Category Archives: Articles

Service Animals for PTSD related mental health problems?

Posted on by

CNN features an article about the benefits of Service Animals for mental health issues.

Elizabeth Landau of CNN spotlights Charles Hernandez, 49, and his Service Animal Valor for helping Charles cope with his severe PTSD.

Valor is half Labrador retriever, half Great Dane, and helps Sgt. Charles Hernandez navigate life by alerting Charles to oncoming seizures and calming anxiety attacks. In combination with medications, Charles says Valor has helped alleviate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I’m alive again,” says Charles, retired from the U.S. National Guard. “What keeps me going is my dog.”

John Ensminger, a New York attorney, says that PTSD in returning veterans is a major reason for the increasing demand for Service Animals.

For the full CNN feature story, click here.

May I take my service animal or emotional support animal with me on an airplane?

Posted on by

Federal regulations related to air travel require that service and emotional support animals be reasonably accommodated on all flights.  Airlines may ask passengers who use service or emotional support animals whether the animal is a service animal, and what work or tasks the animal performs for the benefit of the passenger.

Additionally, passengers who wish to bring an emotional support animal onto a flight may be required to produce a note, less than one year old, signed by a licensed mental health professional, stating that he or she has a recognized psychiatric disability that requires an emotional support animal.  Exotic animals, such as snakes or spiders, do not have to be accommodated at all.  The U.S. Department of Transportation regulations for airlines specify that for air travel, a service or emotional support animal is “solely the responsibility of the passenger with a disability whom the animal is accompanying.”