Housing, Homelessness & Foreclosure

What You Need to Know About Service Animals & Emotional Support Animals in Shelter

The rules for service animals and emotional support animals are not the same.

The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) must allow you to bring your service animal with you into shelter. DHS cannot separate you from your service animal.

DHS must accommodate your disabilities in shelter, including if you have an emotional support animal. However, you and your emotional support animal must meet certain requirements that are explained below.

What is a service animal?

A service animal is a dog that is trained to do work or perform a task for a person with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. DHS currently can only accommodate service animals that are dogs.

Examples of tasks a service animal may be trained to perform include:

Alerting a person who is deaf to sounds
Guiding a person who is blind
Opening or closing doors, or bringing items to someone who has a mobility impairment.

If having your animal with you helps with your disability, but the animal has not been trained to perform a specific task related to your disability (or the animal is not a dog), then the animal may be an emotional support animal, not a service animal.

What is an emotional support animal?

An emotional support animal provides comfort or support to a person with a disability, but is not trained to perform a specific task. An emotional support animal could be a dog, cat or other animal. These animals may be allowed in DHS shelter, if you have been approved for a reasonable accommodation (“RA”) to have an emotional support animal.

Unlike service animals, DHS is allowed to ask for documentation about why you need the emotional support animal to accommodate your disability before allowing you to bring the animal into shelter.

What kind of documentation do I need for my emotional support animal?

If you have an emotional support animal and want to bring it into shelter, you need a letter that explains how the animal helps you. The letter should include a description of your disability, the fact that you need an emotional support animal, and how having the animal is related to your disability. For example, if you have anxiety, and having your emotional support animal helps slow your breathing and calm you when you feel anxious, make sure that you give DHS (or shelter staff) a letter that states you have anxiety and you need an emotional support animal to help manage the symptoms of your anxiety.

The documentation needs to come from a professional who knows about your disability. For example, the documentation could come from a doctor, social worker, rehabilitation counselor, or other medical professional.

You can learn more about the reasonable accommodation process here. While your reasonable accommodation request is being reviewed, your emotional support animal may not be allowed in DHS shelter.

Please note: you do not need to get any kind of certificate or license to prove to DHS that your animal is an emotional support animal; you just need a letter from a professional who knows about your disability.

Remember, you do not need any documentation if your animal is a service animal.

What can DHS ask me about my service animal or emotional support animal?

If you have a service or emotional support animal, DHS will ask you questions to determine whether your animal is a service animal or an emotional support animal.

DHS is allowed to ask you the following questions when you have an animal:

Is the animal required because of a disability?
- If your animal is a service animal or emotional support animal, you should answer “yes” to this question. If you answer “no”, then DHS will not allow you to enter shelter with your animal. If you answer “yes”, the staff will ask you the second question below to determine whether your animal is a service animal or an emotional support animal.
What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
- If your animal is trained to perform a specific task related to your disability, then the animal is a service animal and must be allowed in shelter. You will be required to explain what task your service animal has been trained to perform. After you answer this question, DHS cannot ask you any additional questions before allowing you to bring the service animal into shelter with you. Also, you do not need to provide any documentation that the animal is a service animal.
- If your animal helps to keep you calm or provides comfort, then the animal may be an emotional support animal, which DHS may allow you to bring into shelter, if they approve your reasonable accommodation request.

If you have a service animal, when asking the above questions, DHS staff cannot ask about the details of your disability or require medical documentation for your disability. DHS staff also cannot ask for a demonstration of the task the service animal is trained to perform.

What other requirements do I have to meet if I have a service animal or an emotional support animal?

DHS can and will require you to provide the following for your service animal or emotional support animal:

Proof of up to date vaccinations
Proof of a valid NYC dog license
Proof the animal is spayed/neutered

If your service or emotional support animal is not yet licensed or vaccinated when you enter shelter (or you do not have proof of these things), you will have two weeks to obtain the license or vaccinations (or proof of them). If your service animal is not yet spayed or neutered, you will have up to 15 days to have your animal spayed/neutered.

If you are unable to do these things or require assistance to do so due to your disability, DHS staff is required to assist you.

Information on obtaining a dog license in NYC can also be found here.

What other requirements should I know about?

Along with the requirements listed above, you are required to:

Feed and care for your service animal or emotional support animal.
Be in control of your service animal or emotional support animal at all times.

What if I cannot afford the requirements for my service animal or emotional support animal?

If you are unable to afford to spay or neuter your animal, a list of low-cost clinics can be found here.

If you are unable to afford vaccinations, sometimes free vaccines events can be found here.

If you are unable to afford food for your service animal, the Human Resource Administration (HRA) may be able to provide you cash assistance to pay for food for a service animal. You can call HRA’s Family Independence Administration, Office of Program Support (OPS) Guide Dog Food Program at 929-221-6692 or 929-221-6688.

What if I need a place for my emotional support animal to stay while my reasonable accommodation request is being reviewed?

It usually takes up to 10 days (and sometimes longer) for DHS to make a decision about a reasonable accommodation request. If you need a place for your emotional support animal to stay while you are waiting for your RA determination, you can reach out to the places listed below. They may be able to offer to shelter your animal for a short period of time. Ask for a “limited intake” appointment or a “surrender prevention program.”

Animal Care Centers of NYC: 212-266-7880 or this online form.
Animal Haven: 212-274-8511
ASPCA: 212-876-7700
Best Friends Lifesaving Center: 929-292-8300
Humane Society of New York: 212-752-4842
North Shore Animal League: 516-883-7900
PAWS NY: 212-203-4760
Sean Casey Animal Rescue: 718–436–5163

Translations

This information has been translated into Spanish and is available for download here.

Disclaimer

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.

Last Updated: 20 July

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