# New York Times on emotional support animals



## JLC44 (Jun 18, 2013)

wow that was a terrible article full of errors, it was almost painful to read all the way through.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

JLC44 said:


> wow that was a terrible article full of errors, it was almost painful to read all the way through.


Really? The NYT is usually pretty good. Can you list some of them for those (like me) who don't know that much about it?


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## JLC44 (Jun 18, 2013)

sure .. 2nd half started so will do it after game


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Think I know the jist of this article, as I read similar elsewhere.
But just to throw a funny aside in, a friend of mine is a flight attendant and one time we were talking about the various service animals shenhas encountered onboard. Someone hadna service monkey (understandable that a monkey could provide necessary services to a paraplegic) but anyway, shensaidnsomething frightened the monkey and it became panic striken and started jumping from passenger head to passenger head screaming all the while. Just imagining that scene makes me laugh. They had to make an emergency landing unfortunately, to get the monkey off the plane.


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## JLC44 (Jun 18, 2013)

Long and a lot of information but hope this helps. Any questions just ask.

OK first thing is not only does it say "_certified emotional support animal_" it keeps hammering certified like there is such a thing. Service animals can be "certified" by their trainer, which is worthless. ESAs aren't trained so who is doing all the certifying? I guess this means the Dr. is the one certifying but as Ms. Black shows later in the article certified is just a word to sound official but means nothing.

From article. "_Classifying animals as emotional support animals has long been permitted under antidiscrimination laws, allowing owners to take them into restaurants and shops or to residential buildings that have no-pet policies. To demonstrate the need for an emotional support animal, the animal’s owner needs a letter from a mental health professional._" 
By the current law ESAs are not allowed in no pet areas with the exception of housing and airlines, no restaurants, no shops unless pets are allowed. Also there are other requirements I will address after discussing the article.

Not an error but poor choice "_But their presence on airplanes is increasingly facing a backlash from flight attendants, passengers with allergies and owners of service animals, like Seeing Eye dogs, who say that airplane cabins have become crowded with uncaged animals who have no business being there._" 
Yes guide dogs are the most well known but considering large portions of the public still think they are (or should be) the only "real" type of service dog should have been done differently.

"_“It’s becoming a big problem,” said Marcie Davis, founder of International Assistance Dog Week. “I’ve seen people bring on pets and try to pass them off as an emotional support or service dog. It’s not appropriate and it’s not safe.”_ " 
How does she know they are just pets??? She may suspect but she has no idea, I'm sure she doesn't want judged and treated that way with her service dog.

""_The Air Carrier Access Act allowed for emotional support animals to be taken on planes, broadening the American Disabilities Act, which recognized service animals in public places, said Robert Farr of the Pacific A.D.A. Center._" 
The ADA was the LAST law to be put in place. The Rehab Act, Fair housing Act, and Air Carrier Access Act were all in place before the ADA was enacted in 1990. That is why the ADA does not apply to housing (with a few exceptions), Federal buildings, like the post office fall under Rehab Act sect 504, and air travel.

"_To serve the needs of the animals and their owners, a cottage industry of websites and doctors advertising documents that certify emotional support animals has emerged. __ Carla Black, a psychotherapist in Marina del Rey, Calif., began receiving enough requests for emotional support animal certification that this year she began advertising on her website. For $99, she provides an hour of her time, over the phone or Skype, and a clinical assessment, along with a prescription letter, which is valid for one year. _
_ Ms. Black said in a telephone interview that before she issues a letter she ensures the client is eligible under criteria set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. “I make sure they qualify for depression or whatever, P.T.S.D.,” she said, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder_"
If they are going to put this in then they need to make it very clear that both the websites and Carla Black are complete frauds.


SO what is the truth? Here are a few very good links.

This is from the Dept of Transportation, nondiscrimination based on disability for air travel. § 382.117 Must carriers permit passengers with a disability to travel with service animals?

An important point "_(e)(3) The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional, and the passenger is under his or her professional care._" 
Diagnosis is not enough you have to be under the care of the the health professional.


I know the article is focusing on air travel not housing however the laws are very similar. 2013 FAQs on Emotional Support Animals from the Michigan State College of Law. FAQs on Emotional Support Animals in Housing

Under question 1 "_To qualify, a person must meet the federal definition of disability and must have a note from a physician or other medical professional stating that a person has a disability and that the reasonable accommodation (here, the emotional support animal) provides benefit for the individual with the disability. The emotional support animal alleviates or mitigates some of the symptoms of the disability. No specific training of the animal is required._" 
I will pull out case law illustrating this later but this is the often overlooked fact and the article makes no direct mention of it. The animal must help with the disability in some way.

This 2009 Guide to Disability Rights Laws put out by the Dept of Justice is a good list of all the laws with a brief overview of their purposes and how to contact the departments to get most up to date info. A Guide to Disability Rights Laws

From 2008 FAQ on ESAs 3 examples of case law regarding ESAs showing that disability is not enough there must be a correlation between the disability and the animal. Emotional Support Animal FAQ (2008)

It may be helpful to examine some examples from court cases of what situations demonstrate that an emotional assistance animal can be a reasonable accommodation and what situations do not:


A tenant provided expert witness testimony from a psychiatrist that he received therapeutic benefits from keeping and caring for his cat, and that the cat therefore helped him to use and enjoy the dwelling by alleviating the manifestations of his mental illness. Some of the illnesses the tenant suffered from included panic disorder with agoraphobia, mixed personality disorder, and chronic anxiety. The tenant alleged that he accepted the cat into his home with the hope of alleviating his "intense feelings of loneliness, anxiety and depression, which are daily manifestations of his mental illness." The court held that the tenant established that he both had a disability and is "otherwise qualified" under law. _Crossroads Apartments Assoc. v. LeBoo_, 578 N.Y.S.2d 1004 (N.Y. City Ct. 1991).
A tenant was physically disabled from symptoms of multiple sclerosis and took in her mother’s cat after her mother became seriously ill. After the housing authority learned of the tenant’s mother’s death, the housing authority again requested that the tenant remove the cat. In response, the tenant provided the housing authority with a letter from her physician stating that "there would be serious negative consequences for her health if she was compelled to remove the cat." The tenant filed suit alleging discrimination under the FHAA and the housing authority failed to renew her lease. The court held that the tenant failed to meet her burden of proving that the cat is necessary because of her handicap. The court reasoned that although the physician’s note stated that removal of the cat would result in "increased symptoms of depression, weakness, spasticity and fatigue," the note does not state that these symptoms can be treated only by keeping the cat in her apartment. The court stated there may be a more reasonable accommodation to lessen the effects of her disability, other than keeping the cat, and therefore denied the tenant’s motion for preliminary injunction. _Nason v. Stone Hill Realty Ass’n_, 1996 WL 1186942 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1996).
The tenant in _Whittier Terrace_ was a poor woman renting public housing who had an established psychiatric disability. The tenant kept a cat in her apartment despite a no-pets policy. The housing authority commenced an eviction proceeding because of the violation of the no-pets policy, and the tenant argued that, based on her emotional and psychological dependence on the cat, she was afforded protection from being evicted solely because of her inability to meet the no-pets provision, pursuant to Sec. 504. Based on expert testimony, the court held that the tenant was in fact mentally disabled and that there was a link between the tenant’s ability to function and the emotional support provided by the presence of the cat. The court further noted that reasonable accommodations are necessary under the law, but accommodations that cause undue financial or administrative burdens on the housing authority need not be provided. The court held that the tenant qualified under Sec. 504 and that the housing authority therefore could not evict the tenant for possessing a cat in violation of the no-pets policy. The court reasoned that the accommodation was reasonable because there were no noise or odor complaints from other tenants, and that the tenant was an ideal tenant except for her inability to comply with the no-pets provision. _Whittier Terrace Assoc. v. Hampshire_, 532 N.E.2d 712 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989).


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## JLC44 (Jun 18, 2013)

lgnutah said:


> Think I know the jist of this article, as I read similar elsewhere.
> But just to throw a funny aside in, a friend of mine is a flight attendant and one time we were talking about the various service animals shenhas encountered onboard. Someone hadna service monkey (understandable that a monkey could provide necessary services to a paraplegic) but anyway, shensaidnsomething frightened the monkey and it became panic striken and started jumping from passenger head to passenger head screaming all the while. Just imagining that scene makes me laugh. They had to make an emergency landing unfortunately, to get the monkey off the plane.



Little known fact, in Iowa service monkeys are still protected by law. 

Yes I know the ADA restricts it to dogs only and in some cases mini horses. However Federal law does not trump state law it is a case of the least restrictive law is the one that applies. In this case Iowa state law is the least restrictive.
Iowa Assistance Animal/Guide Dog Laws
1. For purposes of this section, “service dog” means a dog specially trained to assist a person with a disability, whether described as a service dog, a support dog, an independence dog, or otherwise. * “Assistive animal” means a simian or other animal specially trained or in the process of being trained to assist a person with a disability.*


2. A person with a disability, a person assisting a person with a disability by controlling a service dog or an assistive animal, or a person training a service dog or an assistive animal has the right to be accompanied by a service dog or an assistive animal, under control, in any of the places listed in sections 216C.3 and 216C.4 without being required to make additional payment for the service dog or assistive animal. A landlord shall waive lease restrictions on the keeping of animals for the service dog or assistive animal of a person with a disability. The person is liable for damage done to any premises or facility by a service dog or assistive animal.


3. A person who knowingly denies or interferes with the right of a person under this section is, upon conviction, guilty of a simple misdemeanor.


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