Emotional support animals are highly valuable companions that help their owners deal with the unpleasant symptoms of mental health conditions or disabilities.
These animals must be kept at their owner’s side due to the benefits they bring, and they can be an incredibly helpful part of a mental healthcare treatment plan. As such, emotional support animals have certain protected rights in Illinois.
Our article gives you an extensive overview of the rights and restrictions an emotional support animal has in Illinois.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal in Illinois?
Emotional support animals (ESA) are companion animals that provide relief from certain symptoms of a mental health condition or disability. An ESA can be any animal that is legal to own in Illinois and brings symptom relief and comfort to its owner. Some common conditions that usually qualify for ESA help include anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, and stress disorders.
Emotional support animals are not required to be trained, and some animals cannot be trained. For example, if you have a dog ESA, they can learn basic obedience, but a snake or a bird ESA is not a good candidate for training. As such, emotional support animals have different legal protections than service animals.
If you are interested in adding an emotional support animal to your treatment plan, you must get an ESA letter written by a licensed mental healthcare professional in Illinois. Only your mental healthcare provider is eligible to give you a diagnosis and prescribe an ESA to help with your condition.
How Emotional Support Animals Help
There are countless reasons why an emotional support animal can benefit a person’s daily life, and many of them go beyond having a friend to support you in hard times. An ESA can be a massive asset to people who are struggling to get out of the house, working through a downturn in mental health, dealing with phobias, and more.
In general, emotional support animals provide companionship and comfort with their presence, and this can help relieve stress, negative feelings, and other overwhelming emotions. Furthermore, an ESA, no matter the animal, can help an individual develop a sense of routine as they care for their companion.
For these reasons, it’s incredibly important for an individual to keep their ESA at their side no matter where they live.
Understanding the Difference Between ESAs and Service Animals
While many people might confuse emotional support animals and service animals, these two animal companions have very different roles in their owner’s lives.
A service animal is a dog, or sometimes a miniature horse, trained to assist their owner with tasks directly related to the person’s disability, such as providing medical alerts or guidance to the visually impaired.
On the other hand, an emotional support animal is any animal that provides comfort to their owners and relieves symptoms of a mental health condition through their presence.
Due to these differences, service animals have a broader range of access to different businesses in addition to protected travel accommodations and workplace access rights.
ESAs do not have the same wide-reaching public access permissions, but they do have some protected rights that allow their owner to live with them, no matter where they are.
Illinois Emotional Support Animal Laws: An Overview
The state of Illinois upholds all federal regulations put in place to protect the rights of ESAs, and the Illinois Animal Assistance Integrity Act puts into place additional protections for those who need to live with their emotional support animals. Below, we give you an overview of Illinois emotional support animal laws.
Illinois ESA Air Travel Laws
In compliance with the federal Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), service dogs are legally allowed into an airplane’s cabin with their owner as long as they are calm, bathroom-trained, and non-destructive. Owners are not required to pay any pet fees or adhere to specific pet restrictions when traveling with a service animal.
While emotional support animals used to be covered under the ACAA, updates in 2020 (applicable starting January 2021) changed this.
Emotional support animals are no longer required to be treated like service animals by airlines. Instead, airlines now have the choice of whether or not to treat your ESA as a pet or service animal; you must review airline restrictions and rules before booking a ticket to ensure your ESA can travel with you.
Illinois ESA Housing Laws
Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), emotional support animals must be allowed to live with their owner and they are not considered pets. Owners of ESAs need their companion animal to help with their mental health condition or disability, and they are not required to pay pet fees, pet rent, or pet security deposits.
Additionally, owners are not required to adhere to pet restrictions or breed restrictions, though ESAs cannot be illegal to own in Illinois or dangerous to others. Keep in mind there are a few circumstances where your ESA might be legally denied accommodations, including:
- Your ESA is not valid, and you do not have an official ESA letter written by an Illinois licensed mental healthcare professional
- Your ESA request is unreasonable, such as living with multiple exotic animals or a very large animal in a studio apartment
- Your ESA accommodations request would cause undue financial hardship on the landlord
- Your ESA is dangerous, out of control, destructive, and a threat to others
Always make sure that your emotional support animal is suitable to live with you in the housing of your choice, as this is the best way to avoid legal struggles and potential denials as you access your protected ESA housing rights.
Illinois ESA Workplace Laws
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the right of individuals with service animals to bring their service animals with them to work. Unfortunately, emotional support animals do not receive these same protections, and whether or not your ESA is allowed in the workplace with you is up to your employer.
If your workplace could potentially provide accommodations, and it wouldn’t be unsafe or unhygienic for your ESA to be at work with you, you can try speaking to your employer to request an exception to pet restrictions.
In some cases, you may be successful in achieving accommodations, or your employer may be willing to make some exceptions, such as allowing you to work from home with your ESA on certain days of the week.
Illinois ESA Public Access Laws
Similar to workplace access laws, the ADA governs service animal and emotional support animal access to private and public spaces.
In general, service animals have wide-reaching public access rights, and these animals are allowed to accompany their owner into virtually any private or public space, with the exception of some religious organizations and spaces like hospital operating rooms.
Emotional support animals are not granted these same rights, as they are not trained to perform specific tasks to help with a person’s disability throughout the day. You can only take your ESA out in public with you when you are visiting a public space, and you must ensure that your specific type of ESA is permitted in pet-friendly areas.
For example, an ESA dog can accompany you to parks and dog-friendly restaurant patios, while it may be harder bringing your emotional support hamster or snake out into public and pet-friendly businesses.
How Do I Get an Illinois ESA Letter?
An official ESA letter in Illinois is vital if you want your emotional support animal to receive the protections granted by the Fair Housing Act and Illinois state law. In order to get this document, you will need to make an appointment with a mental healthcare provider licensed in Illinois.
If you’re not in touch with a licensed mental healthcare professional in Illinois, we can help. Simply fill out our ESA consultation form and we’ll put you in touch with a healthcare provider licensed in the state of Illinois who can set up a telehealth appointment with you.
At your appointment, your provider will discuss your concerns and symptoms with you, and they may provide you with an official diagnosis if you don’t already have one. After listening to your needs and discussing your ability to care for your chosen ESA, your provider will either approve or deny your request.
If you are approved for an ESA, your provider will write you an ESA letter. This document will state your need for an ESA and it will serve as the proof you need to request housing accommodations.
Will My Illinois ESA Letter Expire?
Your Illinois ESA letter can expire, and an expiration date is typically included on your letter along with your provider’s professional information.
Typically, ESA letters last one to two years before you will need to meet with your provider again and renew this document. It’s important to always keep your ESA letter up to date so you can ensure you take advantage of the benefits having an ESA provides.
Your Look at Illinois ESA Laws
Adding an emotional support animal to your treatment plan can be just the thing you need when it comes to dealing with the symptoms of a mental health condition or disability.
In Illinois, your right to live with your emotional support animal and not adhere to pet restrictions or pay pet fees is protected by both federal and state laws. It’s important to understand your ESA rights as you navigate life with your companion animal; reviewing our guide closely can help you with this step.
If you are interested in adding an emotional support animal to your treatment plan, speak to your Illinois mental healthcare provider for more information and a discussion about what is best for your needs.