Is a "Emotional Support Dog" a service animal?

[Holly53]

Emotional Support Dog a service animail?

[Holly53]

Your information was very helpful.  Thank you!

[Carolyn82]

Thanks for the helpful information!

[Tamara125]

I always find that discussing openly with guests so there are no surprises is the best policy.  Most people are reasonable and honest.

Here's the Airbnb policy.  

Certainly, if someone has allergies (on the host's part) or if a guest truly needs their companion animal and they are well behaved, a good compromise can be had by all.  

Most guests understand when there are allergies at stake and most hosts understand when a guest truly needs their service animal.

[Rebecca181]

I realize this is an old thread, but this is the latest from Airbnb on emotional support animals: 

"Emotional Support Animal: Airbnb defines assistance animals to include Emotional Support Animals. These are animals that are used as part of medical treatment and/or therapy to assist with an individual’s daily functional tasks, but are not limited to a specific type of animal and are not required to be trained to assist an individual in a particular task. These animals are sometimes referred to as comfort animals or therapy animals."

And this is from the ADA: "

If you're an individual with an emotional or psychological disability- emotional support animals can be an excellent companion. While emotional support animalsare used as part of some medical treatment plans, they are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).Nov 11, 2016"

I have an issue with Airbnb's policy declaring that an emotional support animal is to be treated the same as an ADA-protected animal, because as a licensed psychotherapist, I am aware that some people (not all, of course) are able to easily convince a licensed mental health professional that they 'need' their pet to be documented / authorized as an 'emotional support animal' but the true intent is that they wish to travel anywhere with the animal and not be challenged on it. I know this first hand, as I am a licensed therapist. I have refused more than once such requests (even from a few friends and acquaintances who were not clients!) because they were not justified and it would not be ethical - but some therapists are not so diligent. Also, it is my understanding that the ADA does not recognize or protect under the law 'emotional support animals' but I could be wrong about this. I therefore am concerned that Airbnb has it's own policy around this and has included emotional support animals in it's anti-discrimatory categories, even though the ADA does not. It would seem to put the host in an unfair position. I have seen some cavalier responses on other forums to hosts asking about this issue, such as, "So if the animal destroys something just take photos and collect money for it from the guest and kick them out", etc. Well, if you are booked pretty much full-time year-round like we are, with same day turnover, finding that a guest's supposed "support" animal has destroyed something in your rental a few hours before the next guest checks in, or having a guest checking in who understood your property to be a pet free zone and they chose it in part for this reason due to allergies, etc, can put undue hardship on both the host and the guest that follows the support animal's 'visit'. I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts on this. It irks me, frankly, that Airbnb is seemingly not aligning it's policies with ADA definitions and laws.

[David126]

@Rebecca181

Well you did ask..

1. ADA is a US thing and ABB polices are global, the only thing I can be certain about other Countries policies is that they will be different to ADA. There are also othe Federal laws such as HUD.
2. As far as the US is concerned my understanding that there is no legal registry, or definition, not even sure you need the pice of paper but if you, do no end of places who will issue one for a fee and guide you through to say the right things. As far as I can see ABB do not require any paper.
3. Obviosly open to abuse, I have heard many stories from friends in the Airline business. 
4. Short version a guest can take their animal to any ABB listing if they say it is an ESA. As ABB does not really have a security deposit then damage recovery is by no means certain.

[Rebecca181]

@David126 - Thanks for your seasoned reply. Well, then, I'd like to see Airbnb change this policy world-wide. And I don't think I am the only host who feels this way. Policies can, and have been changed on Airbnb based on host concerns and feedback. I have seen hosts here take matters all the way to the CEO, and in some cases, a policy was changed. How might I go about doing the same, do you know? At least I'd like to try!

[David126]

Now I am intrigued, what policies were changed?

Well there is Hosts Voice and the Mods do a report on topics.

[Hollie6]

Let me know what I can do to help too! I have a real problem with the policy as I have actually been hospitalized due to allergies. I don't understand why my health or others who have allergies is less important. I also don't like that people are seriously abusing this policy and people who have emotional support animals should seek homes that allow pets. I also think its absurd that you can't even ask what type of pet it is. This allows for ANYONE to abuse this policy.

Very Very frustrating!

[Jeffery31]

The policy states if there is a safety concern such as an allergy, you can then deny the animal. But only for that reason.

[Tj-And-Jennifer0]

You do not need a piece of paper. The service animal needs nothing denoting it a service animal (tags, vest, etc.).  Service animals can be trained by a service that is dedicated to doing so, or they can be self-trained.  

Our 6 year old Jack Russell is self-trained for autism support for our son. As every case of autism is different, there is no service that would be able to train the dog to our son's specific needs. I additionally have much experience training stubborn, but very smart, Jack Russells, having them for my needs as well as my sons for over 25 years. We do not put tags or vests on Bonnie, our 6 year old Jack Russell, as she is an autism dog for our 12 year old to keep him from hurting himself if he is "stimming". Having a vest, with a wierd texture (or worse, patches), or having a tag making clanking noise can make our son's condition worse.

To throw another log on the fire, our 6 month old Jack is "in training" and by ADA is afforded all rights and responsibilities that our 6 year old Jack has. Molly isn't bad, as she's litterbox trained (but not perfect), but she's still a barker, jumper and a licker.  She's also got about 6 more months to learn the basic 7 commands before I can start to work with her to teach her tasks. Her training will take 3-4 years, and the entire time, she's considered a service dog "in training" which is the same thing as a full fledge service trained service dog according to the ADA.

[Jeffery31]

Think you need to temper your response before you get someone in trouble. You are correct that you do not have to allow animals on your property, if it is part of your shared living space and if there is a DOCUMENTED safety reason for someone in that space (allergy etc). Not just because it is your private property and as far as AirBnB is concerned they consider a Service Animal and Emotional Support Animal as the same thing "An Assistance Animal". And unless you have the documented safety reason you cannot disallow them from booking/staying and also cannot charge extra cleaning fees etc.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

[Debi1]

One of our local hosts has had an experience where a guest brought an emotional support dog to her home without notice, and informed the owner/host that she 'had to accept' her animal by law.  Reading what is written here, it feels to me that she absolutely does not need to accept the dog in her home.  However, after a phone call to Airbnb Customer Service she was given the option of asking for remuneration to have the dog there, but not the option of asking the guest to leave.

This feels very murky to me, and I would love to see if Airbnb has any policy in writing, or even suggestions or advice that could be helpful.  

[Jeffery31]

AirBnB has a policy here it is:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

and according to that policy YES they do have to let an Emotional Support Animal into their home, unless they have some documented safety concern like an allergy to the animal. The guest does not need to provide advanced notice either.

Kids are way worse and are going to cause way more cleaning up after and do far more damage to property than 99.9% of Pets.

[David126]

Emtional Support Animal, a friend of mine is a Pilot and he has told me a few stories....

But not an issue for a Host.

[Cormac0]

@Holly

Of couse you accept them, but unfortunately your Rhodesian Ridgeback doesn’t.

Regards

Cormac

The Explorer's Club Krakow III

The Explorer's Club Krakow VIII