How Many Emotional Support Animals Can You Have?
How many emotional support animals can you have? Can you have more than one? Read on to discover the answer to all your burning questions here.
Why won’t the cheetah play hide and seek?
Because he is always spotted.
Spots aren’t the only thing cheetahs have. They also have severe anxiety issues, making it hard for them to socialize, and mate. To help the cheetah cubs relax, zookeepers began pairing each cub with their own emotional support dog.
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a cheetah to benefit from the unconditional love and support an ESA can bring. If you’re thinking about getting an emotional support animal, you might be asking, “how many emotional support animals can you have?”. The number of ESA’s you can legally have depends on the steps you take as a handler.
Read on to find out how many emotional support animals you can have.
How Many Emotional Support Animals Can You Have?
How many emotional support animals can you have? There aren’t any specific rules that dictate how many emotional support animals you’re allowed to have, according to Petsho.com. You simply have to make sure that the amount of animals you have doesn’t violate any of your state or local laws.
Even though there aren’t any laws stating how many emotional support animals you can have, you still have to have a reasonable amount. For example, if you have several emotional support dogs, and you live in a tiny apartment, this wouldn’t make sense.
You have to have reasonable accommodations, for yours and the animal’s well being.
Reasonable Accommodations
The Fair Housing Act specifies that landlords aren’t allowed to outright reject ESA’s. Even if the housing location has a “no pets” policy, a certified ESA is still legally acceptable.
A landlord can, however, reject someone asking to have multiple ESA’s, if it’s causing an unreasonable situation. Unreasonable situations would be instances where owning more than 1 animal interrupts the landlord’s ability to do business.
It’s not likely that your ESA’s will be a burden on your landlord or the other tenants. Unless your landlord can prove otherwise, they have to allow your animals.
Budgeting for Your New Animal
Before you get another ESA, make sure you can comfortably live with the extra expenses. Grooming, feeding, and veterinary care are all things you’ll be responsible for.
If your budget won’t allow for the extra expense, it’s better to wait to take on another ESA. However, if you’re budget allows, and you have the living space, having multiple ESA’s can be incredibly beneficial. Depending on the type of animals, they may also enjoy having the added companionship.
Understanding State Laws
State laws dictate that you have to have a mental health provider that you’re currently working with. There are several types of mental health professionals that can write the letter.
Next, your mental health provider has to write you a prescription to get an emotional support animal. The prescription for getting your emotional support animal will be an ESA letter.
Here’s what your therapist has to include on the ESA letter
*Therapist contact information
*Therapist licensing information
*Official letterhead from your therapist
*State that you would benefit from an ESA
*An outline of the laws that protect your rights as an ESA handler
After you get your emotional support animal prescription or ESA letter, we suggest registering your animals. Legally, you don’t have to have your emotional support animals registered.
However, registering your ESA’s will open you up to a world of benefits. Now you’ll be able to enjoy custom-made ID cards, certificates, and you can also order vests.
When you register your emotional support animals, the information will also go into a nationwide database. This will help you have the extra validation you need whenever you’re looking to move into a new housing situation.
Airlines and Emotional Support Animals
Airlines are buckling down on their regulations for flying with an emotional support animal. However, as long as you have the right documentation (ESA letter), you’ll find the new regulations make things easier on handlers.
Oftentimes, airlines will only view dogs and miniature horses as service pets. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll refuse you from boarding the plane with a different type of ESA pet.
It’s always a good practice to let the airline know the type of animal you’re bringing ahead of time. We suggest contacting the airline that you’ll be using at least 2 days before your flight.
Let them know about your situation and the number and types of ESA’s you’ll be bringing on board. Let the airline know that you’re aware of your responsibility to monitor your ESA’s at all times.
Making It Official
Whether you’re getting a new animal, or you already have a pet that you want to become an ESA, you’ll have to go through the admissions process. If you want to skip the admissions process, you can learn more about finding an already certified ESA. In order to receive ESA, you must have a legitimate ESA letter, which is an official document that proves your disability. Nowadays, you can get an ESA letter from online services like Esapet or Pettable. They provide online legitimate ESA letters from a licensed therapist.
Flying With More Than 1 Animal
Let’s say for instance you have 5 dogs who will be boarding the plane with you. You won’t be able to unleash your dogs so they can roam the plane. Instead, the airline will expect your animals to stay in your lap or under your seat for the entire flight.
If you don’t think your emotional support animals can handle a long flight, don’t put yourself, or them, in that situation. Any damage your emotional support animals cause on the airplane will be your financial responsibility.
It’s also a good idea to have your ESA’s wear vests. The law doesn’t require your animals to wear any type of clothing or harness. However, we find that it’s in your best interest to make your ESA’s look as official as possible.
You’ll deal with fewer questions, and the public will be more likely to give them the respect they deserve.
Companionship and Comfort
Now, the next time someone asks, “How many emotional support animals can you have?”, you’ll already know the answer! Hopefully, our article was able to teach you at least 1 new thing about how to own multiple ESA’s.
You deserve to have the companionship and comfort you need, to live your best life. For more ways to be happy, explore the rest of this site.
