Can i claim two of my cats are emotional support animals?

Question

I do suffer from depression,but haven't seen my psychiatrist for a year or so,my property manager wants me to get rid of one of my cats,but they both came together,and they have made my life a whole lot better,is there any way to reason with her about this,do I need any documentation that stats they are emotional support?

Answer 1

I've never heard of "emotional support animals," although I do understand the concept.

I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice. However....

You probably have an argument under fair housing regulations. I've put a link below to a government site dealing with fair housing. Here's an excerpt from that site:

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If you or someone associated with you:

Have a physical or mental disability (including hearing, mobility and visual impairments, chronic alcoholism, chronic mental illness, AIDS, AIDS Related Complex and mental retardation) that substantially limits one or more major life activities

Have a record of such a disability or

Are regarded as having such a disability

your landlord may not:

Refuse to let you make reasonable modifications to your dwelling or common use areas, at your expense, if necessary for the disabled person to use the housing. (Where reasonable, the landlord may permit changes only if you agree to restore the property to its original condition when you move.)

Refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services if necessary for the disabled person to use the housing.

Example: A building with a "no pets" policy must allow a visually impaired tenant to keep a guide dog.

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So, in your case, if you have a mental illness (that can be documented), your landlord must make "reasonable accommodations." And those "reasonable accommodations" may include allowing you to keep an animal or animals.

So, contact a lawyer or someone familiar with fair housing regulations (your local city or county government should be able to help). See if you can retain your cats under those regulations.

Answer 2

good try, ha ha

suggest you offer the LL a security deposit for cats if he will let you keep both

if there haven't been any problems with cats--urine, scratching, damage--having one versus two usually isn't a big deal

if there have been problems, then why will he let you keep one?

have you breached your lease brining in the cats?

Answer 3

The IRS isn't going to see it that way and there isn't any precedent for it.  So if you go ahead and do it, be prepare for an audit from you local IRS office.

Answer 4

If your depression is severe enough that you are on disabability for it your doctor can prescribe that you require a service animal.   You would never be perscribed multiple animals.    He has to write this on script paper, he is risking his medical license if he writes a false perscription.

You then need to have your cat certified as a service animal.

But, you can not just claim this on your own, or dictate that your animal is a service animal.    People try this on me from time to time to attempt to get animals in, but only certified animals qualify as protected by fair housing for the disabled.

Answer 5

You would need to be legally disabled to receive a working animal for support.  A "pet" or animal that has not been properly  trained and received from one of the existing schools providing service animals would not be considered.  You will need to have the disability legally and received w service animal from one of the registered schools.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

You would need letters from your psych. and any other doctors that are treating you.  The letters must state that not having the pets would cause emotional or physical harm to yourself.

Answer 7

It is really dependent on whethe it is reasonable or not. If you are properly looking after the cats, they are healthy, neutured, toilet trained, not allowed outside at night to cause damage, are not scratching things inside causing damage, etc, then you would properly have a case. But, if they have a legitimate reason for you not having them, then it would be much harder to prove the need for two.

Like people with emotional support dogs trying to prove that their dogs are good canine citizens, you need to try to prove that your cats are good feline citizens, and that it is not unreasonable for you to have both of them.

Here are some examples of how to write a letter to your property manager asking for an exemption. Send the letters by certified mail, and ask for a reply within 10 working days. Do not speak to them in person, but do it all through the post, so all your requests are clearly documented in writing. Put together a type of resume for the cats, so they can see that they will not be problem to have together. If you can get neighbours to write letters of recommendation, this is also likely to help.

http://www.oradvocacy.org/pubs/housingfa...

http://www.bazelon.org/issues/housing/in...

Remeber the law is not designed to give people with disabilities and other medical conditions, special privillges, but to try to provide reasonable accommodations so that they may live a more comfortable existence. If you can prove that having both cats is reasonable then you will have a better chance of keeping both.

Yes, you could try taking legal action, but this is going to be incredilby stressful, and is definately going to worsen your condition, and one has to question whether doing so is really worth the stress. Try to work it out with them first, by showing that having both cats is a reasonable accommodation.

EDIT: For examples of how to put together a pet resume, see:

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/rentin...

http://www.northbay-canine.org/lastresor...

http://www.sfspca.org/opendoor/petresume...

It will help if you can get a letter from your vet stating that your cats are healthy and well cared for.

Answer 8

Yes, you do need documentation, from your psychiatrist or another mental health professional who is currently treating you. Here's an example of the type of letter your mental health professional will have to write:

http://servicedogcentral.org/content/nod...

You can try to claim both as emotional support animals, but that doesn't mean you'll succeed. Discuss this with your mental health provider and how it will impact your health. Ask him to address this issue in his letter.

Please note: It is not enough to be mentally ill to qualify for an accommodation for an emotional support animal. You must actually be disabled by mental illness to qualify for any protections under the Fair Housing Amendments Act to have an ESA in "no pets" housing.

Approximately 1 person in 4 in the U.S. has suffered from, is suffering from, or will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives. Only six percent, on the other hand, are actually disabled by mental illness. The vast majority are not disabled by their illness, either because it is temporary or not severe enough to qualify.

Example: a person with 20/40 vision has a vision impairment, but is not blind. The severity of the vision loss is what determines whether the person is merely impaired or is disabled. Just as most vision impairments are not disabling, neither are most mental illnesses.

Edit:

Correcting some misinformation.  Emotional support animals are not service animals, they are not specially trained, and they are not certified.  All you need is a disability (such as severe mental illness) and a doctor who believes the presence of the animal or animals is necessary for your mental health.

While a deposit generally cannot be required, even for an ESA (as opposed to a service animal), you would still be legally responsible for all damages done by your animal(s).