How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal in Missouri Certified
In Missouri, both state and federal laws protect the use of Emotional Support Animals even if not everyone fully embraces them. For many Americans, having a furry friend provides a valuable source of emotional support that allows them to overcome life’s challenges. However, it is vital to keep in mind that bringing an uncertified animal onto a rental property can lead to eviction, fees, and penalties.
Landlords must follow the regulations laid out by the state and federal government when it comes to support animals. Not complying can land a landlord in legal troubles. While ESAs don’t have the same rights as Psychiatric Service Animals (PSAs), they are still protected against discrimination by the federal Fair Housing Act.
At American Service Pets, we’re here to help those in need of an Emotional Support Animal in Missouri secure the necessary paperwork that allows them to rent property, travel, and enjoy public access with their animal. Worry no more about being charged extra for having your support animal by your side. Get started with getting your Emotional Support Animal in Missouri with our simple quiz.
The Benefits of Emotional Support Animals
The right to have an Emotional Support Animal is backed by both state and federal governments. Emotional Support Animals can be a variety of species that bring comfort and support, including birds, reptiles, or amphibians. Psychiatric Service Animals, on the other hand, are usually dogs because they are easily trained.
There are many people who depend on their Emotional Support Animals to help them function in their everyday lives. Having a furry friend like this provides numerous physical and psychological benefits, such as:
Mood Booster
When you care for an animal you love, you naturally get a boost of the hormones serotonin and dopamine. Pets can make us smile and ease feelings of loneliness. Additionally, a pet can help interrupt negative thoughts related to depressive episodes.
Homeopathic Remedy
Emotional Support Animals can serve as a natural treatment for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Caring for a beloved companion allows you to engage in outdoor activity as well, which can also help ease symptoms related to depression in a drug-free manner.
Comforting Companion
There are many pressures that come with our daily lives, such as relationships, health concerns, and financial matters. Simply playing with or cuddling a pet can reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and overall stress levels.
Many Americans rely on their Emotional Support Animal. American Service Pets offers the ability to secure paperwork for those with an Emotional Support Animal in Missouri. Find out if you qualify in just a few short minutes.
Laws Surrounding Emotional Support Animals in Missouri
Though Emotional Support Animals are dependable companions in the lives of their owners, they do not have the same rights as Psychiatric Service Animals. This is due to the fact that ESAs are not trained to perform the life-saving tasks or assist disabled individuals in the same manner that PSAs are.
Certified ESAs still have some protections under the law, but uncertified animals do not have access rights. Official paperwork for ESAs must have approval from a licensed healthcare professional in Missouri, and it can typically be used all over the country. There may be different laws in different states though, so it’s always beneficial to double check prior to travel. Below are some laws related to Emotional Support Animals in Missouri:
Housing Laws
Landlords may not turn away a person simply for having an Emotional Support Animal in Missouri. This policy holds true for apartments, houses, public housing units, and condos. Landlords may not apply extra charges for possession of an ESA either. Generally speaking, they must allow an ESA unless the animal would cause an “undue financial burden.”
The meaning of undue financial burden can vary in Missouri, but it can include:
- Property damage
- Threat to any other tenants
- Homeowner allergies
Missouri landlords are within their rights to request ESA paperwork. Renters without valid ESA paperwork, or those who present fraudulent documents may be subject to persecution. Misrepresentation of an Emotional Support Animal in Missouri is a Class C misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class B misdemeanor for any subsequent offenses.
Public Access
Emotional Support Animals do not have the same access rights under state or federal law when it comes to public accommodations. At the end of the day, the venue owner has the final decision on ESAs. Some parks and public accommodations do permit animals, but if you are unsure, you should call ahead to see if you will be able to bring your ESA.
Workplace Laws
Employers in Missouri are not legally obligated to permit Emotional Support Animals in their facilities. Presenting a valid ESA letter to a lenient employer could convince them to allow your animal at work if it is well-behaved and housebroken.
Travel Laws
Emotional Support Animals are no longer allowed in the cabin during air travel. Public transportation services such as buses, trains, and railways are under no legal obligation to board ESAs. Some rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft have less stringent policies, but you have to check ahead of time.
American Service Pets is proud to provide a simple three-step process to ESA letters in Missouri for owners needing the support of their pets.
FAQ
The Basics
Yes, in addition to following the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Missouri has its own set of human rights laws that protect individuals who are disabled against discrimination in public accommodations and housing.
Service animals are defined as dogs that are specifically trained to assist those with physical or mental disabilities by performing certain tasks for their handlers. Examples of service animals under Missouri law and the ADA are hearing dogs, guide dogs for the blind, psychiatric service animals, seizure alert animals, and allergen alert animals.
Service animals can be used by individuals with both physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities under state and federal law. This means that psychiatric service animals are covered in addition to animals for blind, deaf, and physically handicapped.
The ADA protects both dogs and miniature horses as service animals.
Yes, in Missouri it is a crime to knowingly misrepresent a dog as a service dog. The first offense is a class C misdemeanor, and any subsequent offenses are class B misdemeanors.
Yes. The laws in Missouri cover service animals in training, saying that a trainer licensed by a recognized training center or any member of a service dog team may have access to public premises while training the animal.
No, emotional support animals are not covered in the same manner as service animals because they are not trained like service animals are.
FAQ
Public Accommodations & Travel with a Service Animal
Missouri law is very broad, offering individuals with disabilities and their service animals full and equal access to use of streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, public facilities, and other public places. This definition includes all forms of public transportation, hotels, lodging places, places of amusement or resort, or any other places to which the general public is invited. The ADA definition is also similarly broad, but it does go into a bit more detail about the locations in each category that are covered public accommodations.
If the need for a service animal is not immediately evident, an establishment may only ask whether or not the animal is a service animal and what tasks it is trained to perform.
Service animals may only be excluded from areas when their presence would cause a direct threat to health and safety (this includes animals that are not housebroken or are out of control) or a fundamental change to the nature of a program or activity.
All public conveyances and modes of transportation, including airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad trains, motor buses, taxis, streetcars, and boats are covered under Missouri’s public accommodations law.
Per the ADA, “service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices.” If that is the case, the handler must maintain control in another way, such as verbal commands.
Employees with disabilities may request the use of a service animal on the job as a reasonable accommodation. Employers have the right to ask for additional information and may grant or deny the request on a case by case basis, depending in part on whether the animal has the potential to change the fundamental nature of the business and/or pose a direct threat or safety hazard to others.
Service animals are allowed in areas of the healthcare facilities that are open to the public, such as cafeterias, clinic waiting areas, or routine examination rooms. However, they may be excluded from certain areas where the animal would compromise the sterility of the environment, such as operating rooms or burn units.
Interfering with the use of a service animal is considered a class B misdemeanor in Missouri.
Missouri follows the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which defines a service animal as a dog (regardless of breed or size) trained to do work or perform tasks to assist a qualified individual with a diability, and may include psychiatric service dogs. Minature horses are excluded in this definition.
Airlines can require a passenger to provide a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) form attesting to the animal’s health, behavior, and training and a U.S. DOT form attesting that the animal can either not relieve itself or can relieve itself in a sanitary manner (if the animal will be on a flight that is 8 or more hours).
The ACAA does not address service animals in-training, so airlines are not required to carry them as they do not meet the requirements of an ACAA-defined service animal. However, airlines can make their own individual policies.
FAQ
Housing Law
Missouri defers to the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which covers “assistance animals.” Assistance animals are animals that work, provide assistance, or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability or provide emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. A person with a disability may request to live with their assistance animal from their housing provider. Once their reasonable accommodation request is made, the housing provider does have the right to request additional information. In certain circumstances, such as the animal causing undue burden to the housing provider or a threat to the health and safety of others, a request for an assistance animal may be denied.
Yes. While tenants with approved assistance animals cannot be forced to pay extra fees, they are still liable for damage caused to the property by the animal beyond normal wear and tear.
Yes. Under the FHA, assistance animals do not have to be formally trained in order to be protected as a reasonable housing accommodation.
FAQ
Discrimination Complaints
If you believe you have been discriminated against in a place of public accommodation, you should file a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights (MCHR) within 180 days of the alleged discriminatory act. You can reach the MCHR via phone at 573-751-3325 (toll-free complaint hotline: 1-877-781-4236) or email at mchr@labor.mo.gov. You can also fill out an online complaint assessment form.
If you have been discriminated against when it comes to housing, you can file a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights (MCHR) by calling 573-751-3325 (toll-free complaint hotline: 1-877-781-4236) or emailing mchr@labor.mo.gov. You can also fill out an online complaint assessment form. Federal law dictates that you have up to a year from the alleged incident to file about an occurrence of housing discrimination.
How to Get Certified for an Emotional Support Animal in Missouri
American Service Pets provides you with a fast, simple process to certification for your Emotional Support Animal. Just follow these easy steps:
Learn Whether You Qualify
Fill out the brief questionnaire to determine if you satisfy the criteria for an ESA letter. You can complete this step in under half an hour!
Get Approved by a Doctor
American Service Pets allows you to choose whether you would like to file with your own doctor or other licensed mental health provider or with a doctor or other licensed mental health provider in our network for approval and authorization. Our network of doctor or other licensed mental health providers is available 24/7. Most of the time, requests are approved in minutes, and the approval is emailed to you.
Add Your ESA to the National Directory
Adding your pet to the national directory of Emotional Support Animals creates an online profile showing your pet’s status and ESA letter. This is an important part of the ESA process.
95% of our applicants qualify for an ESA letter. You can get yours with American Service Pets today.
The American Service Pets Advantage
There are over 45,000 Americans who have trusted American Service Pets to help them certify their Emotional Support Animals. This is why you should choose American Service Pets for all your ESA and PSA needs:
- All-in-one approval process
- You get a chance to confer with a licensed healthcare professional
- No prescription required
Our simple process helps prevent worries about being separated from your animal or being punished for having one. Get started by taking our short online test.
Nationwide Experts in Emotional Support Animal Certification
Don’t put up with hassling from people who don’t understand the physical and psychological benefits of the shared connection between human and ESA. That’s why we’re here to help you register your Emotional Support Animal in Missouri. Worry no more about rental housing or being slapped with fees just for having an ESA. If you qualify, you could be certified in just a few minutes with American Service Pets.
Disclaimer: We would like to emphasize that while the terms “certification” or “registration” may be used in relation to Emotional Support Animals, there is no official certification process for ESAs or any form of ESA registry as of this date. As such, the use of these terms should not be interpreted as legally recognized designations by government or regulatory authorities. Remember, ESAs can provide a valuable source of comfort and support, but their recognition relies on proper documentation from a healthcare professional and adherence to relevant laws and guidelines.
