Originally Posted by
Baradium
ESAs are only grouped in with "service animals" on airplanes. They are not service animals under the ADA or any other federal law, they were just allowed during the ACA, so no they are not "service animals." Although, this is why people started to think they could bring their ESAs into supermarkets and other areas where pets are banned but service animals have to be permitted.
It appears so.
DOT docket OST-2004-19482 states that emotional support/psychiatric support service animals are considered to be a category of service animals in the Guidance Concerning Service Animals section after the Appendices, page 46 within the document, under the heading “
Service Animals”:
Also, an animal used for emotional support need not have specific training for that function. Similar to an animal that has been individually trained, the definition of a service animal includes: An animal that has been shown to have the innate ability to assist a person with a disability; or an emotional support animal.
The DOT document was evidently based on 1996 guidance from the ADA. If you want the full story, look up OST-2004-19482 and go from there.