On planes, in shopping malls and restaurants, service and support animals seem to be everywhere. The use of service animals and emotional support animals has grown exponentially over the past few years. In 2011, the National Service Animal Registry (NSAR), a commercial enterprise that sells certificates, vests, badges and identification cards for support animals, registered 2,400 assistance animals. As of June 13, over 196,098 animals have been registered through NSAR. The increased presence of animals for physical and emotional support has raised questions about what it takes to qualify as a service animal and whether businesses and public places are also required to permit emotional support animals on the same basis as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA protects the rights of individuals with a wide range of disabilities including physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual and other mental disabilities, see 42 U.S.C. Sections 12132, 12182. The ADA’s definition of  “service animals” is limited to dogs (and in some cases miniature horses) that are trained to perform tasks to assist an individual with a disability. The Department of Justice (DOJ) regulations define a service animal as a: “guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.”