How Many Emotional Support Animals Can You Have?
Emotional support animals aren’t just pets. These animals have a positive impact on their owners’ lives in the most profound way, helping them cope with the symptoms of a psychiatric disability. Whether it’s depression, anxiety, PTSD, dissociative disorders, or any other mental disability, emotional support animals can ease symptoms and have immense therapeutic benefits.
Emotional support animals are considered a medical necessity rather than pets and therefore, are protected under federal law, particularly when it comes to housing. However, there are rules and regulations governing emotional support animals which leave many asking, how many emotional support animals can you have?
If you’re asking this question, you’re in the right place. We will outline how many emotional support animals someone with a mental disability can have.
The Definition of an Emotional Support Animal
An emotional support animal is a type of support animal that provides comfort to someone with a mental disability through companionship. These support animals don’t have any training requirements beyond basic house training, and their presence and the routine they provide is enough for the owner to feel at ease. Naturally, an emotional support animal can be any animal someone can legally keep in their state.
However, only those with a psychiatric disability qualify for an emotional support animal. Compared to the qualifying disabilities for a service dog, which includes many types of disabilities, the list for emotional support animals is limited to mental disabilities, such as depression and anxiety.
In order to get an emotional support animal, the individual with a psychiatric disability must obtain an ESA letter from a mental health professional licensed in their state. Without this document, the animal will be treated as a pet and won’t get protection under federal law. We cover getting an ESA letter in detail down below.
How Many Emotional Support Animals Can You Have?
Given that none of the states have statewide emotional support animal legislation (other than heightened ESA letter requirements and criminal penalties for misrepresentation), we must take a look at federal laws for the number of emotional support animals an individual can have.
When it comes to this, there isn’t anything that limits an individual to a certain number of emotional support animals. It ultimately comes down to the individual’s needs for their condition. If their mental health worker decides that four emotional support animals are necessary for their condition, then they can have four emotional support animals.
Therefore, the requirement here is having an emotional support animal letter for each individual emotional support animal.
How Many Emotional Support Animals Can You Have if You Have a Service Dog?
You can have both an emotional support animal and a service animal if you have both a physical and psychiatric disability. Even though a service animal can also act as an emotional support animal, many have emotional support animals that can’t be service animals, such as cats, birds, and ferrets.
If you already have a service animal, the above still applies. Just because you have a service animal doesn’t mean you will be limited to a certain number of emotional support animals. As long as you have a valid ESA letter for each of your emotional support animals (or one that details multiple), you can have as many as your condition requires.
Getting an ESA Letter
You need an ESA letter whether you want one or multiple emotional support animals. If you’re going to get an ESA letter for the first time, speak with a mental health professional licensed in your state. After evaluating your condition and symptoms, they can determine whether you would benefit from having multiple emotional support animals.
While visiting a therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or any other mental health professional who’s qualified to write you an ESA letter in person is the traditional way to go about getting this legal document, you can also use reputable online services. Platforms that connect you with a licensed mental health professional, like US Service Animals, can be more convenient and faster if you urgently need emotional support animal registration.
