over_cloxSouth Mississippi here, does anyone have any advice on how to get Brownie registered as an emotional support animal?
Emotional support animals do not qualify as service animals under the ADA. There is no process or organization to make him an “official” emotional support animal, though there are many companies that will gladly sell you a badge, certificate, or harness.
Oh I get that, and I don’t expect Brownie is in any way smart enough to fully qualify as a proper service animal.
But I do think he brings love and joy to practically everyone, no matter what age the people are.
Hell, there have been registered emotional support horses and allogators before, no joke, so I just find myself wondering if I can help find a way for my roommate to get Brownie registered as an emotional support dog… 🤷
Then I guess I’m unclear what you hope to accomplish if you already know there will be no legal privileges or protections. You could draw up your own certification and frame it, Brownie won’t know the difference.
Emotional support horses have been allowed on airplanes. The least I could try to help my roommate with is trying to get his dog qualified to purchase dog food off his insurance card.
Like fuck, there’s gotta be a way, right? Where to start though?..
No, there is no way. That will be entirely up to the airline. They treat non-service animals as pets, with all the rules and regulations that apply. There’s nothing that obligates them to treat an emotional support animal any differently than any other pet.
I did a little digging into that horse story. It seems it may actually have been a trained service animal and not just an ESA. But in either case, the DOT has since updated its rules to exclude miniature horses from being allowed on airplanes.
Again, airplane not necessary, my roommate ain’t planning to fly anywhere.
I’m just curious to try to help him get qualified to purchase dog food from his health insurance card…
Hey man, if “my dog is loved by everyone " can be used as a cheat code for food covered with insurance, I don’t think you’d need to use Lemmy to find answers.
He’s not my dog, he’s my elderly roommate’s dog.
I’m just asking basic advice on where to start and how to help my roommate…
Yeah, but you’ve been given information, but you didn’t seem to want it? Guy above this kinda lays out why this isn’t a thing.
If you can’t afford food you should surrender the dog, it’s what a responsible owner would do if left with no choice, and it’s unfortunate if anyone would have to have that course. But rejecting sound advice or information because it’s not what you want to hear is something you should work on being better at.
Did you see how fat Brownie is? He’s definitely not starving…
Roommate’s health insurance changed this year, he’s just trying to figure out what to do…
And we’re here to tell you that you’re not going to find a cheat code to turn a friendly dog with pet insurance into a gateway for free dog food by having your insurance pay for it. Insurance is for health, not for good behavior.
It’s almost like you willingly ignored what I and others have said because you don’t like what you’re hearing.
His previous health insurance allowed him to purchase both human and dog food, but he’s changed insurance providers and has been on the phone with their customer support to see what all they will or won’t allow him to purchase.
A $10 bag of dog food ends up lasting Brownie almost 2 months, so it’s not like some huge massive money saving hack, I’m just trying to see what if any options he might have to perhaps save a few bucks here and there.
I’ve already advised him that he should talk to his doctors and perhaps his case worker about his options the next time he goes in for an appointment.