An Emotional Support Animal (popularly known as ESA) is a preserve of individuals who suffer from psychological disorders such as stress, phobias, lack of sleep and PTSD. People who suffer from these conditions need to be accompanied by a pet because the animal helps in calming their nerves. An ESA doesn’t necessarily have to be a dog or a cat. You can actually select any animal that you are certain will make you feel much better.
However, the animal has to be small and of mild temperament to ensure that it will not be a threat to the people that are around you. And maybe that’s why most people opt for small dogs, rat, rabbit, cat or pig. Getting an ESA can be a daunting task because there are several procedures that you must undertake before you can be allowed to go everywhere you want with your pet. Below is a list of online resources that you can use to speed up the process of acquiring such an animal.
- Online Mental Health Diagnosis
For you to be classified as a person that requires an emotional support animal, the law states that you must first be examined by a registered therapist to verify that you really suffer from a condition that warrants to always stay with a pet. Once the doctor has examined you, he will grant you a mental health letter that clearly indicates why you should be allowed to go to places with a pet. The letter should contain the letterhead of the health clinic and the registration number of the doctor that carried out the examination.
Without such a letter, you will not be allowed to access public places with such an animal. The process of getting this letter has been made easy by the internet. You, therefore, don’t need to go to any health facility because you can apply for it via the internet. In fact, there are so many ESA doctors on the internet that examine people by asking them to complete an open-ended questionnaire that’s delivered by email. After you are done filling the form, you can get your ESA letter within 12 hours.
- Emotional Support Animal Registration
Although almost any pet can become an ESA, you must first register it for it to be recognized. Once it’s registered, you will be issued with a vest that will serve as the animal signage. This registration gives you the right to take your animal with you when traveling on a plane and when visiting restaurants and public places. Besides that, the registration grants you the right to live with the animal in a rental apartment that doesn’t allow pets. Getting ESA registration is pretty simple. You just need to visit emotionalsupportdogregistration.org and your pet will be added into the ESA directory in a matter of minutes for a small fee. The ESA registration will exempt you from paying extra fair when you board a plane with your animal.
- Animal Shelters and Rescue Organizations
As long as you have access to the internet, you don’t need to walk around in search of an animal to adopt. This is because you can get an ESA at the click of a button. Since every state has an animal rescue center, you should check them out on the internet by visiting their specific websites. The good thing is that they will sell the animal to you at a very affordable price because they also want to decongest their shelters.