion-Support Animals in No-Pets Housing
![handle is hein.journals/clear48 and id is 40 raw text is: Advocating Emotional-Support
Aninals in No-Pets Housing
BY DINAH LUCK
Cheyenne is my best friend. Cheyenne is the only thing in life that brings me joy, loves me un-
conditionally. She's taught me how to be responsible. I've never lived on my own by myself ever
in my life. I am a responsible person because of my dog. I know I have to walk her. I know I have
to shop. I know I have to eat. I know I have to go places and because of Cheyenne, I can do it.
-A client of MFY Legal Services
ervice animals have long been
known to help people with disabil-
ities live independently and enjoy
equal access to public places. Historically
discussions about service animals have
focused on dogs that help people with
physical disabilities, but emotional-support
animals can have a strong therapeutic
benefit for people with psychiatric
disabilities.' An emotional-support animal
can alleviate symptoms and ease the
social isolation of people with mental
illness. This relief can be accomplished
without any specialized and potentially
expensive training. Having an emotion-
al-support animal is a simple, nonmedical
intervention that can greatly increase the
well-being of a person with a disability.
Despite the advantages to people with
mental illness, the request for an emo-
tional-support animal can be contentious
in housing that prohibits pets. Although
the need for an emotional-support animal
is analogous to the need for a seeing-eye
dog, requests for emotional-support
animals are often more controversial.
Because emotional-support animals do not
require specialized training, some allege
that the concept is abused by people who
are with and without disabilities and who
simply want a pet when the rules of their
1 See Pet Partners Library: Health Benefits of Animals
for Adults (Jan. 23, 2013) (bibliography of health benefits of
companion animals).
housing forbid having pets.2 Landlords,
condominium associations, and other
housing providers may react with cynicism
to a valid request that a no-pet rule be
waived so that a tenant with a disability
can have an emotional-support animal.
Here I review the Fair Housing Amend-
ments Act of 1988 as it relates to
reasonable accommodations for
emotional-support animals. I discuss
case law as well as guidance issued by
the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S.
Department of Justice. I conclude with
practical tips for legal aid practitioners.
Terminology
Terms related to animals that assist people
with disabilities are used in both legal
and nonlegal contexts-service animal,
assistance animal, support animal,
emotional-support animal, and compan-
ion animal. The terms are often used inter-
changeably, leading to confusion about the
purpose of the animal and the rights of the
person with a disability to have the animal
in housing where animals are otherwise
barred. Courts, laypeople, and experts do
not all adhere to the same terminology,
but, for clarity, I use service animal
here to refer to animals, such as psychi-
2 Susan Stellin Do You Have a Doctor's Note?, NEwYORK
TIMES, Sept. 27, 2013.
atric service animals, that have received
specialized training to perform tasks. I use
assistance animal to refer to animals,
such as emotional-support animals, that
have not been trained to perform tasks.
Some of the confusion about service ani-
mals and assistance animals arises from
the different standards that apply in public
accommodations and in housing. In 2010
new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
regulations defined service animal nar-
rowly as a dog that is individually trained to
do work or tasks for a person with a disabil-
ity. The new definition explicitly excludes
emotional-support animals.3 Nonetheless
the preamble to the new definition
expressly states that emotional-support
animals may nevertheless qualify as
permitted reasonable accommodations
for persons with disabilities under the
[Federal Housing Act].4 In 2011 and 2013
HUD also issued guidance in reiterating
that nontrained assistance animals-emo-
tional-support animals among them-may
3 28 C.F.R. q 35.104 (2013).
4 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public
Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities, 75 Fed. Reg.
56236, 56240 (Sept. 15, 2010) (to be codified at 28 C.F.R.
pt. 36); Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in
State and Local Government Services, 75 Fed. Reg. 56164,
56166 (Sept. 15, 2010) (to be codified at 28 C.F.R. pt. 35).
MAY-JUNE 2014CLEARINGHOUSE REVIEW JOURNAL OF POVERTY LAW AND POLICY 38
CLEARINGHOUSE REVIEW JOURNAL OF POVERTY LAW AND POLICY 38
MAY-JUNE 2014](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/clear48&div=9&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Advocating Emotion-Support Animals in No-Pets Housing
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most