Can Owls Be An ESA?

Owls - BirdLife International

Suffering from emotional and mental health issues is pretty normal but not giving it due attention and taking actions to alleviate your condition is not normal. You ought to prioritize your mental and emotional health and give it the care it deserves. The first step towards treating yourself well and doing justice to your mind and body is to find a source of comfort that helps you cope with difficult situations and psychological disorders. For some people, an emotional support animal can be that source of comfort. If you think you would benefit from having an emotional support animal, it's important to obtain an emotional support animal letter from a licensed mental health professional to ensure that your pet is recognized as an official part of your treatment plan.

To make things easy for you, mental health experts have come up with emotional support animal therapy. This form of treatment Is relatively new for mental issues but is extremely effective when used separately or in conjunction with other therapeutic treatments.

There is a lot of data available on the internet for you to understand what this treatment is and how it works. So, I am not going to dwell on its basics. Instead, let’s learn about the types of animals that can be registered as an ESA. To register a pet as an ESA, you must obtain an realesaletter. The letter will be your legal authorization to keep the pet for emotional support purposes and get benefitted through it.

Animals That Can be Registered as an ESA

One of the basic questions that come into your mind concerning the topic of ESAs is: which kind of animals can you keep for emotional support? While federal or state law does not currently put any restriction on any kind of species to be registered as an ESA, there are still some animals that do not get approved for emotional support purposes due to their irrelevance to the therapy or inability to treat any psychological condition.

We find many unusual animals or birds also registered as ESAs these days. Apart from usual animals like an ESA dog or a cat, we see ESA parrots, fish, reptiles etcetera as well. This means that since both usual and exotic pets can be registered as emotional support animals, an “owl” can fill the role of support provider for people with psychological disabilities as well.

Owl as an ESA

People may think about getting an owl as their ESA pet, but they usually do not truly understand what it takes to have one and take care of it.

In America, the regulations controlling the ESAs have not made any statement on the acquisition of owls as therapy animals, but many counties do not allow individuals to have owls without special permits. Countries that allow keeping an owl as a pet also mandates that the owl must receive the necessary training and the pet owner develops a proper facility for its accommodation.

In the United States, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service department states that persons who are even licensed to keep an owl do not have the authority to “own” it. This means that an individual can certainly get an owl as an ESA through the recommendation of a licensed professional in form of an real esa letter for housing, but the person would not be allowed to call his/her ESA owl as its property. This is because all rights to the ownership of owls remain with the wildlife service department of the county.

Reasons Why Owls Should “Not” be Kept as ESAs

Now that you know that you can get an owl as your emotional support animal, I would advise you to not go for it if you have other options available. Although owls are wise and serene, they do not have what it takes to provide comfort to their human companion during tough situations.

Following are the reasons why I think you should drop the option of getting an owl for emotional support purposes.

An emotional support animal has to be the one who you can take with you while traveling from one location to another. However, it is not possible when you have an owl for an ESA. If you are thinking of going on a vacation or have to go on a business trip that you cannot miss, you will have to leave your pet at home as it cannot just travel with you without special permits and training.

Owls are active at night when it is time for you to rest. You certainly would not be happy with your pet owl’s hooting at night time when you will be exhausted and wanting to sleep without any disturbance.

Owls usually do not like when they are petted or being cuddled. So, there is no point in getting them for emotional support purposes when they would not fit into the role of support providers.

Owls are high maintenance and need special care. You cannot expect to treat them like other usual pets. Besides, if your ESA owl gets sick, not just any vet can run an examination on it. You will need to look for a special vet for this exotic pet.

Last but not the least, you do not just go to any store and find owl food there. Rather you would have to specially order the food from specific suppliers who deliver food for these pets. It is difficult to find owl food in the first place and even if you do find it, it is not as cheap as your usual pet’s food. So, you might be adding to your financial budget and burdening yourself further by keeping an owl as an ESA.

Hopefully, you will find this article helpful. For any further queries, contact our ESA consultants.

More Resources:

will having an ESA create a problem while looking for a job?

What Type of Professionals Can Sign an ESA Letter for Me?

Can Kids Bring Their ESA With Them at School?

Is it Possible to get Multiple ESAs?

Why keeping an ESA cat is the best option for people with social anxiety