Is a "Emotional Support Dog" a service animal?

[Holly53]

Emotional Support Dog a service animail?

[Andrea9]

@Holly53

A longer thread, but the link in it might give you more clarity of what you may and may not do, and what options you have in a private home

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Help/My-dogs-vs-service-dog/m-p/338012#M45278

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

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

[David126]

That is hilarious, I know something about this as a friend of mine is a Pilot and he has told me a few stories, FAA have a similar requirements but because of the abuse there is a lot of pressure to get rid of it.

As far as I know most Hotels do not have this policy, for obvious reasons.

Wonder what will happen if an Emotional Support Rabbit meets my Dog.

[Monica4]

I am a host and very allergic to dogs and cats. I can tolerate hypoallergenic dogs.

I am sure that I can refuse a service dog if that dog is not hypoallergenic, since I am the only one that does the cleaning. I can tell within a half hour if a pet has been in the house because I can feel an asthma attack coming on and have to leave. This has happened once, even with my no pet policy. Someone snuck in a pet. But an asthma attack is not enough proof for Airbnb that guests have broken the rules and snuck in a dog or cat.

[Lee-Marie0]

Thank you for this link. We are getting alot of Emotional Support Dogs these days and its good to see an airbnb policy to follow. 

[Allison116]

This is very disturbing that Airbnb is so liberal.  Emotional support animals are rarely trained and should not be in the same class as seeing eye, hearing assistance and animals of that nature.  Especially in California, it is so easy to get an emotional support animal and they are not required to have any special training.  A relative of mine adopted an adult pet from the animal shelter, then months later got her doctor to write her a prescription for a support dog so she could get the necessary vest.  The dog is so spoiled and not trained.  And there are many times she will go places without the dog for days/weeks like vacations.  Real service dogs have extensive specialized training and need to pass tests.  

[Sarah977]

I read somewhere about a woman who traveled with 2 dogs- claiming the 2nd dog was "emotional support" for the first dog.

While I am sure there are some legitimate emotional support dogs, like for someone suffering from PTSS, it had become mainly a scam for people who want to be able to enter anywhere with their dogs.

[Christopher-and-Christin0]

So if guests don’t have to provide paperwork that their ESA is halfway legitimate...do we have to provide doctors evaluations / prescriptions for our family’s allergies or asthmas in order to deny them??  This new policy seems very much overly generous considering many of these Airbnb listings are our personal homes or spaces! Why don’t we follow the hotel industry and keep it to service animals only?  Everyone knows this:  an ESA letter from a “medical professional” can be granted in hours for less than $100 online. That constitutes a huge savings and freedom opportunity for unscrupulous animal owners. We’re starting to get them on our long term rentals—they seem super bogus. 

[Hollie6]

I had to provide proof that I have allergies and use an inhalor. So the guest didnt' have to prove anything but I had to go to the doctor for a note. Incredibly frustrating and completley unfair. I hope they change this policy soon. It doens't even make sense.

Hollie

[David126]

@Hollie6

I see you have 3 listing two of which are entire houses so I assume that the In Law listing is the one we are talking about.

There is nothing in the AirBnB policy that requires you to have a Doctors note, that would be discriminatory.

My suggested wording is a paraphrase of the AirBnB policy:

As the listing includes a shared space and an assistance animal would create a health or safety hazard to ourslevels or others (e.g. allergies and pets who are unable to share space with other animals due to a safety concern), we are unable to host guests with assistance animals. 

[Nadia341]

People can order a cretificate online for an emotional service dog for $34.This can be a fake ceritifate.

Lately I am getting this a lot that people claim to have emotional service dogs. Some are legitimate and some are fake. Once they mention you can not claim the pet fee. I had a case of a guest claiming that he had a service dog and try to rent the house which is not dogfriendly.

I allowed it but asked for the pet fee. He refused to pay. I called airbnb and they told me that it is my  choice to decline a booking if I do not feel comfortable with a renter. An emotional service dog is not a trained dog. I think lots of people use this policy as a loophole.

The guest reported me to airbnb and they slapped a discrimination red flag on my account.

I felt not cofortable as this guest blackmailed me and was very agressive.

But what made it really upsettThis policy from airbnb is very unfair for a host and give all the rights to the guests. Be aware and careful as a host.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Service dogs in training are not guaranteed public access by the ADA.  Only task trained dogs (and the rare miniature horse) WITH a disabled handler or the disabled person plus a trainer are guaranteed public access. 

ESAs are not guaranteed PUBLIC access by the ADA, but must be allowed in housing (unless shared with host) by Airbnb's rules, FHA and some airlines (although airlines are tightening that up.)  ESAs don't have to be TASK trained but they do have to be trained.   The ESA handler actually must have a disability.

The handler does not have to be permitted to leave the dog at the listing unattended (ever.)

We do allow dogs anyway but would not appreciate being forced to allow fake service dogs/fake ESAs. 

The person above who says they can bring their puppy in training with guaranteed access is incorrect by the way.  Access is not guaranteed for dogs in training under ADA.

Psychiatric SERVICE dogs have guaranteed access.  They are TASK trained and must initiate the task without a command if the handler's disability at times prevents them from giving a command.  The parent of the child or the assistant of the disabled person can by proxy give the command.

ESAs only have  guaranteed access to the limited situations of housing and air travel but again only if the handler has a DISABILITY.  If the handler is not disabled then they don't have access with their ESA.

[Rene172]

Reading these cold comments makes 

me never want to rent from Air BnB. My dog was an ESA for a couple of years until she was formally trained as my psychiatric service animal. During the time she was my ESA, I had 6 months of psychiatric hospitalization and two suicide attempts. The way you’re all discussing ESA dogs as if they’re a joke is disgusting. You have no idea how many people are struggling; you can’t tell by simply looking at them as it’s not a visible physical handicap. Yes, some people are abusing this, as they do with everything, but I guarantee you it’s less than you think. I bet if you met me in person, you’d think I was lying just to be able to travel with my dog. You’d think differently if you saw the scars on my neck and forearms, though.

[Huaai0]

My dog has traveled with me to Holland, Germany, Belgium, France, Finland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Turkey, and of course we live in Canada/USA. He was treated like royalty in Holland and France. He can take my mother home if she gets lost. He will bark if my mother doesn't hear door bell ringing and phone ringing. He doesn't shed, nor smell. He makes our life a lot more interesting than without him otherwise. We are really learning so much from him. 

Say Good-bye to cold comments. Life is wonderful with these furry friends.

[Debi1]

Thank you for sharing this!