How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal Certification
in California
Many Americans use an Emotional Support Animal to get through their day. The benefits to well-being are immeasurable, but that doesn’t mean your landlord is on board. Tenants can still face eviction and fees without the proper documentation for their animals.
People with an Emotional Support Animal in California have specific rights and responsibilities granted by state and federal law that govern housing and travel. Landlords and airlines must adhere to the same federal laws governing these animals or face the consequences.
American Service Pets helps those in need get certification for their Emotional Support Animals. Learn more about certification letters, how to qualify for an ESA in California, the benefits of Emotional Support Animals, the laws governing Emotional Support Animals in California, and your rights and responsibilities as an owner today.
3 Benefits of Emotional Support Animals
Emotional Support Animals are often dogs, but not always. They are certified therapeutic animals that help their owners maneuver through symptoms of various mental health disorders and offer many benefits, including:
Naturopathic Treatment
Anxiety, panic, and other symptoms of mental health disorders are treated with various prescription medicines. They can also be treated naturally with an Emotional Support Animal, which avoids the side effects and risks of medications.
Combat Loneliness
Emotional support animals are wonderful companions. According to the National Institutes of Health, they decrease feelings of loneliness and boost the owner’s mood. Emotional Support Animals are also excellent conversation starters and a way to meet new friends.
Authentic Support
Anxiety, depression, and specific phobias can cause panic attacks at the most inconvenient moments. Emotional Support Animals provide the calming comfort needed to cope. Snuggling with a loved animal can alleviate the overpowering stress that many feel regularly.
The benefits are so plentiful that many people cannot function fully without their Emotional Support Animals. American Service Pets helps pet owners in need register their animals as Emotional Support Animals in California.
Find out if you qualify for a California ESA certification letter.
California Emotional Support Animal Laws
Emotional Support Animals are not officially trained to perform life saving tasks or function to help a disabled person as service animals are. They provide companionship, comfort, and emotional support. Emotional Support Animals are not service animals, and the laws governing them are different.
Federal laws protect Emotional Support Animals, provided the owner possesses the required certification letter from a licensed California health professional. Official letters are accepted nationwide, but specific rules vary from state to state. Here is an overview of some key California ESA laws:
Housing Laws
A landlord in California may not evict or charge additional fees against any tenant with a certified Emotional Support Animal, even if they have a policy prohibiting pets, under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Landlords have the right to view documentation in the form of an official Emotional Support Animal certification letter as proof of necessity. Pet owners need only one letter per pet, but if you move to another state, you’ll need to check their state laws and provisions for Emotional Support Animals to ensure you comply.
Public Places
Public places are not required to allow Emotional Support Animals by California state or federal law. Grocery stores, restaurants, and other public places are under no obligation to let them into their establishment. These laws are different for Psychiatric Service Animals (PSAs), however.
Workplace Laws
California law varies slightly from most states regarding Emotional Support Animals in the workplace. Most states allow the employer to make the decision, but in California, state law requires employers to accommodate them to the best of their ability. Employers are entitled to view documentation in the form of a certification letter.
Travel Laws
The Department of Transportation (DOT) updated its travel laws policy, disallowing Emotional Support Animals to fly in airplane cabins as of 2020. ESA certified animals are also no longer allowed on public transportation such as buses, trains, and uber cars. Pet owners should still check with the airline, or transportation service, prior to purchasing a ticket to learn their policies. Pet owners can, however, travel with a certified Psychiatric Service Animal if they meet state criteria. To find out if you qualify for a PSA certification in California, complete our three-step pet owner survey!
Emotional Support Animals enjoy more protection in California than in many other states. American Service Pets is proud to offer an easy three-step process to provide Emotional Support Animal certification and Psychiatric Service Animal certification letters to California residents.
FAQ
The Basics
Yes, California abides by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) but also has its own laws, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the California Disabled Persons Act (CDPA), and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Which law applies depends on 3 factors: what kind of animal it is, how the animal helps the disabled individual, and the setting or place involved.
Under California law, a service animal is a dog trained to help a specific individual with a disability with services such as fetching dropped items, minimal protection work, rescue work, or pulling a wheelchair. California does not have a separate definition for “psychiatric service dog,” but a dog that is individually trained to help a person with a mental disability with specific requirements is considered a service dog, and the individual that uses the dog is entitled to the same rights under the law as someone with a physical disability that uses a service dog.
California’s definition of disability is broader than that of the ADA. California defines “disability” as a mental or physical impairment that limits a major life activity. A major life activity in this case refers to physical, mental, and social activities and working. California does not, however, consider compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or unlawful substance use disorders to be mental disabilities.
This law is limited to dogs (in very limited circumstances miniature horses may be accepted). It is also further limited to dogs that are trained to help individuals with their specific requirements.
Yes. Pretending to be an owner of a service dog is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1000 and/or up to 6 months imprisonment.
The California Disabled Persons Act covers service animals in training. The dog must be on a leash and must wear a county-issued tag that identifies it as a service or assistance animal in training.
State laws surrounding public places specifically relate to animals that are task-trained to aid individuals with disabilities (ESAs are not trained), but there are certain laws that extend coverage to those with ESAs in other areas.
FAQ
Public Accommodations & Travel with a Service Animal
California law creates an even broader range of public places than the ADA: any place to which the general public is invited (including restaurants, hotels, theaters, shops, concert halls, and government buildings); medical facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices; any public conveyance or mode of transportation (motor vehicles, trains, buses, streetcars, boats), whether private, public, franchised, licensed, or contracted. These public places must allow persons with disabilities to bring in their service dogs and modify their practices to accommodate the dogs if necessary.
A public place can only ask two questions to determine if the individual’s dog is a service dog: whether the dog is required because of a disability and what work the dog is trained to perform.
Yes, California has specific rules regarding the use of service dogs at zoos or wild animal parks. These places are not required to allow service dogs into areas where animals are not separated from the public by a physical barrier. However, a zoo or park that doesn’t allow service dogs into such areas must provide free, clean, and safe kennel facilities, and potentially additional accommodation such as free transportation and sighted escorts to patrons who rely on their service dog for mobility.
Transportation is covered under California’s definition of public places that service animals are allowed in.
A service dog is not required to be registered, certified, or identified as a service dog.
California law allows for persons with disabilities to bring service dogs or emotional support animals to work. This law applies to any business with five or more employees. Employers can request reasonable medical documentation from a healthcare provider that confirms the existence of the disability and the need for a reasonable accommodation. Documentation does not have to be from a doctor or other licensed mental health provider, but can instead by another provider such as a clinical psychologist, social worker, marriage, or family therapist, or even an acupuncuturist.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must allow service animals to go anywhere that healthcare personnel, patients, and visitors are allowed to go, including locked mental health facilities. Patients must be able to care for the animal or employ someone else to care for it if necessary. Service animals may be excluded from limited access areas like operating rooms or burn units.
Individuals who are unlawfully barred from entering a public place with their service animal can file a suit for relief under federal or state law within two years of the incident occurring.
California folllows 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
California law requires landlords to allow assistance animals in housing. Landlords may not require pet fees or additional rent, including an additional security deposit or liability insurance. Landlords also cannot reject an animal based on breed, size, or weight. They can, however, ask for documentation of the need for reasonable accommodation from a healthcare provider or other reliable source who has personal knowledge of the need for a support or service animal.
A landlord may deny a request to keep a service or support animal if granting the request would create an undue financial and administrative burden, create a fundamental altercation of the landlord’s business, constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others, or cause substantial physical damage to the property of others. However, if the threat or damage can be reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation, the landlord must allow the animal.
While a public place cannot charge any fees in advance due to the service animal, the owner may be liable for any damages caused by the dog to the premises or facilities.
California’s housing laws cover “assistance animals,” which can be service or support animals. The only potential exceptions to California’s tenant laws on assistance animals would be if the request for a support animal would cause a financial or administrative burden, create a fundamental alteration of the landlord’s business, constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others, or cause substantial physical damage to the property of others.
FAQ
Discrimination Complaints
Title III of the ADA covers discrimination in public accommodations, transportation, and commercial facilities. You can file a complaint through the Department of Justice within 180 days of the alleged discrimination by submitting an online form, letter, or via a phone call.
The California Department of Social Services is committed to ensuring that ADA and state regulations are followed when it comes to housing. In order to file a claim, you will need to print out this form and mail it to the CDSS. You can also file directly through the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. According to Disability Rights California, you can also file with small claims court over housing discrimination.
How to Obtain an ESA Certification for
Your Emotional Support Animal in California
If you’re wondering how to get an ESA letter in California, you’re at the right place. American Service Pets provides an easy and efficient process to get your Emotional Support Animal letter California. It entails only three simple steps:
Fill Out the Questionnaire
It takes a few minutes to answer the American Service Pets questionnaire to determine if you’re eligible for a California ESA certification letter.
Get a Doctor’s Approval
American Service Pets allows you to choose to submit your file to a licensed doctor or other licensed mental health provider for approval and authorization. Doctors are always available, but are required to oversee the patient for at least 30 days before approval. Once approved, the letter will be sent to your email address.
Add Your Pet to the International Directory
It’s essential to add your pet to the international directory. American Service Pets will add your pet to the directory, which gets you an online pet profile that shows your pet’s status and certification letter.
American Service Pets will help you get your pet certified as an Emotional Support Animal in California. As many as 95% of applicants qualify for certifications. Take a quick test to see if you do, too.
Benefits of American Service Pets
The mission of American Service Pets is to help people suffering from mental or emotional issues to get the therapeutic benefits of an Emotional Support Animal. Here’s what makes our CA ESA letter service exceptional:
- No cost qualification questionnaire
- No prescription required
- Chance to connect with a licensed healthcare professional in your state
- All-in-one solution for approving Emotional Support Animals
Take the simple questionnaire to get your pet certified as an Emotional Support Animal today with American Service Pets. That will put you on the fast track to enjoying the love and support your pet has to offer. If you have questions before applying for certification, and would like to speak to a real person, call us at (916) 209-0815.
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.
