Emotional Support Animals: Common Situations for Veterinarians

Oliver Knesl, BSc, BSc (Hons), MSc, BVSc, MRCVS, director of major accounts for veterinary professional services in the US Companion Animal Division for Zoetis, explains the 3 most common situations where veterinarians will have to deal with emotional support animals.

In the first situation, clients ask the veterinarian to certify their emotional support animal, but a mental health professional must do this for them. In the second situation, a legitimate support animal comes into the practice, but the veterinarian should not be noting the pet owner's condition in their medical record. In the third situation, when any type of assistance animal comes into the practice, the veterinarian should not be charging them more for a routine wellness check.