Emotional support animal?

To qualify for an emotional support animal you'd have to be disabled by mental illness. Seventy-five percent of people with a mental illness diagnosis are not disabled by it. Your doctor would have to write a letter attesting to that and to the fact that he is currently treating you for this disability and that in his professional opinion the dog is a necessary part of his treatment plan. Since none of that is true, you'd be asking him to lie and risk his license. That's the first thing.

Second, you've already burned your bridges with this landlord by lying to them about the dog. It's going to be pretty obvious why you're now trying to claim him as an ESA. The landlord knows you couldn't win in court and wouldn't even try and that's the only way to enforce the FHAA with regard to ESAs. There is no ESA police to make them comply. You just wait until you get kicked out and then you sue. Whether you win depends mostly on how your doctor testifies under oath.

And finally, landlords can put restrictions on breed for ESAs, especially when the tenant did not have the dog when moving in.

If you'd been up front from the beginning you wouldn't be in this pickle now.

--- edited to add ---

NSAR is a scam. Think about it. If all you had to do to get an ESA or service dog was send in a payment to some mystery agency on the internet, then why not do the same to get your medical school diploma? Their site is full of blatant misinformation, and why not? Their purpose is to sell you fake certification. All they want is the money. They don't care what happens to you as a consequence of passing of fake documentation. It doesn't matter to them that it's worthless.

Here's an example of their misinformation: NSAR is saying you can take an ESA in public as if it was a service dog. Not so. Get accurate information from the US Department of Justice ADA information line toll-free at: 800 - 514 - 0301 That's proof enough they're just feeding you lies to make a sale.

There is no registery that would make your dog an Emotional Support Dog. There are registeries that will take your money and laugh all the way to the bank while they mail you a piece of paper that is fraudulent and will not hold up in any court or with any landlord.

A Dr. can not write a note to say your puppy is an Emotional Support Dog, or you require such. Unless you have a documented Mental Illness and are disabled by your mental illness under federal law.

The bottom line is that to keep this pup, you will have to move into pet friendly housing. Whic means breaking your lease and having great expense doing so.. possibly risking court and attorney costs. And in his case, I believe the landlord's rights would be upheld.

Even if you do have a disabling mental illness, and follow the protocol to have an Emotional Support Dog, I believe your landlord would find legal reasons to bar you from having the pup.

It is sad to lose a pup you really want. I see your only real option is to find a loving home for the pup and try to sell it to recoup your expenses purchasing the puppy.

Always assume, if you are doing something wrong (no matter how small), that if someone sees you doing that, they will rat you out.

A last ditch effort might be: if you are truly mentally ill and disabled by the mental illness, you might get an order from your Dr. and try to negotiate with the landlord (after profuse and sincere apologies)by choosing a dog that is adult, altered, house broken, totally quiet and non-destructive, and NOT anything close to a "bully breed", preferably not more than 15-20 lbs. And make sure you ask the landlord what you can have before getting it.

Like Pearl says: you burned your bridges behind you.

There seems to be a large predigest against the idea of an ESA because people assume you are lying. there was once a big problem with service animals too. I have ptsd and do have an ESA and still get a lot of trouble from people that want to believe its a lie. I am getting treatment and the provider did write a letter and its all done right and still people want to take her away from me. this predigest needs to stop. you cant know if an ESA or Service Animal or not by looking at the animal. there are hearing dogs, stress dogs, anxiety dogs and seizure dogs. these are all legitimate but cant always tell what they are for. small dogs can smell anxiety and seizures. If taken around people or in public should be well trained and friendly. I do not know the woman that wrote this and wont assume she is lying. I have had ptsd for years and didn't know it til recently. A doctor would have to determine if she is or is not in need of an esa. People should not lie because those who really are in need of this are finding it harder and harder because of people wanting to keep their dogs and dont need this service from the dog. Please try to see both sides of this issue when considering the ESA.

An emotional support animal is a companion animal that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities. Unlike a service animal, an emotional support animal is not granted access to places of public accommodation. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, an emotional support animal is viewed as a "reasonable accommodation" in a housing unit that has a "no pets" rule for its residents.

You have to be under the treatment of a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist for something listed in the DSM-IV, and be actually disabled by it. Then your above listed provider has to agree that an emotional support animal would benefit you in some way, and write you a letter stating so. Seeing as you've already tried to sneak this dog into housing, this isn't going to work. Sorry. Just being under the normal (albeit great) stress of a military stress of a military wife isn't going to cut it.

No, you cannot have a doctor just write you a magic note which automatically turns your mongrel into an ESA. There are housing and medical laws which apply in cases such as this. Stop trying to skirt the law and just do what is right.

I always thought that those in the military and their families had a lot more Honor, Character, Courage, and Integrity than to lie about having a dog in a place that they were not supposed to, and then to try and lie about the dog being something it isn't just so they can keep it where it doesn't belong. I guess that is not the case anymore.

I work in a building where those rules apply. The deposit isn't waived even if the pet is a service animal. We are in the process of evicting 3 tenants because they were caught with unauthorized dogs and have no valid reason to keep them. It has also been found in some cases that the alleged "therapy" is the ruse of a spoiled brat who acts like a child when they don't get their way. The information is clearly stated in the rental agreement. The deposit has to do with cleaning carpet and other possible damage and not the pet itself. I am a 4 pet owner but I have no pity or sympathy for those who break rules.

You cannot make this right by claiming protections under the law that you do not qualify for. You lied and broke the rules, I sincerely hope you don't compound the issue with more untruths. To qualify for an emotional support animal you must be under the care of a physician for a mental/emotional health condition and the proper way to have done this was to have your documentation in order before you got the dog and gone through the proper reasonable accommodation request with your landlord. You still have to go through these steps only it will be harder now because everyone will be more skeptical. I provided several links to help you understand what people are talking about.

Emotional Support Dogs provide therapeutic, physiological and psychological benefits to individuals with special needs. These special needs can range from depressive disorders to Tourette syndrome; and include physical conditions such as, Lupus or Multiple Sclerosis. Emotional Support Dogs can also benefit older adults by providing affection, companionship, emotional comfort and support, and encouraging physical activity.

Like pearl said, you have to be disabled my a mental illness. Me and my brothers all have PDD and I have sever anxiety and I am able to have pets in a townhouse that does not allow pets. If you have a mental illness and your doctor thinks you can benefit from a pet them they will just write you a not saying you need the dog.