Student Leaves A Note For Her Roommate To Clean After Their ESA Dog, Gets Aggressive Reactions

Yes, emotional support animals also require care...

Damjan

• Published in Animal Stories
• October 10, 2022

ESA is the hype word in the pet owners’ world these days. It basically allows a pet owner to get away with almost anything. The acronym stands for Emotional Support Animal.

What do they do? Well, as the name suggests, they provide emotional support. And how is that different than any other pet on this planet, regardless of if it is a dog, cat, fish, bear, or crocodile?

Just ask ESA animal owners… It's their ticket to take their pets to places where pets are not allowed. Just proclaim your pet to be ESA, and the doors are open to you.

The truth is that there are many people out there who really need ESAs, and entitled people just give them a bad name. For an animal to be truly ESA, it needs to come with a recommendation from a doctor.

But even then, it doesn’t have the legal rights a service dog has. Because service dogs enable their owners to function, they are allowed even in places that don’t allow pets.

ESAs have no legal rights. But because people often confuse the two, ESA owners take advantage of it.

We have one of these stories here. One Redditor is having a hard time with her roommates because of a tiny animal that doesn’t receive very good care, apparently. When she tried to point it out, she was aggressively shot down.

I'm seriously introverted and shy, so talking to new people is hard for me. I opted to leave notes if necessary for my roommates to read. One of my roommates has a small ESA dog. In our common area, there is a puppy pee pad soaked with urine and with dried dog feces on it.

So I left a note near it, saying, "Hi! This is gross and unhealthy. Please clean it up! Thanks." I recently got a reply stuck on my door, saying, "No need to be rude. Mind your business. DO NOT leave a note like this again!"

Now OP turns to the Internet to find out if she is right here. Take a look at this interesting story:

OP asks:

She is extremely shy

She asks if she was right to ask people to clean up after their dog

Redditors agree:

Their dog is their problem. But once it starts making mess in the common area, it becomes everyone else's.

ESA animals need care

It is gross and unhealthy

OP still needs to learn to talk to people

This is an interesting idea:

It is a common area

This is a health and safety risk

Many Redditors have issues with ESA owners. Not the animals. Their owners

Well, this might be true. But it doesn't change the fact they need to clean after their dog...

OP posted an edit:

ESA animals are often recommended for people dealing with anxiety, depression, and socialization problems. And the main goal is to make them more active, and social, give them errands to finish, and someone to take care of.

And that gives them a sense of purpose. However, it obviously doesn’t work for some people.

Damjan