#Ma service dog laws professional
In such cases, HUD guidance makes it lawful to require the owner of the animal to provide “reliable documentation from a physician, psychiatrist, social worker, or other mental health professional that the animal provides emotional support that alleviates one or more of the identified symptoms or effects of an existing disability.” Such documentation is sufficient “if it establishes that an individual has a disability and that the animal in question will provide some type of disability-related assistance or emotional support.” Often in the case of ESAs, the person’s mental or emotional disability and the disability-related need for the animal are not so apparent.
In such cases, one cannot lawfully ask for documentation of the need for the animal.
When an individual who cannot see shows up with a seeing-eye dog, the need for the animal is readily apparent. Conditions such as depression and anxiety that impair sleeping, concentrating, or working also satisfy the FHA’s definition of disabilities. Anyone can go on the internet and buy a “service animal” coat, probably with some official-looking but phony certification, but this does not prove that the owner has a disability that the animal helps to ameliorate.įor purposes of the FHA, a disability is a condition that, if not treated, would impair one or more major life activities, such as caring for oneself, sleeping, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. The animal does not need specialized training and is not required to wear a “Service Animal” vest or any other type of identification. There is no official registry or certification of ESAs. ESAs are defined as an animal that “provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability.” Emotional Support Animals (ESA)Īn ESA is usually a cat or dog, but the law does not restrict the type of animal, so theoretically, an ESA could be any type of animal. HUD construes the FHA as requiring reasonable accommodations not just for trained service animals, but also for emotional support animals (“ESAs”) which may not have received training. (3) open houses for a client who does not want pets on the premises. (2) sales of condominium units where the association prohibits or restricts pets and 151B), rather than the ADA, that applies in the most important contexts: It is the FHA and Massachusetts Fair Housing Laws (M.G.L. However, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) has taken a much broader view of things under the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”). Under the ADA, only certain dogs and miniature horses trained to perform tasks for the disabled, such as seeing-eye dogs, have to be accommodated. The Department of Justice has defined very narrowly the types of “service animals” that must be accommodated under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The widespread confusion that prevails on the subject of these assistance animals is understandable. Real estate brokers are frequently called upon to deal with emotional support or other service animals not just in connection with open houses, but also when properties for sale or rent prohibit pets. A dog is not trained if it only listens on a leash.Many real estate agents have heard about the Arizona broker who received a $1,200 cleaning bill because an emotional support animal twice peed on the carpet at an open house. Mental Health therapy dogs for clinicians and first respondersĭogs that alert on physiological and emotional changesĮVERYBODY CLAIMS TO BE A SERVICE DOG TRAINER, but it is a lot harder to show hundreds of dogs that listen off-leash without shock collars.ĭon’t be a fool. Service dogs for Autism and the Developmentally Disabled
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