Do Emotional Support Animals Need Emotional Support?
In 2018, a peacock named Dexter spent several hours perched atop a pile of luggage while waiting for a seat on a United Airlines flight.
Dexter’s owner claimed he was an Emotional Support Animal or ESA. And there are any number of organizations providing ways to register one’s pet as an ESA.
What does the use of animals as ESAs tell us about our relationship with them? And what are the effects on an animal who is used as an ESA?