Imagine arriving at work and discovering your coworker has brought a friend along who is sitting in your office and will not stop chatting, fiddling with things, or staring at you. You don’t want to be rude, but this person is interfering with your ability to concentrate and do your job, and he doesn't have any business being there. His presence makes you agitated, but you do not have the luxury of just getting up and leaving. You have to work, after all.

This is the situation that service dogs are put in every time a person takes an emotional support animal (ESA) into public spaces. ESAs cause distractions and can interfere with the critical work a service animal is performing for a disabled person.

What’s the difference between the two? Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), only dogs and miniature horses can be service animals. There are no provisions that allow cats, peacocks, snakes or any other kind of animal to act as a service animal, though these animals can be ESAs.

The crucial difference lies in what the animal is trained to do for its handler. A service animal is specifically trained to perform a function or task for a person with a disability, such as detecting blood sugar levels on a person’s breath, detecting the onset of a seizure and alerting the person or keeping them safe during the seizure, picking up items and reminding a person to take medications. This training is lengthy and often very expensive, though the ADA allows people with disabilities to train an animal themselves. Owners must fit the medical definition of a disability, receive a diagnosis by a health professional, and receive a letter explaining how the animal benefits the person with regards to the disability.

An ESA provides important therapeutic benefits to its owner but generally does not receive specific training for it. They provide companionship, which can help with depression, anxiety, loneliness and other emotional needs. Providing comfort or companionship does not qualify as a specific function or task under the ADA.

There is no certification, test or registry for service animals, and they are not required to wear a vest or other identifying gear. Registering your pet and purchasing a vest online does not convey any rights under the law and it does not serve as any kind of proof the pet is a service animal. These sites, like the United States Dog Registry, USA Service Dog Registration, and U.S. Support Animals, to name a few, are essentially scams. The general confusion around the roles of service animals and ESAs, as well as the proliferation of websites and organizations claiming to certify service animals, has led to widespread abuse of service animal protections in our community. ESAs are allowed in your home and may accompany you during air travel, but they do not have the same protections as a service animal when it comes to public spaces. They do not have a right to be in restaurants, grocery stores, government buildings, nonprofits that provide goods or services, and other places where pets are restricted.

Misrepresenting your pet as a service animal is a crime. Taking an untrained pet into the community puts unnecessary strain on real service animals and can put others at risk. It’s your responsibility to know the difference between a service animal and an ESA. Leave your pet at home so service animals can do their jobs for people with disabilities in our community.