The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) helps protect the use of service dogs in public places. These working dogs provide essential services and support to their people, and are therefore considered a disability aid rather than a pet.
Service dogs are often assigned to people with disabilities through organizations that give them the special training they need if it is medically recommended. Emotional support animals (ESAs) can also be medically recommended, but ESAs more often start off as pets that grow to support their humans. They do not have the same ADA protections as service dogs.
Many people wonder if they need a service dog letter if they have a service dog or ESA or are looking to get one. This letter can be very useful for some situations, so we’ll discuss what it is and how to get one.
You don’t need a letter to have a service dog. In most cases, your medical team will connect you to an organization to get a service dog if they believe you’re a good candidate for one. Similarly, you can adopt and train a dog or train a pre-existing pet to be an emotional support animal without a doctor’s note.
A service dog letter is a document from a licensed medical professional that affirms your need to have a service dog. This letter will not disclose private medical information, but explain that your dog is considered medically necessary. Often, they will simply state that you have a medical condition or disability and that your dog provides a necessary service for your health and well-being.
Any licensed medical professional can write a service dog letter. Ideally, it should be someone who understands your condition and can vouch for you. A member of your medical team, especially one that oversaw you acquiring a service dog, would be best.
In the case of emotional support animals, a licensed mental health professional is the best person to write your letter. Some states require patients to have at least a 30-day relationship with their mental healthcare provider before they can write an ESA letter, so check your state laws. If you are already under the care of a psychiatrist or licensed therapist, you can ask them. Otherwise, you can find a provider online to start the process.
While the ADA does not require anyone with an assigned service dog to have a letter, there are some instances when it may be useful. Under the Fair Housing Act, assistance animals, including ESAs, are exempt from pet policies, but some landlords may push back.
Having a letter you can submit to them can help smooth over the situation without you having to disclose medical information, especially if you have an invisible disability.
Since emotional support animals are not under the same protections as the ADA, an ESA letter can be very valuable. Having one can help you show that your animal is more than simply a pet and help you get the necessary accommodations.
Under the ADA, service dogs can go to any public space within reason. This means that public schools, hospitals, libraries, and most shopping and dining spaces must legally accommodate your dog.
ESAs don’t have the same legal protection, but a well-trained dog wearing a vest that states that they are working won’t usually be questioned. You can have a physical or digital copy of a doctor’s letter to show anyone who asks you to take your dog outside. While in most cases, that is considered acceptable, legally, they can still refuse entrance to your dog.
Service dogs and ESAs can be refused entrance to private spaces, such as someone’s home. Additionally, if your dog is not well trained and causes destruction or poses a threat to people, they can be removed from public spaces. If they are not properly housebroken and urinate or defecate indoors, they can also be removed.
As you can see, a doctor’s note will not change the legal protections in place for you, but it can help open the door to people who are not well-informed or are resistant to accommodating you. Especially in the case of an ESA, having a mental health professional sign off on your emotional support animal gets others to acknowledge their important role. It also helps you to take advantage of the Fair Housing Act’s protections for assistant animals.
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