Emotional support fish tank?

jschlem · Apr 29, 2020

I am a prior service Army and currently married to an active duty service member. We will soon begin our latest change of station. Since getting out of the army I have used my reefing hobby as a way to reduce stress and deal with emotional issues(I currently have a 180 gallon mixed reef tank). I am currently being treated by mental health professionals and they are aware and encourage my reefing as a therapy. We currently live in housing provided by the Army Corps of Engineers and there is no limit to size of fish tank. With our coming move the on-post housing is managed by a third party organization outside of the army. There they state that they will only allow up to a 20 gallon fish tank.

My question is am I able to have my current tank listed as an emotional support animal(tank). Thus being able to set up my current tank in the new location even though they have stated that 20 gallons is the max?
Has anyone used this to get their tank when not allowed by a lease?
How would I have this written up by the doctors?
Or is there any other ways around this problem?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Murica · Apr 29, 2020

I think emotional support animals are not the same as service animals, therefore it’s at the discretion of whoever you’re dealing with. There’s laws protecting service animal rights, but not emotional support.

Good luck with your mission, hopefully they’ll realize that if you were to have any sort of animal in a house, fish would be the cleanest/best case so there wouldn’t be any issues. A doctors letter could sway their opinions.

Cwentz758 · Apr 29, 2020

I would assume it would be the same as documenting any other support animal. I mean people have peacocks for animals that qualify (which I feel stretches things). But fish legit have documented history of being therapeutic. Have you contacted this third party? Maybe you can speak with them about the issue and bring up if they want additional paperwork. Most of the time they limit tank sizes in apartments and rentals just due to fear or it flooding the house.

Thanks for you and your spouse’s service! I myself am still serving, 10 years to go!

jschlem · Apr 29, 2020

Murica said:
I think emotional support animals are not the same as service animals, therefore it’s at the discretion of whoever you’re dealing with. There’s laws protecting service animal rights, but not emotional support.

Good luck with your mission, hopefully they’ll realize that if you were to have any sort of animal in a house, fish would be the cleanest/best case so there wouldn’t be any issues. A doctors letter could sway their opinions.

Thank you, I do understand the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal. My son is disabled and has an emotional support dog. Under the Fair Housing Act emotional support animals do have protections.

"The purpose of FHA rules when it comes to ESAs is to allow people with mental and emotional disabilities to be accompanied by their ESAs in order to have equal opportunity to enjoy and use a dwelling. An Emotional Support Animal can be used to alleviate the symptoms of a mental illness, such as severe anxiety, depression or phobias and many people have found tremendous therapeutic benefits from the companionship of an ESA.

The FHA ensures that landlords cannot discriminate against tenants who have an ESA that helps them cope with their mental illness. Even if a tenant lives in a building with a “no pets” policy, the landlord must make a “reasonable accommodation” to allow for Emotional Support Animals.

ESAs are not considered normal pets under the FHA, which is why policies pertaining to pets do not apply to ESAs. That means a landlord is not permitted to charge fees or deposits in connection with an ESA, even though fees and deposits might be charged for normal pets. The landlord also cannot impose breed and weight restrictions on ESAs, even though they may apply to normal pets."

25red-Assistance Animals | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

www.hud.gov

Murica · Apr 29, 2020

jschlem said:
Thank you, I do understand the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal. My son is disabled and has an emotional support dog. Under the Fair Housing Act emotional support animals do have protections.

"The purpose of FHA rules when it comes to ESAs is to allow people with mental and emotional disabilities to be accompanied by their ESAs in order to have equal opportunity to enjoy and use a dwelling. An Emotional Support Animal can be used to alleviate the symptoms of a mental illness, such as severe anxiety, depression or phobias and many people have found tremendous therapeutic benefits from the companionship of an ESA.

The FHA ensures that landlords cannot discriminate against tenants who have an ESA that helps them cope with their mental illness. Even if a tenant lives in a building with a “no pets” policy, the landlord must make a “reasonable accommodation” to allow for Emotional Support Animals.

ESAs are not considered normal pets under the FHA, which is why policies pertaining to pets do not apply to ESAs. That means a landlord is not permitted to charge fees or deposits in connection with an ESA, even though fees and deposits might be charged for normal pets. The landlord also cannot impose breed and weight restrictions on ESAs, even though they may apply to normal pets."

25red-Assistance Animals | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

www.hud.gov

whatever the case, good luck. Hopefully it works out because fish tanks definitely relieve stress

Edit: until you have to fight off a disease or parasite

DeniseAndy · Apr 29, 2020

I have not the foggiest about the situation, but definitely talk to the landlord or third party to see about the situation. Good luck to you and your family.