An emotional support animal (ESA) is a US legal term for a pet which provides therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship and affection. Emotional support animals are not specially trained to ameliorate disability as psychiatric service dogs are. They require only as much training as an ordinary pet requires in order to live peacefully among humans without being a nuisance or a danger to others. In the U.S., two federal laws grant special rights to some owners of emotional support animals.

The Air Carrier Access Act establishes a procedure for modifying pet policies on aircraft to permit a person with a disability (including emotional) and a letter from a physician to travel with a prescribed emotional support animal so long as they have appropriate documentation and the animal is not a danger to others and does not interfere with others (through unwanted attention, barking, inappropriate toileting, etc.).

The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (42 USC 3601, et seq.) establishes a procedure for modifying "no pets" policies in most types of housing to permit a person with a disability to keep a pet for emotional support. The qualified applicant may either make a verbal request, or send a written request of reasonable accommodation to the landlord, in either case with a letter from a physician. If the landlord refuses the request for accommodation, a complaint can be filed with the department of Housing and Urban Development or with the U.S. Department of Justice. In housing that allows pets but charges supplemental rent or deposits for them, these fees must be waived. The ESA's owner can be charged for actual damage done by the animal, but they may not require the applicant to pay a fee or a security deposit in order to keep the animal.

Emotional support animals do not have the right to go anywhere other animals are not allowed with the exception of the two examples above.

Get two large Emotional Support Animal Handler badges to identify you. Now you can have a professional looking ID which is one more way to identify you as an ESA owner. This is for ESA owners, not animals.