{"id":93331,"date":"2026-04-02T09:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pets2fly.com\/%d7%91%d7%a2%d7%9c-%d7%97%d7%99%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9c%d7%aa%d7%9e%d7%99%d7%9b%d7%94-%d7%a0%d7%a4%d7%a9%d7%99%d7%aa\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T09:11:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T07:11:27","slug":"emotional-support-animal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pets2fly.com\/en\/emotional-support-animal\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Support Animal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emotional Support Animal<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

An Emotional Support Animal<\/strong> (also called ESA) is a companion animal which has been prescribed by a medical personnel (such as a psychologist, psychiatrist or a therapist) for an individual with a disability. Most airlines will accept a dog or cat as an emotional support animal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although all pets offer some sort of an emotional connection with their owner, in order to be considered an emotional support animal, a health professional needs to determine that the pet is needed for the owner\u2019s mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

ESAs Aren\u2019t Service Dogs<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Labrador<\/p>\n

At\u00a0Pets2Fly<\/strong>\u00a0we understand that each pet could have different values to their owners. Some owners might rely on their pet for their emotional support, while others for medical reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

ESAs provide support by just being with the owner. They can alleviate stress and anxiety, but they haven\u2019t been trained to perform a detailed job or task that is related to the owner\u2019s special needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, service dogs can be trained. For example, to alert a hearing-impaired person or even to assist a blind person around an obstacle.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Emotional Support Animals Are On The Rise<\/span><\/h2>\n

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In recent years, many online businesses started selling vests, harnesses and certificates for emotional support animals. These businesses \u201chelped\u201d increase the number of emotional support animals on flights around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since there isn\u2019t an \u201cofficial\u201d organization that can certify a pet as an emotional pet, many pet owners purchased a fake ESA certificate online and by doing so, they \u201cabused\u201d the system by misrepresenting their pet as an ESA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pet owners that lie are \u201cpoisoning\u201d the attitude towards real support animals. In addition, these people are breaking the law and causing problems to individuals with legitimate need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Airlines Changed Their ESA Policies<\/span><\/h2>\n

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In the last couple of months, many airlines around the world flew hundreds of emotional support animals. Unfortunately, a vast majority of these pets haven\u2019t really been for emotional support. In most cases, the pet owners did so to avoid paying for their pets\u2019 tickets and to avoid flying their pets in the belly of the plane.<\/span><\/p>\n

There have also been many reports of \u201cstrange\u201d support animals, such as: peacocks, alligators, pigs and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, most airlines around the world changed and hardened their ESA policies. Here are some examples of changes that have occurred:<\/span><\/p>\n