Emotional Support Animals

There are two major problems with this law as it stands. One, is the ambiguous nature of the law’s wording. Because of this ambiguity, business owners are only allowed to ask 2 questions about the animal: “Is this a service animal?” and “What is it trained to do?” However, the animal owner is not obliged to offer any proof along with their answers. The real kicker? The business owner risks legal action if they don’t unquestionably accept the “service” animal. That’s the real problem with an ESA, they don’t need any special training to offer you emotional support, it could be a brand new kitten from the store. If you’re a business owner looking to avoid a lawsuit, you’ve simply got to take the owner’s word for it. 

The second problem with the law is it’s, (predictably) been abused on a massive scale. People can take snakes, spider, miniature horses, dogs, cats, and what have you into a public place and claim that these animals offer them emotional support for an undefined mental disorder, which given the insanity of bringing a Boa Constrictor into a burger king, may actually be true in some cases. However with no burden of proof, and in fact no regulating body whatsoever, the door is open for widespread abuse.

Unfortunately, because of the lack of regulation and outright foolishness of these cases, it’s making life more difficult for people with legitimate service animal needs. People with severe agoraphobia, for example, encounter massive stress and panic attacks upon leaving their domiciles. Studies have shown that emotional support animals, particularly well trained canines, can have a calming effect on their owners in many cases, allowing them to function normally despite their mental illness.
So basically a few bad apples are ruining a good thing for people with legitimate illnesses. Having an animal in toe might mean that you’re not allowed into an area that serves or sells food, but that’s for very good reason. Public health and safety standards seemingly demand that the food we eat should be separated from our furry friends based on several fairly obvious factors:

• Animals do not really care where or when they use the restroom, especially if untrained
• Animals will step indiscriminately in their own fecal matter or urine
• Animals can carry parasites, bugs, and all sorts of creepy crawly nonsense.
• Many animals stink, and it’s not fun to eat chicken parmesan next to them.
• You’d think a lot of this is common sense but jerks will be jerks. Thus increasing the need of human beings to seek emotional support from animals, and renewing the never ending cycle of stupid behavior and unnecessary problems.