Emotional support animals, commonly known as ESAs, can be incredibly helpful to individuals with certain conditions or disabilities. The process of obtaining or registering an ESA is fairly simple, but it may leave many people wondering – how many ESAs can I have?
Our article will answer this question and help you understand more about the process of obtaining an ESA, in addition to discussing more about your rights as they pertain to living and traveling with your emotional support animals.
Emotional Support Animals and Their Duties
Emotional support animals are animals that provide their owner with emotional support and help relieve the symptoms of conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, learning disabilities, chronic stress, and ADHD. The presence of an emotional support animal can help to interrupt negative behavior and patterns, solidify healthier routines, and provide a comforting and calming presence when an individual is experiencing unpleasant or unwanted symptoms. Furthermore, studies have shown that emotional support animals can help lower blood pressure and heart rates, leading to calmness and less stress.
Individuals who require ESAs will need to ensure that their animals can live with them and travel with them to benefit from their ESA or have their symptoms relieved while they are doing their daily tasks. However, it is important to note that ESAs do not have the same protection that service animals do and that emotional support animals are not trained to perform specific tasks, such as guiding, fetching objects, or providing medical alerts. Emotional support animals only provide support; they do not perform tasks or services for their handler.
How Many ESAs Can You Legally Have?
There are no rules or laws that restrict the number of emotional support animals that you can legally have. However, you should keep in mind that many housing or apartment units, hotels and motels, or airlines are only required to provide ‘reasonable accommodations,’ which can be stressful depending on your situation.
As long as you exhibit the need for an ESA and your medical provider signs off on it or helps you officially register your ESA, you can have as many as is needed for your conditions. However, a plethora of animals can be hard to care for, and if, for instance, you are trying to move four large ESA dogs into a small studio apartment, this request may not be honored, or a landlord might need to work with you to find a better solution. So it’s important to think about your ability to care for the ESAs you have, as well as the benefits that they can provide for your condition.
