Emotional-support animals

Patricia Marx decided to test just how far she could go with odd animals that had been designated as emotional-support animals. The business of emotional-support animals takes advantage of the acceptance of service dogs to help people in many of their life activities. It's a growing business. In 2011 the National Service Animal Registry, a commercial enterprise that sells certificates, vests, and badges for helper animals, signed up twenty-four hundred emotional-support animals. Last year, it registered eleven thousand.

There is a vast difference between emotional-support animals and service dogs. Anyone can buy an emotional-support card from one of several organizations, none of which is authorized or approved by the government. All that the card means is that your pet is registered in a database of animals. The card does not give you the authority to bring your pet into a hotel, store, taxi, train, or park. Service dogs, on the other hand, can go anywhere.

Marx has a fun article about her adventures with a turtle, a snake, a turkey and an alpaca. She goes all over New York City visiting all kinds of establishments: museums, restaurants, buses, delicatessens, hair salons, funeral homes, etc. She flies to Boston with the pig.