How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal Certification
in Oklahoma
Animals provide much support and comfort to people who have emotional disorders. An Emotional Support Animal (ESA) is a proven solution for many who cope with PTSD, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD. They provide the emotional assistance required for these patients to feel at ease when life gets tricky – so it’s important to recognize these animals and the health rewards they provide.
Finding rental housing or a public establishment that permits pets takes time, perseverance, and often a substantial cash deposit. Landlords insist upon strict pet policies, deposits, and fines to deter expensive pet damage to the property, no matter how therapeutic the animal. Renters with an undocumented pet could face a court appearance and other associated costs.
The Federal Fair Housing Act gives support animal owners the right to keep their furry friends in their homes. Oklahoma law doesn’t permit landlords to charge a pet deposit or additional fees against anyone with an ESA.
Handlers must have legitimate approval, however. American Service Pets helps renters get the authorization necessary for their qualified comfort animal. See if you meet the criteria for an Oklahoma ESA letter today.
The Special Perks of an Emotional Support Animal
Most ESAs are dogs, but they can be any species of animal that delivers comfort and emotional support. Miniature horses can be qualified support animals in Oklahoma.
The company of these animals is soothing and can help in moments of panic, anxiety, and emotional overload. They also have some special perks, including:
Physical Therapy
Recovering from a stroke, broken arm or leg, heart attack, or addiction is mentally draining and requires a support system, but an ESA can make it easier. Patients can find comfort and encouragement in their animals when they need it most.
Sincere Love & Appreciation
An ESA offers love and loyalty in life’s dark moments. Their company helps their owners manage the internally exasperating elements of their life. Snuggling, walking, and playing with a qualified Emotional Support Animal can help minimize everyday stressors.
Natural Medicine
A qualified ESA can help maintain emotional control when stress levels get high. It’s a valuable option for those wanting an alternative to prescription medications to care for stress, anxiety, and other emotional issues.
Combat Loneliness
Social relationships and close friendships have a significant impact on psychological health. Emotional Support Animals make wonderfully loyal companions. Sharing your life with a special animal can make you feel less lonely and help you become more connected to other people in your life and the environment.
Persistent stress has a damaging influence on every system in the body. American Service Pets helps pet owners coping with emotional issues register for their animals. Find out if you qualify for an Oklahoma ESA letter today.
Oklahoma Laws for ESAs
Emotional Support Animals come in all sizes and shapes, with a slew of personality traits providing numerous benefits. There are some things they aren’t qualified to do, however. Specialized tasks, such as sensing seizures or panic attacks, retrieving insulin, or assisting the blind, are only performed by trained service dogs and Psychiatric Service Animals (PSAs).
The discrepancies in abilities afford their handlers different legal privileges. Here are some basic laws that apply in Oklahoma:
Housing Laws
Landlords in Oklahoma can’t legally evict tenants for owning a valid Emotional Support Animal under the federal Fair Housing Act. They’re unable to command a pet deposit or additional fees to any renter with an ESA.
Landlords have the right to view any official ESA letter and can legally inquire about the nature of the disability and how it relates to the ESA. Landlords may reject any renter if their ESA is too big, or destructive, or not house trained. This typically comes into play with a large ESA, such as a miniature horse.
Public Accomodations
Oklahoma law lets the owners of public establishments determine whether to grant access to qualified support animals, but they’re not legally required to make any concessions for support animals or pets. Qualified ESAs are authorized to access anywhere in Oklahoma that allows pets. This includes:
- Beaches
- Malls
- Theaters
- Tourist attractions
- Restaurants
- Grocery stores
Calling any establishment you plan to visit in Oklahoma with your support animal is a smart move. Learn the rules before you go to avoid any frustrating situations.
Employment Laws
Oklahoma law doesn’t order employers to accept an ESA in their business. It does stipulate, however, that employers must fully accommodate employees with disabilities. Having an official Oklahoma ESA letter might be the determining factor for a sympathetic employer to grant access to a comfort animal.
Travel Laws
The Department of Transportation updated the formal travel guidelines in 2020, leaving airlines to decide whether to allow in-cabin comfort animals. Most airlines have since disqualified ESA travel and only allow them under pet policies. Confirming with the airline before your flight will clarify their policies.
Oklahoma doesn’t approve ESA access to public transportation, which includes:
- Buses
- Ridesharing services
- Subways
- Rail cars
- Trams
Many people believe Emotional Support Animals have the greatest privilege in Oklahoma: to live at home with their handlers. American Service Pets is excited to offer state residents an opportunity to authenticate the status of their ESA.
FAQ
The Basics
Yes. In addition to following the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Oklahoma has its own state laws regarding service animals.
A service animal is an animal that has been individually trained (either by a professional trainer or by its handler) to complete specific disability-related tasks. Oklahoma law specifically references service animals for physical disabilities, including blindness and deafness. However, the ADA also includes coverage for service animals of other types, such as psychiatric service animals.
Oklahoma defers to the ADA for the definition of disability, which is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Service animals can be dogs or in some cases specially trained miniature horses.
There are currently no laws on the books in Oklahoma criminalizing service dog fraud. However, there have been bills introduced in the state legislature in the past that would attempt to make this act a misdemeanor punishable by fines.
According to Oklahoma law, trainers from recognized assistance dog training facilities may use public accommodations and modes of transportations while being accompanied by dogs in training.
Emotional support animals are not trained in the same way service animals are and are therefore not eligible for the same protections under the ADA and Oklahoma law.
FAQ
Public Accommodations & Travel with a Service Animal
Oklahoma gives people the right to bring their service dogs into all public accommodations, which includes all streets highways, sidewalks, and walkways; all public buildings; all common carriers and modes of transportation; all motels, hotels, and other lodging places; all college dormitories and other educational facilities; all restaurants and other places where food is sold; and all places of public resort, convenience, amusement, or accommodation to which the general public is invited.
Handlers can only be asked whether the animal is required because of a disability and what task(s) it has been trained to do.
The ADA’s provisions on public accommodations do not cover religious entities and private clubs (unless the private club regularly allows the public to access its facilities). Even in places that qualify as public accommodations, service animals can be removed or denied if they are not housebroken, if they are out of control, or if they pose a direct threat to other patrons.
Service animals are allowed on all common carriers and modes of transportation, including airplanes, cars, buses, trains, and boats.
No. While service animals must be trained to be considered service animals, there is no national or state recognized certification or training stard for them. Additionally, simply wearing a service animal vest or tags does not make an animal a service animal, but handlers may find it helpful to have these visual identifiers when out in public.
Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations, and allowing an individual with a disability to have a service dog or emotional support animal with them at work may be considered a reasonable accommodation. However, either can be excluded from the workplace if they post a direct threat or undue heardship to the employer.
Generally service animals are allowed in parts of hospitals or doctor or other licensed mental health providers’ offices that are open to the public. They may be barred from certain areas where they could compromise the sterility of the area, such as operating rooms or burn units.
It is against the law in Oklahoma to interfere with a service animal’s performance for an individual with a disability. Public accommodations are also prohibited from requiring any registration or licensing fee in order for a service animal to be permitted. Individuals and businesses who violate these provisions are subject to fines under the law.
Oklahoma 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
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) provides protection when it comes to housing for individuals with disabilities that need assistance animals. The term assistance animal includes service dogs and horses, emotional support animals, therapy animals, companion animals, and any other support animals. Tenants have the right to request reasonable accommodations for the presence of a service or support animal in their housing unit.
A landlord may not refuse to grant a reasonable accommodation request, unless doing so would impose undue burden.
Yes. While you cannot be required to pay extra “pet rent” for a service or support animal, you may be required to pay for any damages the animal causes.
Yes, ESAs fall under the umbrella of “assistance animals” protected by the FHA.
FAQ
Discrimination Complaints
The Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General has online forms that can be used for filing complaints of employment, housing, and public accommodation discrimination. If you have experienced employment discrimination, you also have the ability to file a complaint with a field office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). There is a field office in Oklahoma City that can be contacted by calling 405-666-0360. For both employment and public accommodation discrimination cases, you have 180 days from the time of the alleged discriminatory act to file your complaint.
If you have experienced housing discrimination, you have the ability to file a complaint related to the Oklahoma Fair Housing Law. To file this complaint, you can call 405-521-2029, email orec.help@orec.ok.gov, or find the online form here. Keep in mind that you must file any complaints within a year of the alleged unlawful housing practice.
How to Get an ESA Letter in Oklahoma
American Service Pets recognizes the importance of ESAs and their health benefits, so we’ve implemented a simple process to qualify. Here’s how to get started:
Fill Out the Questionnaire
It takes approximately three minutes to answer the American Service Pets questionnaire to determine your eligibility.
Get a Doctor’s Approval
American Service Pets allows you to submit your file to a licensed state-approved doctor or other licensed mental health provider for authorization. Doctors are always available, and most requests are approved within three to five minutes. Letters are emailed immediately.
Add Your Pet to the National Directory
Your pet gets an online pet profile on the national directory that shows its status and ESA letter for public view.
American Service Pets has assisted over 45,000 pet owners in the U.S. to endorse their qualified comfort animals. As many as 95% of applicants are eligible for ESA letters. See if you meet the criteria in just a few minutes.
Benefits of American Service Pets
American Service Pets works hard to help candidates get the approval needed for their ESA. Here are some things that make us a good choice for you:
- All-in-one solution for approving Emotional Support Animals
- Official letters are accepted nationwide
- Free qualification questionnaire
- Opportunity to connect with an Oklahoma health care professional
- No prescription necessary
Now’s the time to secure your rights to the many benefits of your ESA. An Oklahoma ESA letter will validate your rare relationship and keep you together.
Allow Us to Help Get Your ESA Approval
Obtaining legal approval for your ESA can be a big relief, but not everyone is happy about the idea. Convince reluctant landlords and others of this indispensable connection with an ESA letter.
Answer the five questions on our questionnaire today, and you’ll be on your way to getting approved for an Emotional Support Animal in Oklahoma, usually within the hour.
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.
