Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs

Abstract

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users. Because certain animal roles are provided with legal protections and/or government-funding support in some jurisdictions, it is necessary to clearly define the existing terms to avoid confusion. The aim of this paper is to provide operationalized definitions for nine terms, which would be useful in many world regions: “assistance animal”, “companion animal”, “educational/school support animal”, “emotional support animal”, “facility animal”, “service animal”, “skilled companion animal”, “therapy animal”, and “visiting/visitation animal”. At the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) conferences in 2018 and 2020, over 100 delegates participated in workshops to define these terms, many of whom co-authored this paper. Through an iterative process, we have defined the nine terms and explained how they differ from each other. We recommend phasing out two terms (i.e., “skilled companion animal” and “service animal”) due to overlap with other terms that could potentially exacerbate confusion. The implications for several regions of the world are discussed.

Current Perspectives on the Challenges of Implementing Assistance Dogs in Human Mental Health Care

“…A panel of experts recently addressed the issue of flawed terminology (i.e., assistance or service dog versus emotional support dog) across countries, laws and organizations and provided some recommendations to facilitate working dog classification. Thereby, Howell and colleagues suggest promoting the term assistance dog instead of service dog when referring to a dog that has been trained to perform defined tasks [ 7 ]. However, past usage has established the inclusive term service dog [ 8 ] in the United States (U.S.), whereas, internationally, “assistance dog” is the most common term [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…National laws addressing the diverse types of service dogs are fragmented and vary across EU countries [ 20 ]. Currently, the European Standards Agency, TC/452, is attempting to establish an applicable assistance dog standard [ 7 ].…”

“…The number of ESDs has similarly increased significantly within the last years [ 36 ]. ESDs in the widest sense are dogs that offer some type of companionship or support that will aid alleviate at least one aspect of their owner’s disability [ 7 ]. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that in 2019, there were nearly 200.000 emotional support animals (ESA) in the U.S. [ 37 ].…”

“…The lack of standards, procedures and certifications regarding ESDs has resulted in much confusion [ 7 , 39 ], fostering a market for falsely “certifying” pets. This led to a bill in in the state of Michigan that will penalize people who sell online certificates [ 40 ].…”

Rudolph, the kids’ ward reindeer: a scoping review of the effects of support animals on the well-being of healthcare staff

“…Another example is the use of live tarantulas in exposure therapy. In effect, Eustis paved the way for a variety of – more (dogs, cats, ponies, horses, alpacas, rabbits [ 17 ]) or less (reindeer, penguins, or tarantulas [ 18 , 19 ] in therapy training [ 19 ]) intuitive – animals to support people with specific needs [ 20 ].…”