I had Chat GPT interview me on difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal and the result is surprisingly great! I got the idea from social media, but finding a topic seemed daunting and I really wasn’t sure what to pick. I don’t feel like an expert in much. I have that Jane of All Trades Master of None problem that comes with having ADHD and being information hungry due to bouts of hyperfixation. I want to talk about the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal and relating it to travel came pretty easily. Someone asked about it on Threads so that made it official. I don’t think it needs much more introduction than that, so let’s get into it.
Chat GPT: What is the primary difference between an emotional support animal (ESA) and a service animal, especially when it comes to travel?
Jinx: The biggest difference is that a service animal has more protections when it comes to where it can go than an emotional support animal does, because of the primary functions that a service dog provides. Service animals are medically necessary for that human to function, whereas an emotional support animal is not technically considered medically necessary by law.
Chat GPT: Could you explain the specific tasks or functions that a service animal performs for its owner, and how these tasks differ from the support provided by an emotional support animal?
Jinx: What a service animal does for its owner is individualized for each person based on their disability. But essentially, a service animal is medically necessary for a person to function on a daily basis. The most famous example would be a seeing-eye dog for a “blind” or limited-sight person. An emotional support animal (which could be a dog, or I’ve even seen it be a wallaby) may not provide relief on a daily basis and may not be medically necessary for that person to function. I am not a lawyer, so this is a personal interpretation, but the law has to draw the line somewhere, and it seems to me like they use the level of medical need. Unfortunately, that does not always mean service animals are available or granted.
Chat GPT: What are the legal protections for service animals versus emotional support animals when it comes to traveling, especially on airlines or in public spaces?
Jinx: The Air Carrier Access Act, not the ADA, protects the rights of people with disabilities in air travel. Section 382.72 asks, “Must carriers allow a service animal to accompany a passenger with a disability?” and the response does state, “You must allow a service animal to accompany a passenger with a disability. You must not deny transportation to a service animal based on the animal’s breed or type, or on the basis that its carriage may offend or annoy carrier personnel or persons traveling on the aircraft.”
You still have to do your part. According to the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, when it comes to service animals, “Airlines must permit a service dog to accompany a passenger with a disability in the aircraft cabin unless the dog poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others; the dog causes a significant disruption or misbehaves in the cabin or at an airport gate area; the dog’s carriage would violate a U.S. or foreign law; or current DOT forms weren’t provided as required by the airline for the trip.“
But the bottom line is, for a service animal, the airlines must bend over backward to accommodate you, and for an emotional support animal, you are praying to the travel Gods that things go in your favor.
Chat GPT: What steps should someone take to ensure their service animal or emotional support animal is properly documented and prepared for travel, especially considering airline requirements?
Jinx: You should ALWAYS look at the hotel, airline, etc. website information ahead of time. Make sure that you fully understand the rules and regulations, and if you are at all confused—ask. There are chats, emails, phone numbers, etc. Give them a call, chat with them, or email them. Save all of the information, write it down, or if you are on the website, take a screenshot or print it out and have it with you in a folder. Highlight the important information so you don’t have to flip or scroll through to find what you need. Fill out the forms, note deadlines, etc.
Also, keep in mind that you can do everything right and still be denied if you have an emotional support animal. That is, unfortunately, just part of it. People are still discriminated against when they have service animals. Do not expect everything to go smoothly. Hope for it, of course, but plan for things to go south and have a plan B or even a plan C just in case.
Chat GPT: When traveling with a service animal or emotional support animal, what are some tips for making the journey smoother for both the animal and the traveler, especially on long trips?
Jinx: A well-trained animal does not need anything to be made smoother. But animals often respond to the energy of their owners and what is going on. If you are irritated and excitable, they will be too. If your dog is not well-behaved, please don’t try to take them on an airplane for a 10-hour flight. No one wants to deal with people who aren’t well-behaved, so why would we want to hear a dog whine and bark for 10 hours?
Chat GPT: How can someone determine if their dog is truly suited for being a service animal or emotional support animal in a travel context, especially if they plan to fly or use public transport frequently?
Jinx: The world is not built for disabled people. The focus should be on how airlines, hotels, public transportation services, etc. can be more accessible and be transparent about how to use their services when you have a service animal. Maybe there is a dedicated or trained person who guides you through the process. Maybe there is a video about how to fill out the form. Maybe there is an audio file for my visually impaired folks.
Chat GPT: What are some misconceptions people have about service dogs and emotional support animals, especially when it comes to their roles in travel?
Jinx: I think the biggest misconception is that people think their animals are entitled to be with them everywhere they go. Just because they have an emotional attachment to them, they believe the animal is automatically a service animal or emotional support animal, which is not the case.
Chat GPT: What is your best advice for someone trying to decide whether they need a service dog or an emotional support animal, particularly if they are planning to travel frequently?
Jinx: That is an excellent question! I had someone ask about this on Threads, and it really gave me a bad vibe because I felt like this person really did not need a service animal, but I was trying not to be judgmental, which is not really easy for me. I am judgy and I know it.
If you need a service animal—you know it. A person who needs a service animal has a medical necessity. The problem is that service animals are in short supply, take years to be trained1 effectively, and it costs a lot of money to train them. Most people who are disabled are on a fixed income (usually disability from the government, which notoriously does not pay much), so often people get their service dogs through charity or because they have been on a waitlist. You don’t get a service dog because you just want one.
Traveling with an animal is very difficult. If you’re nomadic and living in a vehicle, there is a lot of discourse about what to do with your pets while you’re traveling. Do you leave your animals in your vehicle if you have to work for 8+ hours? I always recommend doggy daycare, but that can be expensive. I know this because I used to work the front desk at a boarding facility that offered pet transportation. It isn’t cheap! But it ensures your dog doesn’t die in a car while you’re at work.
I would reconsider getting a pet if you are going to be traveling constantly so that you do not have that stress, extra expense, and obstacle. They are great companions, and I do not regret Willow at all, but I found her rather than making a conscious decision to get a pet. Would my life have been a lot easier if I hadn’t found her? If I hadn’t found her, I would absolutely be dead right now. So, it was unequivocally the right call to keep her, regardless of whether it would make my life easier. But yes, it would have been easier. Each person needs to make that choice for themselves based on their own medical needs and situation.
If you are living nomadically with a medical condition where it is medically necessary to have a service dog, make sure that the dog is trained to go for help on command. That is one thing I will say you absolutely need. A service dog coming up to you without its handler means you need to call 911 and follow that dog back to where it takes you. You should be communicating that with the operator, including giving location details as you walk/run. Hopefully, the dog has some kind of ID, and often people leave medical paperwork in the vests, so you can provide more information to the operator as you go.
Conclusion
I thought the questions Chat GPT came up with were pretty neat and I was excited to answer them. I am of course, not a lawyer or a doctor, so none of this should be taken as legal or medical advice. Writing about this, in this manner was a little difficult for me. I have my own ableist bias to overcome. It may even be present in my writing that I am presently unaware of. I have only recently acknowledged that I have disabilities and have a hard time using the term disabled in reference to myself (which is bias and ableist and I am aware of that and working on that in therapy). But with all things, I believe in being open and honest, it reduces the stigma around it. There is no growth in being comfortable.
Pay for training, but do not pay for a license or a letter stating that your pet is an emotional support animal or a service animal.
Your doctor/therapist should not be charging you for a letter to send to your apartment complex or HR department, etc. as part of an ADA accommodation. Do not use an online service to get an emotional support animal letter either. Those are known scams and you could be charged with fraud from the housing authority, which is a government agency so please do not do that. Do everything above board.
Did you know your local humane society will give you a FREE license for your service animal? All you have to do is fill out a form & answer the two following questions (these are the only questions businesses/people are legally allowed to ask you so you should always be prepared to answer them):
I also want to leave you with some links, in addition to the ones I used in the article:
- Disabled and Here – Stock photo project for disabled, BIPOC!
- Article specifically for training for psychiatric disabilities versus mobility disabilities from someone with a Ph. D which I found fascinating!
- Assistance Dogs International – Global resource for finding service dogs, their financial information is listed so they are fairly transparent about their practices (they kind of have to be if you get to look at their books you know). Has an excellent page for helping you understand going across borders with your pets, so I have this bookmarked for my trip to Alaska because I will need to cross from the US into Canada and I did not even consider that Willow would need anything. I knew I need a passport but Willow? BOOKMARK THIS PAGE if you plan on doing any international travel so you know what you need to do for your pets to get from the US > CA or US >ME and vise versa!
- You can train your dog yourself. You are not legally required to use a professional trainer. However, most people are not capable of training a dog on how to detect a seizure, a drop in blood sugar or when a fainting spell is going to come on. Despite my many years in working with animals I cannot train Willow how to perform those tasks. I would need to pay someone to do that if I needed it. Most people who need a service dog cannot wait for a dog to be trained either. They usually need one already trained. So that is why I answered that question the way I did. ↩︎