So, you’re exasperated after looking out your pet-free condo window for the umpteenth time to catch a glimpse of your neighbor walking by with—of all the nerve—her emotional support chicken. And to top it off, the chicken even has its own emotional support chicken! Your blood boils as she walks by. There ought to be a law!

Indeed, federal laws providing disabled persons with the right to have a service or emotional support animal have been longstanding. Despite that, the issue has remained a proverbial gray area. Given the varieties of intensely personal situations necessitating assistance to the disabled, coupled with the sheer array of complex individual circumstances, it’s almost impossible to take a cookie cutter approach to any of them.