Emotional Support Animals: How furry friends can change lives

By Debra Garcia and Carley Stefan

When Anna Sellitto was in the Army, she had a psychological disability that caused panic attacks, severe social anxiety and major depression. It had gotten so bad that she saw no hope or reason to keep going on. That was until she got her Emotional Support Animal (ESA), Storm.

Sellitto got Storm, a female Pitbull/Labrador mix, when she was stationed in Hawaii. Once she did, Sellitto felt like she had a reason to get up in the morning. They did everything together.

Now, Sellitto and Storm live in an off-campus apartment by UF together while Sellitto pursues a degree in animal sciences. If it was not for Sellitto’s decision to adopt Storm as an ESA, she does not know where either of them would be.

An ESA is an animal that therapeutically benefits a person with mental health or psychiatric disabilities. This could be by offering emotional support, comfort or companionship. They can help with anxiety, depression, panic attacks and PTSD as well.

According to the UMass Chan Medical School’s reference page on emotional support animals, an ESA can be a domesticated animal of any age. This can include, ut is not limited to, cats, dogs, mice, rabbits, birds, turtles, lizards, hedgehogs, rats, minipigs and ferrets.

Emotional support animals can be adopted from shelters, purchased from breeders or pet stores or anywhere else where a pet could come from. However, it is required that an ESA must be able to be manageable in public and not create a nuisance.

ESAs are not required to be raised or trained in a certain manner, unlike service animals. ESAs do not carry out specific activities. Rather, the mere presence of the animal reduces the symptoms of a person's mental health condition . Technically, the only difference between a legitimate ESA and a pet is a letter from a licensed mental health professional.

The greatest advantage of an ESA is frequently the straightforward companionship that comes from spending time with an animal, even if there are no hard and fast rules about who would and would not benefit from one. Animals may provide a lot of compassion in trying times and much-needed encouragement on a bad day.

Caring for an animal can be a lot of labor, depending on the species. This form of responsibility may serve as an effective motivator for certain people to maintain routines, such as feeding pets at the same time each day or routinely exercising outside.

Registering pets as ESA can be a quick process. According to US Service Animals, all that is needed to do to register for an ESA is to fill out both the owner’s and pet’s information and get a prescription letter from a medical professional. Once the letter gets approved about 24-48 hours later, the animal will be registered and allowed to live with the owner.

Thanks to the protection of the Fair Housing Act, owners, and their ESAs can live anywhere, even in places with “no-pet” policies, free from additional fees.

The Registered ESA comes with an Animal ID Card that has an animal's photo and information as well as legal information about its rights. All owners of ESAs registered with Service Animals will have their rights protected with the help of its on-staff attorneys.

Countless UF students have an ESA that helps them with their mental health. Whether they live on or off the UF campus, these students need their ESAs as much as their ESAs need them, and the UF Disability Resource Center (DRC) understands that. That's why the DRC makes the process of registering an ESA for on-campus housing as easy as possible.

Students with ESAs who want to live on campus first need to fill out a DRC Pre-Registration form, which basically tells the DRC about their specific disabilities and mental health issues. Once the form is reviewed after 24 hours, the student receives an appointment with a specialist to discuss housing accommodation.

After the meeting, the DRC will provide the Department of Housing and Residence Life with the recommended accommodation based on documentation. After receiving this information, the housing staff will reach out to the student with any questions.

It should be noted that, if approved, emotional support animals are allowed in campus residence halls only and not in other campus facilities.

Brennda Rodgers is a UF student with her own ESA cat, Piku. When registering Piku with the DRC, she admitted that this process could seem hard to other students.

“They take getting an ESA seriously, because of how many kids just want to bring their pets to college for no real reason,” Rodgers said.

That is why the DRC takes so many precautions when analyzing whether a student should or should not be allowed to live with an ESA on campus.

Kristen Guiley, 20, had to register her cat, Leo, as an ESA so they could both live at the Lakeside dorms. After she went through the DRC steps and sent in Leo’s vet/rabies vaccination records and proof of registration with Alachua County, she had to take additional steps so Leo could be allowed to live with her.

“My roommates had to submit written consent that they are okay with living with an ESA. I believe I also had to sign a form that ensured he had good behavior and that I was responsible for his behavior,” Guiley said.

Additionally, Guiley is also alerted ahead of time whenever there will be fire drills, so she will have time to put Leo in a carrier.

“I lived at Lakeside, which is an apartment-style dorm. I'm certain I was placed there due to having an ESA. The apartment style made it so that he and I could have our own space behind a door and not bother our three roommates,” she said.

ESAs can help their owners in more ways than one.

Alexis Trosclair, 23, is a UF graduate student who lives with her ESA, Olive, a Border Collie mix. When she is not barking at people on campus, Olive tries her best to help Trosclair throughout their day-to-day lives.

“She forces me to keep some type of schedule and really helps, since I live alone and don’t know a lot of people here,” Trosclair said.

A pet’s company can be a therapy of its own. This presence can turn a bad day into a better one.

A good example of this is Morgan Hall’s relationship with her ESA cat, Ivy. Hall adopted Ivy in 2019 when she was in an abusive relationship. She also had severe PTSD and anxiety. During those tough times, Ivy helped Hall not feel alone.

“I was dealing with everything; I felt like she could sense when I was upset. She grounds me back to reality when I feel like I am having an episode. She was now a new responsibility, a normality and a comfort,” Hall said.

Another instance of this is how Piku helps her owner, Rodgers, get through panic attacks. While not trained, Piku’s friendly and empathetic nature takes over whenever Rodgers has one of these attacks.

“When I started to have panic attacks, she would sit on my chest and make sure that I was okay. She would sit on me until I was done panicking,” Rodgers said.

Storm, meanwhile, calms her owner, Sellitto, down just by being around her.

“When I'm sleeping, she loves to sleep on top of me. She must be touching me in some way, which I love because I'm the same way. I swear, as much as I need her, she needs me. It's like I'm her service human and she's my service dog,” Sellitto said.

Michelle Lyon also receives these benefits from her ESA dog, Alaska. Alaska is a 2-year-old Siberian Husky who helps Lyon with her anxiety just by being around.

“I get anxious from being alone, she keeps me company and encourages me to have daily walks and get myself out and exercise,” Lyon said.

Leo the cat helps his owner Guiley in a similar sort of way. Guiley struggles with anxiety and depression and even once considered taking her own life, but Leo’s presence soothes her.

Leo himself has his own anxieties and almost never lets Guiley close a door without him for more than a minute. The thought of leaving Leo scared, clueless and alone motivates Guiley to do better and never leave Leo.

“He cries when I leave the house, so I don’t even want to imagine how he would react if I never came home. His well-being keeps me alive,” Guiley said.

ESAs can also be very protective of their owners, as they grow attached and form bonds with one another. This is especially prevalent in the relationship between Lyon and Alaska.

“She is very protective of me, always checking our surroundings. She is always following me around and howling at me,” Lyon said.

ESAs come in so many shapes and sizes. Their owners could not thank them enough for how much they helped change their lives .

In times when owners may feel like they are struggling to connect with the people or environment around them, these animals can help them reevaluate their circumstances.

College is a completely new phase of life for students. The adjustments that come with being independent are not always smooth sailing for everyone. This time can make it very easy to feel alone. Whether an individual has always dealt with mental health issues, or it is a recent battle, ESAs can be a life-changing addition for students.

When it comes to mental health, not every day is a bad day, but ups and downs are very common. The littlest things can prevent big breakdowns. The cries as their owner returns from work or cuddles before bed can be the motivating factor that gets their owners to wake up the next morning.

ESAs can give people the sense of consistency and loyalty they crave when they may not feel supported otherwise.

A pet may seem like a chore to some, but an ESA is a companion. The act of caring for another could be just the thing to get someone to finally take care of themselves.

UF has plenty of resources for students to reach out to if they are considering an ESA. Visit the UF U Matter, We Care website or the DRC office to find out more specialized information.