Unpopular Opinion

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Emotional support dogs should be trained the same as Service Dogs (self.unpopularopinion)

submitted 1 year ago by kemsat to c/unpopularopinion

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Emotional support animals (ESAs) require no training, and ESAs are assigned to people who are not emotionally stable.

Dogs are also dangerous animals; it is known, and the reason for the use of dogs as guards & for personal protection. Dogs are also known to read their owners emotional distress, and assess what or who is causing the distress, then do something about the distress to help their owners. This is exactly why ESDs are used, but while extremely helpful & useful, to the dog’s owner, this behavior, when untrained, can be extremely dangerous to everyone who is not the dog’s owner. This danger is amplified when people around the dog are scared, or wary, of the dog, and further amplified if the owner is emotionally unstable.

This brings me to dog breeds; some are more dangerous than others, and some are less apt for the task/job of being an ESA. Therefore, if dog breeds that are dangerous or inept for the tasks of an ESD are not trained, and their owners are likely to be emotionally unstable: such ESDs, while essential to their owner, are a danger to everyone else.

Furthermore, it is hypocritical to expect the people around such ESDs to suffer emotional distress, as a result of the threatening ESD, for the sake of the ESD’s owner.

Thank you for reading my rant.

TLDR: Some dog breeds, if not all dogs, should be required to pass the same qualifications as a Service Dog in order to be registered & certified as Emotional Support Animals.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

ESA's have no special permissions to be anywhere other than a domicile that would not normally allow pets. I have my dogs registered as ESAs; it was the only way to keep them when I moved as I couldn't find anyone to take them and I was not going to put them in a shelter around here, since all the no-kill shelters were not accepting new animals.

There is another kind of psychological support animal, which I always forget the name of, that does require training to be allowed in stores, restaurants, and other establishments however.

Most people who bring their pets into places are just entitled pricks. They might have an official looking vest, but those vests aren't a requirement, are not official in any capacity, and you can easily buy them with "service dog" labels without any of the actual paperwork you would have if it was a real service animal; including an ESA.